I am the very model

As I'm sure you're all aware, I celebrated my birthday last week. In case I haven't already thanked everyone, thanks again. One phone call is still reeling in my head, actually. The phone call my father placed to me. Once he had wished me a happy b-day, we got to chatting, as my cab rushed me away from Rogers Park, down to my neighborhood, after seeing The Science of Sleep (which I can't really recommend, unless you speak Spanish and French and enjoy Bjork videos to an extreme), he asked a strange question my father usually doesn't ask me.

"What are you doing next Friday?"

I knew I had friends coming to town that night and that I was going to the Wolves home opener on that Saturday, but the potential of having my dad visit me in Chicago got me all atwitter. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. What's really happening is my step-sister, unbeknownst to myself, my father, or my stepmother, had enrolled in the US Navy. They found out the day they came around to tell her where to report, which is, of course, Great Lakes Military Academy, right here in the cozy Chicagoland Area. She is graduating tomorrow, and my stepmother and I are attending graduation, as well as a reception for honored recruits.

I have to admit that I'm more than a little proud of her.

I'm also worried. There's this war that isn't going on in the Middle East, and some nut over in North Korea who's making his case at being the next target of this misled administration. I've had family in the Navy, even a step-nephew of mine graduated a couple years ago, and I have friends who have also served, most notably Bosco, who tells me that the safest place to be in the modern navy is aboard an aircraft carrier. He would know, too, as he served on the Nimitz. I'm going to try to hint that it might be a good idea to request that, if she can.

In other news, it was my grandfather's 74th birthday on Friday, the primary reason for my trip out to the ancestral homes near Chadwick, IL. He's looking good, he's lost a lot of weight, but he's a fighter, and he's so amazingly upbeat is makes me jealous. Oh, and he had no idea I was coming out there, so the surprise was priceless.

A bonus for my trip out there was that my cousin's homecoming football game was that night. He's a senior this year, and he's the last of the male grandchildren for our generation, so it'll be a while before I have someone I'm related to to root for in a game, so I was more than happy to go out and support the team's captain. It was fun, and the game included a 93 yard kickoff return by the home team, who won 30-24.

Again, I have to admit that I'm a little more than proud of him.

Last week, I applied for a job that I thought I would really like. I applied through a website, so it required me to upload my resume, which I made public, in case someone else might be interested in a guy like me. That was Tuesday. On my birthday I took 4 calls and received 2 e-mails. On Thursday, still more calls and e-mails, and this week, I got a lead that I really liked, so this morning, I woke up early, showered, shaved, put on a suit and headed down for an interview. I'm not going to comment on the interview yet, as I don't want to jinx myself (I've been unemployed so long, I'm getting superstitious). Afterwards, I went over to my old Tower to do some shopping before they close permanently- they're going out of business, so time is short!

Lastly, my beloved Chicago Wolves are starting up their season tomorrow night. I'm excited to have hockey back. Very, very, very, very excited to have hockey back. I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control, and I think I like it.