Another Year Wiser

Happy Monday all. Thanks everyone for all your birthday wishes, they are very much appreciated. As to the answer of the blog contest. I entered this world at 3:31 am and even though the 30% off deal was not in fact a clue, Hyla Waldron guess of 3:30 was about as close as you can get. Thanks for playing, perhaps there will be more of these comment contest in future.

I had a pretty good weekend, but this was the first birthday I've had where I actually felt older. You know how people can't help but ask if you feel any older on your birthday and inevitably the answer is no. You generally feel exactly the same age as you felt the day before. That is of course unless you visit the mall, which we did after going out to dinner with the kids. I find that a spot of shopping can make even the most uneventful birthday a bit better. It is even better when you venture into shops that you normally stay out of because they tempt you to spend too much money, either because they are overpriced or because they carry those things that you simply don't need. To that end, we entered the Hot Topic, who's products are both overpriced and generally useless, but occasionally nostalgic.

It is not the products in the Hot Topic that made me feel old, but the god awful "music" blasting at a volume that precludes any conversation below a shout. Look, I like music, I like heavy sounds, deep beats and industrial droning. I also think music should contain a melody of some sort complete with intelligible lyrics or maybe I am just getting old. I know I feel old in that store and I feel like a grown up when my favorite birthday gifts are my new desk with plenty of work space and a massage pillow because my back is killing me. Though as I tatted during the kids naps yesterday, I listened to my ipod and those great, if somewhat dated beats reminded me that the fact that I disliked the aggro noise in the mall doesn't make me old, it just makes me wise.