Bits, Pieces, Birthday Greetings, and Another Bumper Sticker

While I finally found some time for a "bloggy" post, I still won't be able to write about the impending demise of my all-time favorite chocolate shop. Catherine's Belgian Chocolates, from which I just acquired a small bar of 88% cocoa (for more on my strange relationship with high concentrations of cocoa, see this) is closing, evidently because I was their only customer. And I don't even have time (yet) to write a proper eulogy.

Why? Because right now I should be packing my munchkin and all of the stuff that comes with him into the minivan. Today my "little" brother (who now stands a good 2+ inches taller than me, so is hardly little) turns 24. Happy birthday, Jason! We'll do our best to make it on time for your dinner.

As if that weren't enough, tomorrow my darling wife - who has tolerated me for almost 5 years now - officially turns "almost old." My dad, in a rare moment of near honesty, once said that for him the most traumatic birthday was his thirtieth, because when he turned thirty he became "old." After that, no matter how old he got, it was only a matter of degree. The distance between "young" and "old" is far greater than the distance between "old" and "older."

In honor of my dad's theory of aging, my beautiful Sami shall be declared, upon turning 29 tomorrow, officially "almost old." This is to remind her that the few grey hairs looking at her in the mirror each morning really do belong to her, even if I gave them to her. Soon they shall be joined by more and more of their kind, gradually taking over her head, an undeniable sign of the irrepressible movement of time.

Happy birthday, dear! Sorry I'm so sadistic.

But that's not why I decided to write instead of packing the car for our trip to see my brother. I had to write because my mother-in-law just phoned in the mother of all bumper sticker watches.

For those of you uninitiated into my appreciation of bumper stickers, please see the following posts:

The Mystery of the Missing Magnetic Ribbon

Magnetic Ribbons and Bumper Politics Revisited

Holiday Cheer, Another Bumper Sticker, and Growling in the Parking Lot

Bumper Sticker Watch

Bumper Sticker Watch 4.0

Anyway, just a moment ago my mother-in-law called me because, well... I guess she knew that I'd be home (where else would I be?) and she had to share this with someone. On her way home from doing whatever it is she does with her time she saw a bumper sticker which read:

I MISS IKE!
hell... I even miss Harry.

That says it all, doesn't it?

But we know we're in trouble if they ever make one that says:

I MISS DICK!