So This Is Forty
Meh. It's not so bad.
So, of course Sunday was my birthday—and most people tend to treat 40 as kind of a big one.
That's why I spent basically all of January thinking about how I should maybe try to get my friend Lee and his wife Sarah, and Athennia's friend Em and her boyfriend Orlando, and my sister and Steve, and my cousin Pete and his wife Alissa.
But then I just kept thinking, Lee has a really weird work schedule; and Em and O are basically busy all the time; and Kelly, Steve, Pete, and Alissa all have young kids and lots going on. So, the odds of even just two out of four couples being free were likely slim to none...
...And I ended up not even trying...
...And so, you get to read this story about a Corolla driver named Kelly-6920 and some deer poop soggy pumpkins instead.
Enjoy!
We had just left the apartment to head over to my parents' house for dinner, when we got stopped at a light behind this guy...
I should take a picture and send it to my sister!
And, I did take a picture.
But I did not send it to my sister...
Because, as it turned out, Kelly-6920 absolutely sucked.
At everything.
Forever.
He couldn't accelerate.
He couldn't turn on red.
He couldn't merge.
He couldn't get up to speed on the highway.
When we finally got to my parents' half an eternity later and I walked out back to check on my compost pile, I came across this cluster of deer turds and thought to myself, "Hey, that looks just like Kelly-6920's driving ability!"
In compost news, the pumpkins that our family and Kelly's had to go pick back in October (just so we could bring them home, do nothing with them for a month, and then toss them whole onto the pile) turned out to be vampires that just seemingly could not die.
Even through Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, and then all through January, the pumpkins just sat there like gargoyles on a gothic skyscraper.
But, they've finally met their match...
Now, those pumpkins may look flat; but I had them take an IQ test...
And, next to Kelly-6920, they're actually quite sharp.
This is but a taste of the kind of sheer wit you acquire when you hit 40. Somebody stop me!
Enough about all of that though: It was time to party like it's 2025.
We allegedly all had takeout for dinner together; but, nobody took pictures and so I can't prove it.
There's plenty of proof of cake and presents though...
Hannah was giving the 110% cake enthusiasm I like to see...
Then it was time for presents...
An Etsy gift card from Kelly-0719 and her family...
A top-notch choice of wrapping paper from my wife...
Books, books, and more books!
A killer art print inspired by The Princess Bride...
A hilarious Groundhog's Day-themed card from Athennia and Riley...
And a good one from Uncle Roy and Aunt Sue...
Uncle Roy had a music rehearsal at church and couldn't make it; but Aunt Sue joined us for dinner, and they gave me a gift card to Applebees :)
Finally it was time for my parents' cards and gift...
A Mario-and-Luigi-themed diptych by a dude named Alain Daigle up in Calgary, whose attention to detail and "fleshing out" of the game world are both so incredible that I absolutely had to have these...
Fast-forward to last night, and we used Uncle Roy and Aunt Sue's gift card at the 'Bees...
All things considered, I can't tell what's so different about the big, bad 40:
I can still order chicken tenders for dinner without the waitress carding me to make sure I'm actually 12 years old or younger...
No one has called me out for shamelessly dressing like I'm 15...
And... I'm pretty sure I have more stuffed animals heading into age 40 than I did heading into age 4...
So... final summation?