Not sure how to start up writing after all this time off, but I thought I'd give it a try now that I'm an old man, and see if it's any easier.

I had a fantastic birthday party for my thirtieth. Hope and her sister, Amanda, managed to pull off quite the surprise party despite an awkward phone call from my man Mose. He thought I already knew about the party and called up about twenty minutes beforehand asking: "Hey Wally, how do I get to Hope's sister's house?"

Needless to say I guess I figured something was up, but Hope and Amanda put a killer backup plan into action. The details are a little long in the telling, but I had no idea that a big surprise party was waiting for me at Amanda and Tony's (her husband) condo.

I don't think I've seen all of these old and new friends in one place ever! My whole family was there, Hope's family was there, Damian, Julie, and Thora, Mose and Jessica, Moon and Christie, Blizz and Nila, Josh, Rachael, and Chris and Marie. It was awesome! I was a little embarrassed at all the presents that everyone brought, but I also very incredibly grateful and lucky to be surrounded by good friends and family.

Whew... that's about as much as I want to type right now. Hopefully this will plant a little seed in my head that will remind me to keep on doing it. I'm going to be going to San Francisco in a few weeks to attend the LinuxWorld convention, so I'll try to get some info about how that all goes.

Laters!

-M