Happy 23rd!

Tuesday (Dec 2) was the 23rd anniversary of the day that I was brought into this world aka my birthday. The main question I got was "What are your plans?" So, for all that wants to know, this is what I dd on my birthday. I woke up around 6:45 and got dressed and went to work. At work, everyone brings some type of baked good on the birthday of someone from our team so after I got my daily cup of green tea, my team proceeded to feast on what looked think the Thanksgiving desert table part 2. Then I was in meetings most of the day. At about 1:00 pm, I left to go teach JA to a rambunctious group of 3rd graders who insist on calling me "Mr. Patrick". I came back to work after that and answered some emails. Then, I went back to my apartment and took a brief nap and changed clothes then I went to the Wheel House for dinner/drinks. For those who have never heard of the Wheel House (which no one reading this blog should have ), it is one of the two bars that I frequent in Midland, mostly because the wait staff is nice, the food is really good, and the people that drink there regularly are a fun group. I decided to have the special for dinner which was a delicious Gyro with homemade Cucumber Sauce. If this is added to the menu, I may no longer be relegated to having the usual in which I am some accustomed to. Danielle the bartender gave me some cracked out shot made with Crown Royal and Butterscotch liqueur which was alright but I will never order it on my own. After a few Budweiser's I left. Then, I went to a friend from works apartment and had some more beer and cake. In hindsight, a heavy wheat beer and cake are not necessarily the best combination.

Following the very good cake, I went over to a very disappointing Oscar's (another bar) where none of the bartenders that I know were working and was quiet that I could actually hear people talking further than 5 ft away from me. I did however get to see the highlights from the OSU/Uof Miami basketball game. Congrats Bucks! Anyways back to the story. After having one beer, it was about 10:30 so I decided to go home and that is the full version of how I spent my 23rd birthday.

It was definitely a break in birthday ritual. I have been spoiled over the previous 22 years of being able to spend my birthday with most if not all of my closest friends and the last 4 years were the best of the bunch, Freshmen year was dinner at Steak and Shake in Reynoldsburg with a bunch of people from Park Hall including the full group of fellas, the 9th floor girls, and DWash. Even though their was an altercation in the Park hall lobby prior to leaving we still had a good time. Sophomore year was dinner with the fellas at BDs and then Cheesecake with Dana and Tanisha, Junior Year was dinner with the fellas again at BDs but I was 21 and the unfortunate events surrounding a large bottle of Grey Goose courtesy of Mr. Alex Young and last year was watching West Virgina and Missouri losing. Which put Ohio State in a BCS National Championship which we unfortunately lost to LSU but nonetheless made the start of my Birthday great. That same night, Anjali made me drink a bottle of Korbel in which I still have the cork. Thanks to Mr. Sanchez, the bottle was finished and we were able to go to the bar. I also went to BDs with the fellas yet again, which is always a treat.

I write all of this to say, birthdays are always special but they are so much more special when they are able to be shared with those who you care about. Birthdays are traditionally considered to be a day to celebrate the life thus far of someone close to you and to look forward to the life ahead. It is that person's day as the center of attention. However, as I learned this year, a birthday can mean so much more. By my lack of plans and real interaction with friends, I learned a lot. My friends are by far the most important people to me. They keep me balanced and excited about the challenges of life. I always looked forward to birthdays because they were a time that I was guaranteed to spend a good amount of relaxed time with some friends for the sole purpose of having a good time.

I expected this year to be very different however I hope that next year I will be back to spending birthdays with all of the people that I care about closely (at least the ones located in Midland).

Thanks to all of my friends that called, texted, sent emails, sent facebook messages, and wrote on my wall. It meant a lot!