Monday, September 15, 2008

Happy Matt's Birthday!

You may not have noticed, we've been avoiding talking about it at my house, but Matt had a birthday this weekend. Not a big round one, but one big enough that he didn't want to talk about it. So, to fufill my role as a dutiful wife who isn't married to a geezer I tracked down some fun stuff for the weekend to keep his mind off things.

The Main event was the Steel City Big Pour, a beer festival featuring dozens of breweries and food vendors at a construction recycling warehouse. I went as a DD, which meant for $10 I stuffed my faced for 3 hours and sampled sips of only the best of the probably hundred beers available on tap. Breweries came from all over- big highlights being Unibroue and Stone- as well as all our local and regional favorites, like the Church Brew Works and the East End Brewery. A good time (and then a nap) was had by all.

Later that night, W and J came over for dinner and to watch Matt open his presents. No cake, but we did have a peach crisp (although juicy peaches don't crisp, it was still good). Matt was the happy youthful recipient of a HUGE new TV, and totally surprised by the Garmin GPS Mom and Dad sent. Cool Toys!

Sunday we went shopping to find the perfect TV. Those who have ever had the joy of coaching Matt through a major purchase like this may appreciate that he spent 2 extra hours reading reviews (I say extra, because it isn't like he never thought about this before) before we went to Costco. And then he fretted about inputs, and whether we should just buy and upscaling DVD player now, or if we should get a cheaper TV and buy a blue-ray player, or upgrade the video card on his computer and... I suspect these things bring him great joy, but I told him to get the TV, and the rest we can install later. W and J came back to help us move the thing in and get it installed. We spent the rest of the night watching HD broadcast, and buying tickets to Cancun. More on this later!

3 comments:

Noel said...

Happy birthday, Matt.

Ah, yes, the joys of owning your very own nerd. I did the exact same thing when I went out and bought my TV. It's a nerd thing. You can't just *buy* a major piece of technology or other major monetary investment. You have to do some serious research and planning first. And it's not a burden, we think this sort of thing is *fun*. You should just be glad Sandlin doesn't have the same shopping style, because then it becomes a *debate*, with references and everything.

-N

Gordie said...

This wasn't nearly as fun as doing "tools" with which I have a fundamental connection but I understand the process, the balancing and comparing that comes with the decision, the thrill of the hunt, the agony of the update..

dad preecs

Sandlin said...

I am relieved that both of you think of the process as fun. I worried for a couple minutes that my 'gift' might have been a huge stress. Turns out, Matt wouldn't go to bed last night until he spent some time watching the 46 inch monster.