Gettin Older By The Day

As some of you may have heard by now, today is my birthday. That’s right, I’m celebrating the completion of my 24th year here on planet Earth. (And subsequently, the start of my 25th year, which makes me feel old)* To commemorate this fantastic day, I’m gonna run down my life and give a highlight or two from each year. I apologize if this seems self-centered and arrogant, I needed an idea for a post and well, this day only comes around once a year. Here goes…

Year One: May 23, 1984-May 22, 1985- Didn’t do too much. My days consisted mostly of sleeping, eating and pooping. Not unlike my freshman year at ACU.

Year Two: May 23, 1985-May 22, 1986- Started this year out by overindulging myself with chocolate cake in front of family and friends in the backyard. I think I learned to crawl that year, too. This was probably awesome because I could get around the house, and run amok.

Year Three: May 23, 1986-May 22, 1987- My first birthday as a big brother. This was probably cool because there were more people at my party.

Year Four: May 23, 1987-May 22, 1988- Tuesday/Thursday school began, which was again, probably neat, as was graduating into being a very good walker and more than adequate runner. (I may have been a good runner/walker earlier than this, but really, I don’t remember)

Year Five: May 23, 1988-May 22, 1989- Don’t remember too much from this year. The late ‘80s were hard, I guess. I do remember, however, losing my first tooth the day before my fifth birthday. I did this by, wait for it, wait for it…biting a tennis ball. What was wrong with me?

Year Six: May 23, 1989-May 22, 1990- Began and completed my first year of real school, at Bethune Elementary in Temple, Texas. That school year was especially sweet since it began with me wearing my killer Snoopy shorts to school the first day.

Year Seven: May 23, 1990-May 22, 1991- First grade. Tee-Ball. Not much else.

Year Eight: May 23, 1991-May 22, 1992- Second grade. Tee-Ball and Soccer. Moved to Belton. Not much else.

Year Nine: May 23, 1992-May 22, 1993- Third grade. Our family moved into our new home in Belton, where many of my boyhood memories reside. Also, the Dallas Cowboys won their first Super Bowl of my lifetime, a 52-17 whippin of the Buffalo Bills.

Year Ten: May 23, 1993-May 22, 1994- All Cowboys, all the time. They beat the Bills for the second straight year, sending me into great expectations for the ‘Boys for the rest of my life.

Year Eleven: May 23, 1994-May 22, 1995- My basketball Jones is struck, as I see the Houston Rockets win the first of two consecutive NBA Championships. Between January 1993, and January 1996, teams I rooted for won a combined FIVE Championships. Great times for a young sports fan.

Year Twelve: May 23, 1995-May 22, 1996- The Boys win their third Super Bowl in four years, placing my expectations for them somewhere in the “unrealistic” stratosphere for the rest of my childhood. My final year of Little League baseball also came to a crushing end, as my (awesome) team, the Indians, lost for the first time all season in the district tournament. This was especially disappointing since the state tournament was held in Belton that year, and we expected to be there. Our season ended with a 35-2 record. Not bad, but very disappointing since the two losses came back-to-back to end the year. And no, I’m not still bitter. For real.

Year Thirteen: May 23, 1996-May 22, 1997- My first year at Belton Junior High is in the books, as is my first year of organized football. This turned out to be highly disappointing since I saw myself as a potent wide receiver threat, but the BJH coaches saw us as a highly effective running team. Conflict of interest ensues.

Year Fourteen: May 23, 1997-May 22, 1998- I see my first live NBA game in San Antonio. The Spurs are playing the Rockets, and Chuck Barkley gets kicked out of the game for punting the ball into the stands. It is at this point that I officially convert to being a Spurs fan for life. This is a decision that will pay off greatly in the future. Also, organized football is officially out of my life. I choose to focus my high school career on basketball, track, and mid-level AP classes.

Year Fifteen: May 23, 1998-May 22, 1999- Get through my first year of high school alive. Good enough for me.

Year Sixteen: May 23, 1999-May 22, 2000- Lowlight of this year would undoubtedly be watching my mom fall on a bunny slope in Steamboat Springs, CO and break a few ribs and puncture a lung. It would have been a much better trip if that hadn’t happened.

Year Seventeen: May 23, 2000-May 22, 2001- Make the varsity basketball team at BHS, end up starting the second half of the year, and help the team get to the playoffs for the first time in ten years, as well as get named Second Team All-District. A heartbreaking OT loss in the first round of the playoffs really sucked, though.

Year Eighteen: May 23, 2001-May 22, 2002- The basketball team had a great season, winning our first 11 games and finishing 29-6. Another Second team All-District selection was nice, but winning the school’s first outright district championship was very cool. As far as track went, decent year overall, a third place finish in the district meet was acceptable.

Year Nineteen: May 23, 2002-May 22, 2003- Arguably the greatest year ever for me. ACU, freshman year, dorms, curfew, lighting the bathroom on fire, staying up, sneaking out, meeting some of my best friends to this day. All in all, a pretty stinkin good year.

Year Twenty: May 23, 2003-May 22, 2004- This year started on a very bad note, as I got a ticket for speeding on my birthday on my way home from a super-cruddy summer job at a factory. It got progressively better, though, as I made the wise decision to pledge GSP in the fall, and yes, met Kayla in the Spring of 2004.

Year Twenty-One: May 23, 2004-May 22, 2005- Another great year at ACU, highlighted by my first year living in the Burgh with my roomies, being GSP intramural director, and participating in Insanity For Humanity, the 60-hour softball game that GSP played in order to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

Year Twenty-Two: May 23, 2005-May 22, 2006- What do you know, another great year in college! Began this one in Oxford, England during a Maymester Summer Course. The great year continued with the UT baseball team winning the NCAA championship, the Spurs winning their third NBA Championship, and of course, the Horns winning the BCS championship in the greatest bowl game ever. Oh yeah, I also proposed and graduated that year.

Year Twenty-Three: May 23, 2006-May 22, 2007- Lived by myself in Graham, Texas. While it was different, it was still quite the learning experience, and I enjoyed living out there. Special memories of Graham include coaching the 7th grade B team to an 18-16 victory over Vernon with my dad in the stands, and getting to drive his truck around for a week after my car broke down on New Year’s Day.

Year Twenty-Four: May 23, 2007-May 22, 2008- Two weeks into this year, I got married. That was neat, and so was the Honeymoon to El Dorado Royale. I Began working at Sartartia Middle School in August, and got my special education certification shortly thereafter. In December, I started the sports blog you’re reading with a buddy. I still think that was a good idea. And now, as one year of life ends, and another begins, I’m preparing to move waaaayyyy out West to pursue a Master’s Degree. Whoda thunk, going from sleeping and pooping all day to chasing advanced education? And to think, it only took six years.

*Alright, I need help with this, because it’s really freaking me out. While today I celebrate my 24th birthday, it’s really the beginning of my 25th year, right? So why don’t we celebrate our birthday the day before we were actually born? For instance, I was born on May 23, 1984, so shouldn’t my first birthday have been celebrated on May 22, 1985, since that marked the completion of my first year? Because the way we go about celebrating birthdays is actually to celebrate on the first day of the person’s next year, correct? And if so, that just cheapens the whole experience of a birthday party, like hello, we need one more candle here!?!? If this makes sense to anyone, help me out; if it was too confusing and poorly worded, I apologize, I’m just a bit frazzled here.

-Old Twig