I'm twenty-nine and I've accepted it. Up until today I moaned and complained and looked for a way to dodge any potential celebrations of this, my last year as a twenty-something. Now that the day is pretty much over, I've made peace with it. I just let go and decided to make today a fun day, age be damned.
We got up this morning and had breakfast at McDonald's; not fancy or out of the ordinary, but it's our Saturday tradition and I like it. The kids were wonderful as always. Afterwards, I managed to convince Kelly to drive to Bethesda with me to go to the nearest Apple store. All told, the drive there would have been about an hour. About a quarter of the way there, I decided to stop at CompUSA in Gaithersburg to see if there was any chance they had what I was looking for. Sure enough, they did. I now have a brand spanking new power adapter for my iBook. Jack managed to thoroughly destroy my first one by stomping on it and pulling it out of the wall - repeatedly - with his knee.
Eighty-three dollars poorer, at least I got some face time with a 20" iMac in the store. I'm torn between replacing my iBook with a new Powerbook. Torn, because for the same price, I can get the aforementioned iMac. But, that's not going to happen for a while. I have plenty of other expenses first before I can worry about that.
After that little jaunt, I was relieved I didn't have to drive the rest of the way to Bethesda. It's a total pain in the ass, and Interstate 270 is pretty much the worst stretch of highway on the east coast. Instead, we did a 180 and headed to Hagerstown for some errands. We shopped around for a while until Kelly started to mention she was hungry; luckily, our favorite restaurant was right there in the mall.
To my surprise, as we walked up, my mother, father, and great-uncle were standing outside.
The meal was...well, I can describe it in one word. Steak.
After completely stuffing myself with steak and cheese fries, I received the most bittersweet of all treats. The wait-staff birthday song. Ten or so waiters and waitresses came over and serenaded me; I was totally embarrassed to the point where I could feel my face turning red. That's the only thing I specifically ask people NEVER to do for me, and yet my mom did it. Embarrassment aside, it was a lot of fun. I actually got a kick out of it. The waitress asked me if I wanted the short, long, or extended version of the birthday song. I shyly mentioned I wanted the short version. The entire wait staff dropped down to their knees in unison for the song. That broke the ice for me, and I cracked a smile.
After dinner, we headed back to my parents house for some cake and presents which is always fun. Mom came through with some delicious red velvet cake, and I left with some new shoes and a few shirts and some slacks.
That was pretty much my day, and I really couldn't have asked for a better one. I'm healthy, the weather was good, and I spent the day with my wife and kids, polished off with a family dinner. What's not to like about that?
Not that I have much of a choice, but I think being 29 is going to be ok after all.
