Happy Birthday, Bro!

My brother Jason's birthday is on the 24th, but since I'm going to be at Texas A&M in College Station this week for Texas School , we all got together and celebrated tonight at Big Buck's in Grapevine.

I gotta be honest... as a general rule I'm always a bit leery about eating at establishments that present you with buck antlers for door handles as you walk in the door.


Let's just say my suspicions were unfortunately justified - at least partly - by service that was a tad [read: painfully] slow and food that was so-so. Now, lemme preface that statement (can you preface a statement after you've already stated it?) by saying that we all grew up in relatively small towns in the Midwest where eating out at Applebee's was considered a special occasion, so I would say none of us are particularly picky or generally critical people. However, nearly 3 hours to get in the door, eat, reminisce about how my brother used to pin me down and slobber on me as a kid, and exit that same door is a bit much when the restaurant was only half full on a Friday night. In hindsight, maybe the half full on a Friday night thing shoulda been a clue.

In any case, I digress. It was great to get together again and be able to celebrate his birthday together. Many people live far enough away from family and friends that they don't have luxury of being together for special occasions, so I really am thankful for that.

While my brother and I are very different people (I have hair, he's losing his, etc.), it's funny how when we're together there's a banter that still exists between us that feels like we're still back in jr. high. Man, those were good times. Thanks, bro, for all those times you unknowingly let me borrow your clothes. Thanks for unwillingly chauffeuring me around before I got my license even when you had dates. Most importantly, thanks for showing me all the ways to get caught when you were doing something you weren't supposed to be doing so that I could learn from your mistakes and get away with a lot more!

Seriously, though, thanks for everything. Happy birthday, Bro!