Birthdays

So as most of you already know, in less than two weeks time, I’m going to be turning 30. No, I will not be starting any fires in Vancouver with the heat from my birthday cake, but I will be drinking no doubt in some bar somewhere with some of my friends. 30 is a really a strange birthday. As I approach it, I’m not really sad about it, but I am aware of the weight of it. I think it makes you look back on a pretty important chapter of your life and evaluate where you were, where you are, and hopefully where you’re still going. As Kris said a few weeks ago over beers, “a decade will do that to you.”

Last night my dad came out from Chilliwack to hang out and crash on my couch (my bed is always available to guests, but honestly my couch is usually comfier), and to hang out. We took the aquabus over to granville island and had a nice dinner at the Keg. Afterwards, we came back home, opened a 1996 Chateau du Cray I’ve had around for a while, and drank some wine while watching movies. It was a really fun night, and it’s nice to have family in the big city from time to time.

During his visit, my dad gave me my very first birthday present of the season — a powered camping cooler. He has one similar, one that he lent me during my road trip in the summer. It’s awesome because you can throw it in the back seat, plug it into the cigarette lighter, and relax knowing that you’ll have cold beer or pop whenever you reach your destination. (As an aside, I remember saying the word “pop” to this cute girl in Oulu and having her nearly buckle over in laughter for how stupid it sounded).

As you can see, I have written another blog entry. I’m not sure what that means entirely, but I realized over the last few days how hard it is not to write about things. I’ve had a couple of events pop up where I was like “wow, I should write about that”, only to then realize I’m taking a break from blogging. So, maybe I’m back for now.

I’ve had some interesting emails over the last few days (some of them written while sober, some obviously while hammered), mainly about my “Etiquitte” post. Some people totally agreed with what I said, others not so much. Just to set the record straight, that post wasn’t really directed at anyone in particular, it was just an observation regarding the times we live in, and how most relationships end up being, for whatever reasons, quite superficial. Which is why I’m gonna step it up a notch or two with some of my friends too. The other night I went over to Jeff and Michele’s and got to see baby Maya for the first time.. I snapped a few photos and have attached them to the bottom of this post. I’m also hoping to head out to White Rock for a few hours this weekend and hang out with Brennen, Jessica and Kaedy (so if you read this, get the BBQ ready).

In just a few weeks as well, sometime after my birthday, I’ll be going into St. Paul’s for another round of reconstructive surgery on my eye socket. The end goal is to repair the damage to the bottom of my eye socket, which should hopefully correct my double vision and the position of my eye (which unfortunately is slightly out due to the rather large hole under my eye). I still have limited sensation on the left side of my face, including my cheek, left part of my nose, and almost no sensation (like when you come out of the dentist) in my left lip, gums or teeth. If this is caused by swelling or impairment of the infraorbital nerve in my eye socket, it may correct itself slowly after the surgery. However, usually after six months nerves generally don’t get any better. So, this may be as good as it gets.