As I mentioned yesterday Sheri woke me up with a backrub and then some fresh coffee and a few slices of pizza. You can see my contented expression as I enjoy my coffee and digest my pizza.



I think Sheri took a picture on average of one every 20 seconds.



My nephew is obsessed with the Titanic, so of course he signed my card with a rendering of himself and Uncle Brad standing on the deck of the Titanic. Isn't that precious?



Lots of cool shirts.





A cool mini-kite from my nephew. I tried flying it yesterday but the wind just wasn't strong enough.



Sheri's favorite picture.





After gift-opening time we got dressed to go out for my birthday brunch. The emissions testing station is near to the restaurant we planned on going to so we stopped by there first to get it out of the way. We are required to do it every two years. There is a sign in front of the station that displays the current wait time. It said 13 minutes but there must have been at least 25 cars lined up in front of us. No way could it only be 13 minutes. We were already there so I just figured we would wait to get it over with. Started the stopwatch on my watch once we entered the facility and pulled into a line. Thirteen minutes later we were handed the certificate indicating we passed the test.

On the way to the restaurant we passed a PetSmart store and I remembered that I needed some fish food, so as long as we were in the area we stopped in. A greyhound rescue organization was there with four dogs. Beautiful. Sheri wants one. The greyhound personality almost perfectly matches our personality and temperaments. We both work much shorter hours now than when we first moved here, and I am much closer to home with only a 15 minute commute, so that issue is taken care of. Greyhounds are notorious couch potatoes and day-long sleepers too. The biggest issue for me is not having the flexibility to not come home directly after work if I want to go out for dinner or go into the city. On the other hand, when was the last time we have done that? Oh well. We'll see what happens.



We got to the restaurant, which happens to be in a mall, and they went out of business. I really wasn't surprised. It just didn't fit the kind of clientele you find at a shopping mall. The food was great, but the prices were significantly higher than the average mall rat is used to. We were there once before and I had an oyster po-boy and Sheri had their pulled pork. Both very good. I forgot what kind of soup Sheri ordered but it had small chunks of fresh raw apple stirred in just before being served. We split an order of blueberry cobbler for dessert. Excellent example of southern cooking. I was going to treat myself to the crab cakes yesterday. Oh well.

We stopped by a gaming store and I bought a fun little puzzle called River Crossing.





We were getting hungry, so what was a good substitute for some fine southern cuisine? Taco Bell of course. We hung out in the food court for a bit playing with our puzzle and people-watching.

We picked cake mix and a few household necessities on the way home. At home Sheri made my birthday cupcakes while I relaxed in the family room. She kept my drink filled and brought me some cupcakes when they were done.

We watched most of Brokeback Mountain but stopped 30 minutes from the end to watch Mad TV and then Saturday Night Live. Neither of us could figure out where all of the hype over the movie came from. It was technically a very good movie. I loved the wilderness scenes in Wyoming. The acting was very good, but the story line itself we just couldn't get into. Maybe when we watch the last 30 minutes tonight it will tie it all together. Who knows.

We are going to Ikea soon for a birthday hotdog, a cinnamon roll, coffee and a diet cola, and then get some things across the street at Meijer.