It's that time of year again! (And no, I'm not speaking of my annual car-wash, that comes in September). I'm talking about my birthday! Which is today! And has been great so far, in spite of the fact that it's a Monday, and I'm at work! And this post really doesn't need all these exclamation marks!
So as of this morning, I can refer to myself as "Just shy of 30", or, when I'm feeling all of my 29 years, as "Not Yet 30!" Last year, I wrote a post about all the things that had happened in my life since my previous birthday. I thought it was such a good idea I decided to make it an annual blog post. Even though this year might not measure up to the extremely busy nature of that previous year, it's still one worth looking back on and remembering all the good (and not so good) things that happened.
Over the past year I:
-
Sat at my wife's side while she had a c-section and brought our 2nd daughter into the world
- Spent 5 weeks in Pune, India doing a system checkout for work
- Saw a severe drop-off in amount of blog posts I've written (mostly due to dealing with 2 kids now, but procrastination and laziness have had their toll on my posting schedule, too)
- Began running again
- Stopped running again
- Began running again (ok, ok, I know I need to keep this up – it's just been so HOT outside lately!)
- Read some good books
- Joined the local synagogue
- Wrote a sestina
- Attended my first ever NFL football game (ok, it was a preseason game, but still fun)
- Celebrated my other daughter's 3rd birthday and my wife's __th birthday (I have still not been given permission to release this information to the general public)
- Set up a personal website (and then promptly did almost nothing with it for 8 months)
- Took some golf lessons (enough to make me dangerous, I think)
- Took a trip to the UK for work and continued my streak of getting-sick-while-out-of-the-country
- Got my first ever speeding ticket (16 years without a ticket, not bad, eh?)
- Became the Electrical group leader for a new project at work
- Discovered my cholesterol makeup was NOT good, and began diet/medication changes to alter that fact
- Learned how to code for Greasemonkey and made some random scripts for Vox / Twitter
- Booked a trip to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, for January of next year!
- Made an effort to be a better person, husband, and father (and think I've succeeded)
In the coming year I expect I will:
-
Travel here and there for work (but hopefully most of the trips will be in-country and of a shorter duration than they were last year)
- Get behind again on all the home-improvement projects I've got lined up
- Make at least one big fatherhood blunder that everyone will laugh at in hindsight
- Start creating and managing my Homeowners Association website (oy vey, what have I gotten myself into??)
- Spend as much time as humanly possible with my wife and kids
And finally, in the upcoming year I hope to:
- Bring smiles to the faces of every one in my family as often as I can
- Get back into running regularly
- Do a good job as the lead on my project to show everyone that I'm ready for this responsibility
- Start attending more synagogue services
- Get out with the golf clubs occasionally
- Get my cholesterol down without resorting to eating (only) rabbit food
- Continue to post regularly on Vox
- Enjoy every day – Time's a one-way street and I don't want to miss any of the sights along the way
Possibly related posts (auto-generated):



August 4th, 2008 on 1:10 PM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Thank you so much for remembering mine as well. It was really nice to come back from an excruciating trip to the chiropractor's to your message. You get my vote for most thoughtful Leo of the year!I really, really like your list. I may steal the idea.
August 4th, 2008 on 1:13 PM
Happy Solar Return! You've been a busy boy. I hope you enjoyed all that and have more of the things you find comfort in and less of the things that bother.
August 4th, 2008 on 1:31 PM
Happy birthday! Congrats on all the good things that have happened for you.
Funny, you're the third person I know now with a birthday today. You crazy Leos. :-)
August 4th, 2008 on 1:40 PM
Time's a one-way street
I love that! :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ross! wow….still in your twenties! Just a young 'un! :p
August 4th, 2008 on 1:43 PM
I am lighting a candle right now in your honor. Wish I had some cake to go with it.PS– if you hear about a library burning down due to candles… that's me! =D
August 4th, 2008 on 2:31 PM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (also, your babies are freaking adorable.)
August 4th, 2008 on 2:31 PM
Happy Birthday and Ditto the Gorgeous Girls comments!
August 4th, 2008 on 2:41 PM
Happy Birthday, dear Ross sir! Have the best year of your life! And one can never have too many exclamation points! :)
August 4th, 2008 on 3:11 PM
Happy Birthday, Ross! Enjoy your last year before thirty.
August 4th, 2008 on 3:24 PM
Happy Birthday!
August 4th, 2008 on 3:32 PM
Happy birthday! Your list was wonderful!
August 4th, 2008 on 3:47 PM
Happy Birthday!! Always good to see a new post from you. We celebrated my son's b-day yesterday.
August 5th, 2008 on 10:55 PM
A tad late, but Happy Birthday still!
August 6th, 2008 on 12:50 PM
Happy Birthday Ross!! All the coolest kids are born in August.
August 6th, 2008 on 5:07 PM
Happy happy! I have to admit that knowing that you haven't even hit thirty yet and yet seem to be doing an admirable job with two adorable kids gave me a moment of pause about my own life decisions. Heh.In any case, that's my way of saying I'm proud to know ya.
August 7th, 2008 on 11:02 AM
Happy belated birthday!!
I went to Playa del Carmen a few years ago (I still haven't gotten the photos developed, but I did find the cartridge finally) and it was great. The restaurant at Mosquito Blue, the Glass Bar, is really great, especially for breakfast. Best coffee ever. EVERRRRRI didn't realize you were still such a youngun!! You are wise beyond your years. :)
August 7th, 2008 on 2:27 PM
Great post. Love the lists. Happy belated birthday and cheers to the years ahead.
August 13th, 2008 on 12:13 PM
Belated happy birthday! When were you in India? Did you chronicle it on your blog?
August 13th, 2008 on 12:39 PM
It's on my to-do list – I keep putting it off because of big projects that come up. I've got about half of it written up and should finish it up soon :-)