I’ve decided to start celebrating my birthday as a season, rather than as a single day. My birthseason shall begin on Halloween, is followed about a week-and-a-half later by a day off for Veterans’ Day (with the occasional Election Day thrown in-between), then what I like to call the “My Birthday-Thanksgiving Corridor” (November 22nd-28th), with at least two Leftover Days and a long weekend in there somewhere. My mom’s birthday is shortly thereafter, which is an opportunity to eat cake so that’s something. Then Hanukkah, Christmas Eve and Christmas, usually in that order, followed by at least one more Leftover Day. The final week of my birthseason includes New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, the college football bowl games, and it ends on January 6th, the Epiphany. Forty-four days of celebrating the day of my birth and the time around it.

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Last night was birthday dinner with the family since I knew I wouldn’t have time today: Chicago deep-dish pizza with pepperoni and black olives. It did not quite make up for watching the Bears suck their way to a 24-20 loss against the Eagles.

Actual Birthday Today went pretty well, considering I woke up with a stuffed-up nose and the sinus pressure was incredible. It’s still pretty bad. Anyhow, I got to school, opened my office door, and found that my room had been decorated with blue and yellow crepe paper left over from Homecoming week. I thought that was nice, but I had to take it down because the kids wouldn’t have been able to see the screen or the board. I received several cards, several posters with “Happy Birthday” scrawled on them, a drawing, a watercolor painting, a birthday cookie, and a birthday song-and-a-half. No other presents. Close enough (to my goal of no presents aside from cards and food) for government work.

Got home, made a steak, ate the steak, felt like drilling a hole in my head to relieve the sinus pressure, was given a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, made a wish that my sinus pressure would disappear, wasn’t surprised when it didn’t, ate said cake, felt better. All in all, another successful birthday.

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I would like to celebrate the day I turn one-third-of-a-century-old. The question is, on what date should I celebrate? There are two possibilities. The easy one is March 23^rd, 2010, which is four calendar months after my 33^rd birthday. But the more precise one is two days later: March 25^th, 2010. Consider: on my 100^th birthday, I will have been alive 36,525 days; one-third of 36,525 is 12,175; and adding 12,175 days to the date of my birth yields a result of March 25^th, 2010. Tough call, but I’ve got time to make it.

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Here are my previous birthday entries. Enjoy.

11/23/2005: On turning 30.

11/23/2006: On turning 30 (for real this time).

11/23/2007: On turning 29.

11/23/2008: On turning 30 again.