Thanks for the birthday wishes. I had a wonderful birthday weekend.

Friday night I saw "Romeo and Juliet." I liked it quite a lot, despite the fact that folks in the neighborhood shot off more than a few bottle rockets that evening. Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Shakespeare might have stolen some of his ideas from "West Side Story." I just wish Officer Krupke had been able to keep those dangerous poisons and weapons off the streets of Verona.

Saturday I went to Ron's cook-out. The weather could not have been much worse- most of the day was spent crowded in the garage. But they are wonderful hosts and we had a great time. We played a few rain-plagued games of washers, ate a lot, and saw a spectacular backyard fireworks show that wowed the kids. During the fireworks Lauren Meyer told her mom and dad "THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" so I guess it was pretty good.

Sunday Jim, Ron, Mike and I played golf at Belterra, saw another fireworks show (I know my birthday is a big deal, but I was surprised by the number of people who celebrated with fireworks), ate a terrific buffet, and did well at the casino.

This morning we teed off late because of heavy fog and the wet course, then played 16 more holes before we had to call it quits and get back to town.

All in all we terrific time.
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Evening addition: Tonight, just as the post-4-day-weekend blues were hitting- I was taking care of bills and thinking about work tomorrow and worrying about a doubleheader tomorrow with lots of injured or unavailable softball players- Mark and the girls called and sang Happy Birthday. Ta-da! Blues gone.

Oh, and Mom and Dad and Brian called, too. But they didn't sing.