Big thanks out to all my family and friends who made my 30th birthday such a special one. I was feeling pretty down about the whole thing, but they all (Julie especially) made me realize that it wasn't so bad.

I went for a long drive on Friday afternoon (this was before I found that gas prices had gone up 6 cents/litre between breakfast and dinner), and thought about what being 30 means to me and what I'd like to accomplish over the next 10 years.

Here are some of the things I came up with:

• Be a good father to Ronan; try to put him ahead of me and my needs and make sure he becomes a smart, well rounded kid
• Finish my childrens' novel that's been hobbling along for nearly 8 years; start writing at least 3 nights a week
• Post to this blog 3 times a week
• Exercise 3 times a week; be under 210 pounds by 40

That's about all I came up with for now.

The beard didn't make it to my birthday. It made me look much younger when I shaved it though, so a bit of a bonus there.