44

By the grace of God, I survived another year on this planet and wasn't called home.  I told you last year, I wasn't much into birthdays (especially, after 21 because after that one they don't matter except to remind you that you are getting old - There is one exception for 62, 65 or 70 or whenever I get to retire) and that there wasn't much to look forward to after turning 43 because it was the last cool number remaining and I still think I am correct but in doing some further research I did find some exceptions for the number 44.

1.  Hammering Hank Aaron - Atlanta Braves; Home Run Leader w/ 755 (don't even get me started on this...Barry Bonds is listed as the record holder but he is as clean as Aubrey is after playing in the yard and I don't believe any grown person with enough intelligence to play professional sports is going to let anyone inject them with something they don't know about..."I thought is was B12."...right and "officer I thought I was drinking root beer"...right.  I don't have a friend in this world that I would allow to inject me with anything.  As a matter of fact, I not real thrilled about a doctor or nurse injecting me with anything and if they do I darn sure know exactly what it is and why they are giving it to me and if they are sure this is the only way for me to be cured.)
2.  Willie McCovey - labeled "The Scariest Hitter In Baseball" by pitcher Bob Gibson; HOF; San Francisco Bay beyond the right field fence renamed "McCovey Cove" - wonder if I can get something named after me?
3.  Reggie Jackson - Mr. October; the premier clutch hitter of the playoffs; won 5 World Series titles - 3 with A's and 2 with Yankees - A little known fact is that I am known as Mr. April
4.  George "The Iceman" Gervin; San Antonio Spurs; 26.2 points per game average; HOF; NBA's 50 Greatest Players
5.  Jerry West - Mr. Clutch/Mr. Laker; 14 Time All Star, 29.1 points per game in the playoffs; He is the player in the NBA logo; Laker's coach and Laker's GM for 7 championships
6.  Pete Maravich - Pistol Pete; incredible ball handler and scorer
7.  Danny Ainge; Never much of a fan for some reason...always seemed to present himself as better than everyone else
8.  John Riggins; Washington Redskins; Super Bowl XVII MVP, 11,352 yards rushing over 14 years
9.  Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little; Syracuse University - retired the number 44 in 2005
10.  Terry Labonte - Piedmont Airlines Chevrolet 44 - did you think there wasn't going to be a NASCAR reference?  Piedmont Airlines is now part of US Scareways...I mean Airways.
And most importantly
11.  44 Magnum - made famous by Dirty Harry
"I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

*If you want all the facts from 1967, who was born on April 21st,...etc read last years post.
*LA can confirm that I did not get a tattoo of the 43.
*I am another year closer to the big 50 which is nothing to shout to loud about.


This year for my birthday, I took the day off (2 years in a row, a record) since LA was on Spring Break.  We headed to Cracker Barrel (you can't go wrong with Cracker Barrel for breakfast and I love some Momma's Pancake Breakfast) for breakfast and headed downtown for an afternoon at the Charleston Children's Museum.  We had a good time.  Aubrey and Wyatt loved the water room and Aubrey liked the art room.  It's not a full day adventure but it is a pretty fun place that's local and if you need something with a/c, heat or that's dry, you can't beat it for $7/person and a membership is not too expensive.  Everyone has told us to go to EdVenture Children's Museum in Columbia or Discovery Place in Charlotte.  Sounds like we have a couple of road trips coming up in the future.

43 was great year...looking forward to 44.