Back in the States now means that I can celebrate my bday with friends and family instead of backpackers from a hostel in Argentina.
Birthday Week began on Monday with the new job at Offutt. Pretty excited to put all that education to use and get back to work! That month long gap between jobs was ok, but it was making me go bonkers. This job should be a great challenge and a great opportunity to learn lots from a group of talented and motivated IT professionals. This will be a great chance to excel!
Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty quiet. Kinda laid low and read a little bit.
Thursday night was great! A top Thursday if you ask me. Jamie, Rafal, and I drove out to East Lincoln aka Village Pointe for the Rocky Balboa sneak preview. Security was pretty intense: metal detectors, night vision monoculars and Confidential Security waiting to examine people as they came through the queue. Oh boy, the badge they had looked pretty official...it had an eagle on it and a logo in a bold font. The movie was great and I feel satisfied that the Rocky story has come to an end. Especially since Rocky dies at the end of the movie. I hope they do not use the scene at the end where his son puts Rocky's gloves on his grave but then picks them up as a symbol that he is going to pick up boxing and step into the ring. Oh, Kevin Cougler from the local sports radio station here in Omaha gave us the tickets after I showed him the foto of Linus with a Rocky tattoo. We called the kid Linus because he was walkin the 26mile Inca Trail with his sleeping bad untied, he was carrying it like the Peanuts character. Im sure this dude is pretty excited about Rocky Balboa...you gotta be if you ink the protagonist onto your shoulder!
Thursday finished with some Couchsurfers from Portland. Jenn and Robert were two cool hipsters who had a knack for thrift store shopping, tattoos, saying the word, "man", going to village inn, and smoking cigarettes. They were ok...just a little strange.
Friday was the big day...Bday! Number 21, the seventh time around. Jamie was the first to call me. Man, she beat out the entire family! This girl's a keeper! My parents and my sisters were all like, "I can remember when you were this big, Jimmy." I had dinner with Ma and will have cake and ice cream with both Ma and Pa when he gets back from the farm. Friday evening we all went to Bright Eyes and listened to some great music by Conner Oberst. This concert was great, much better than the cold and rainy concert last May.
Saturday was another stellar night. Two words are all I hafta say. Turtleneck Party. My friend Ian suggested a Turtleneck and Mustache party, but I sent out the invitations too late for anyone to grow a decent stache. Lots of great stories and good times to go with all the ridiculous turtlenecks and whatnot. Jamie and I got some pretty weird stares when we entered the Underwood Bar with matching sweaters. People thought we must have robbed a 4th grade teacher to get these premium sweaters.
Birthday Week 2006 was a success. Much better than BW 2005 where I shared it with two Dutch girls, an Aussie, and a Brit at a crowded hostel with no fans to circulate the hot Argentine summer air. Fotos to come soon.
Cheers!
