Yesterday I rated how my friends and family wished me a happy birthday.  I also mentioned that my best friend completely forgot (again), even after setting up an event in iCal.

Well, I can report that he finally wished me a happy birthday.  He was only two days late, but he still came through (after he read about it here).

As some lame cartoon character on the Disney Channel says, “Mission Completion!”

Men and women say “happy birthday” differently.  I know.  It was my birthday recently.  Here’s a rundown of how people wished me a happy birthday and how I rate their salutation:

• The Wife.  I got a nice hug and kiss this morning on my way out the door to work.  She’s my wife, so she gets a 10.  Plus, she didn’t complain about my choice for dinner (check out my Tweets).
• 4 year-old.  He called me at work (with help from my wife).  He didn’t wish me a happy birthday.  Rather, he told me it was my birthday and asked what present he gets.  He gets an 8.  He was deducted a few points for forgetting to wish me a happy birthday, but he scores big points by asking what’s in it for him. He’s learning quickly that men usually only care about how events directly affect them.
• My mom.  She called on my commute home from work.  A simple 5 minute conversation.  Nice and sweet.  She’s my mom, so she gets a 10.
• The interns at work.  I have two interns at work (I know they read this and will probably razz me for saying “my interns”…but they do work under my direction, so that description is perfectly warranted).  The first thing I heard from one intern this morning was “happy birthday.”  He also went to lunch with me.  He gets a solid 9.  The other IM’d me in the morning (on his personal time) to wish me a happy birthday.  Another solid 9.  Good work, interns.
• Brother.  About 11 a.m. I got a one liner instant message that simply said “happy birthday.”  I replied with a “thank you” and that was the end of the conversation.  My brother pulled it off like a man.  No need for extra crap.  He lives several hundred miles away, but there was still no need for a phone call.  A simple IM took care of all the necessary business.  Well played, brother.  Well played.  He gets a 9.
• Friend.  At 11 p.m., with one hour to spare, he sent me an instant message.  Simple and at the deadline.  Another 9.

Looks like everyone did a great job, right?  Not quite.  You see, I have another friend that just forgot.  It wasn’t like he didn’t have a chance to wish me a happy birthday.  On my birthday, I talked to him twice on the phone, exchanged a handful of emails, and had a quick IM conversation.  The week before he even made a big deal about how this year he was going to remember my birthday because he created an event in his iCal to remind him.  I guess it didn’t work.  He still forgot.  His punishment: 0/10 and this blog post.

So my last post was about a less-than-manly moment: seeing the New Moon movie.  My week-long vacation is over and now it’s time to get back into the blogging groove…

Even though I suffered through several unmanly things during my week off (the movie, clothes shopping, etc.), I did manage to fit in my annual Thanksgiving vacation manly activities.

1. Golfing with my buddy.  I love golf.  The problem is that I only play once a year.  As a result, my friend often says that I get the best value per swing.  Totally true.  I suck.  Anyway, we played 18 holes. I hit some long drives (275 was my longest) and made a couple decent puts, but my iron game was horrendous.  Frankly, I’ve never been good at that part of the game.  But, the day was fun and we grabbed a good lunch afterwards.   This is the second year in a row we’ve played golf during my week off.  If this pattern holds for 2010, I think it will officially qualify as a manly tradition.
2. Wings with the guys.  My friend and brother have had this tradition for years now.  Back in high school we used to get wings on a very regular basis, but then I moved away for college and career.  Ever since then, we make it a point to get wings whenever I’m in town.  We’ve been doing this now for probably close to 10 years. I enjoy it and my wife is glad she doesn’t have to get wings with me.
3. Board game with the crew.  My friends and I love to play xbox every Friday night.  One of the games we play is Ticket to Ride.  I missed the last two Fridays because of my trip.  However, last Friday we held an “offline” gaming session.  My brother and his wife, my friend, my wife, and I got together to play the Ticket to Ride board game.  My friend won, but it was still fun.  I think my wife enjoyed it.  Hopefully, we can try a board game again next year to see if we want to promote this to an annual tradition.  I would love to try playing the Settler’s of Catan board game…I’ve only played the xbox version.

Major thanks to my wife for being supportive of my manly activities when I’m on vacation.