BilikFamily.com

Birthday - Yep, today I turn 38. I'm on the luge towards 40. Actually, I'm pretty calm about that because many of my peers I admire most are in their 40's. It's taken away the dread. And to think that when I moved out here I cringed about turning 30! Bah!

And warmest birthday wishes to my brother, Chris, whose birthday is tomorrow!

Errands - Today I drop my '98 Accord off for it's 60K service and state inspection. I'd been putting it off a bit so it's a few thousand miles overdue. I'd procrastinated in order to recover financially from the basement work and purchasing the plane tickets. This'll be its first time going to Sunnyside Acura instead of Peters Honda. I had recommendations from two co-workers to try them if I was disappointed with Peters. My office is almost exactly between the two. Peters is at 300 Amherst; my office is at 400 Amherst; Sunnyside is at 482 Amherst. We also get a ton of wood pellets delivered today. I guess you could euphemistically say I'm getting a lot of wood on my birthday! Ahem! After June passes the price on wood goes up a little bit every month as winter approaches. Regardless of the price hikes, it's still cheaper than heating with propane, especially with recent hikes in petroleum prices surpassing $60 a barrel.

Herbie - Sunday I took Claire and the twins to see Herbie Fully Loaded. We all enjoyed it. It's a cute movie with nice use of special effects. I'm not a big fan of Lindsay Lohan off camera, but she did a good job here as Maggie Peyton. Matt Dillon did a good job as the arrogant professional, Trip Murphy, who's determined not to be upstaged by a '63 Bug. Claire and I have seen all of the original Herbie movies so it was interesting to seem some common themes come back and updated for modern times. I got a laugh at Herbie falling for a yellow, current model VW Beetle. “Herbie, she's too young for you!”

Veggies - Yesterday we got the latest Veggietales movie in the mail: Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush. As you might guess, it's a spoof on the Indiana Jones themes. The DVD also had a trailer for their upcoming DVD: Lord of the Bean. We only watched a little bit of Minnesota Cuke last night before I took Claire and two of her friends out bowling. It seems that taking Claire to the local candlepin bowling alley is the cheapest way to really make Claire's day. That, or a trip to Blakes Ice Cream. Even though she and I are pretty lame bowlers, she still loves it. One of those two friends stayed overnight for a sleepover with Claire. Ever since school let out, the sleepovers have been prolific!