Half Way to Retirement

Since Jaime hasn't posted in... oh, I don't know, almost two weeks, I figure I'll keep the life of this blog alive. She keeps saying she has so many posts she needs to do, but keeps piling them up and hasn't found time to do them. I keep telling her we are turning into one of THOSE people. Yeah, so this week was my 31st B-day. They say your prime in life, for a man, is about 35 years old. That is suppose to be when everything starts to move back downhill. Why is that hard to believe... I'm still 4 years away and after shoulder surgery, reconstructive knee surgery, and arthritis in pretty much every joint in my body, I think I may be one of those fine print exceptions. I do try to hit the gym a couple times a week, which I never even considered doing at 25, and I have to say, it doesn't feel like I am moving towards my prime. In fact, I think this is the first year I have ever had to think beforehand about standing up s-l-o-w-l-y after I have been sitting for a while, so that I don't pull something in my back again. Yeah, that didn't happen at 25 either. Heaven forbid someone break into my house at night, as I would have to carefully roll out of bed and take a couple minutes to stretch out, so that I wouldn't cramp up and tip over in an attempt to protect the fam. Every time I watch one of those Home Gym commercials now where they have some bum saying, "I'm 50, and I'm in the best shape of my life.." I think, yeah, maybe you've lost a couple hundred pounds or so, and can now see your shoes, but don't bend over and try to tie them or you may never get back up. I guess 31 is the year that you actually start to feel old. It is half way to retirement though...

Other than the pain that comes with age, the overall birthday went well. Jaime took me out to breakfast at IHOP with Spencer and Lizeth, then we rushed to Kayley's (Jen & Jerry's daughter) birthday party for a couple hours, where there must have been a hundred kids. I haven't seen that many people at a birthday party since I was a kid and was invited to a friend's "mexican siesta". Afterwards, Mark and I ran to Ben Avery to sight in our rifles for his elk hunt which opens on Thurs (Thanksgiving). Oh yeah... And we all know how important it is to have a sighted gun, right! Hopefully, we will bring home a few hundred pounds of "dark meat" for Thanksgiving. Later that night, Jaime took me and invited Mark, Brooke, Spencer, and their spouses to an improv comedy club called Jester's. It was pretty funny. I had heard of it, but never been there. I was impressed with how quick some of the comedians could come up with on-the-fly skits and actually make them hilarious. If you've never gone, I would definitely check it out. Thanks Jaime.

This week's hunt should be pretty cold. Last year, it got down to about 11 degrees. That's too cold, especially for me. It's funny though how adrenalin and excitement seems to numb physical pain. Dale (my father in law) just got back from his hunt this weekend up north near the border by Kanab. Both him and his buddy Daryl hit a couple trophy bucks. Congrats! (Pic below) Hopefully we can keep the trend going for Mark's elk hunt.