Yesterday the day before today.

Yesterday was my birthday (Now you know the reason for all those parades) and today is not. I celebrated in style with Darren and Bonnie coming over for steak and cake. They provided the steak and cake and I provided the place to come. It was my first birthday since moving to Texas and you would think that having a birthday in a state where you know 2 people might be rather bleak, but actually it was alright. I realized that I can't really remember the last time I had a cake on my birthday...5th grade may be? Now that I've had it...i think I want it again. Being in a new area Holidays and Birthdays are probably going to be less exciting than usual. In reality I'm not that excitable of a person so may be on the surface it doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but having the option to celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas with people and choosing not to, is a big step up from not having an option to celebrate with anyone. It is a little ironic to me that my birthday here, where I know nobody, was the most I "celebrated" in the last 10 years...did I mention there was cake? Besides the "party" i got the usual phone calls and facebook messages that accompany such an achievement as staying alive for one more year. My dad even called to wish me happy birthday. He actually called twice, the first time he couldn't remember why he called and instead filled me in on what my dog Homer has been doing. My dad seems to think that Homer could have his own reality show as he loves to tell people what shenanigans he is in to. For those dieing to know, Homer has been eating food, sleeping, and sometimes lying down while he eats. The second phone call Dad remembered that he called to wish me a happy birthday, but again insisted on holding the phone up to dog and forcing me to say things like, "hey homer...good boy" My dad then laughed and said, "He knows it's you!" We have this same conversation at least twice a week. Most of the time I don't say anything, but my dad still says "He knows it's you!" every time. Sometimes I wonder if my dad has a blog where he talks about how he doesn't really hold the phone up to the dog and wonders why I don't say anything...or why I sometimes do?
I also got a phone call from my sister and she had my niece and nephews sing (yell) happy birthday to me. They do this every year and every year it does make an old grump like myself smile a little bit. They even got my name right this year. Usually at least one of them, sometimes all of them (my sister included) says "Uncle Darren" instead of "Uncle Derek." The funny thing is that when it's his birthday they do the same thing to him. So all in all it was a decent Birthday.