Well, there it was. Sunday night after a good time out with sugar-mama, we got home and I couldn’t sleep. So, at midnight, I cracked an Old Style.

Why not? It’s my birthday and I’ll drink if I want to.

I don’t like birthdays that much. I’ve gotten better and can live with people saying Happy Birthday. In the past, I hated it. I didn’t like anyone even knowing. I’m not sure why other than sometimes I like to just be a dick. Most years, that happened on Aug. 29.

But now, it doesn’t bug me that much. People are being nice. I had a number of comments on my Facebook page and that was pretty cool. I appreciated it.

Getting old really does make you a pussy.

Anyway, it’s over and it was good. Only downer was the balloons and streamers a co-worker put up all over my cube at work — I’m not THAT okay with birthdays yet — but the cookie she bought me was good and made up for it.

So now I’ll just move on. No sense in worrying about turning 40. It was bound to happen. Well, not really. There were a few times where that could have changed and I wouldn’t have made it, but I’ll say I’m pretty glad I have.

I have the coolest sugar-mama around who helps provide us with a good life (I pitch in a little too, I guess). I have the most kick-ass black cat, and probably the only cat you know who’s named F’ing. I have what’s turning into a pretty sweet job and some awesome friends.

There’s really not much I could ask for better although not everything has been perfect the past 40 years. There’s been a few bumps and bruises, literally; run-ins with cops and fans and co-workers that didn’t end pretty; and a few lean years in the pocketbook (which happens when you settle for being a janitor on third shift). But I’ve managed. Somehow, I’ve faked my way through enough things and came up with enough scams to feel pretty good about myself.

Now what? What’s the next decade hold? I’m not sure.

I’m doing a Warrior Dash with about 15 friends in two weeks. It will be pretty fun, although now that I’m in a new age group, I’m training harder to try to be at the top of the times list for the 40-44 bracket.

That just sounds stupid. 40. Where the fuck did it go? Wasn’t it just yesterday when I was blasting Rob Base and Motley Crue, Guns ‘n Roses and Two Live Crew in high school, and then drinking buckets after cases after kegs of Milwaukee’s Best Light in college listening to Pearl Jam and Erasure, Nirvana and Depeche Mode? At no point did reaching 40 seem fathomable.

But it has fathomed and I’m moving on.

The best way to do it is deal with it head on, as we found out from Kid Rock on Sunday night. That’s why I couldn’t sleep. We had free tickets to his concert, which was 15 minutes from our house. So we went and had a fucking blast. He’s one of the best showmen I’ve ever seen; highly entertaining and totally worth seeing even if it’s not 2002 anymore.

During his show, he talked about how he turned 40 earlier this year. About how it hasn’t slowed him down, hasn’t made him change his ways. I’m all for that.

In fact, I think it’s time to turn it up a notch. So, here’s my to-do list for the next decade. These aren’t just a bucketlist of things I have wishes and dreams to do. These are five things I will do before Aug. 29, 2021 (assuming I’m not dead):

  1. I’ve run a half-marathon before, finishing in just over two hours (2:06:58 actually). In the next decade I will complete a full marathon. Hopefully it’s in less than 4:15, but not going to pin myself down on a time, nor am I going to get all senile and say I will run the whole thing. Senility will set in in full force soon enough.
  2. Since I was a teenager, I’ve wanted a motorcycle, so I will be getting one. Sugar-mama knows I’ve wanted one and is not enthralled with it, but I will always were a helmet and she’ll deal with it. This one is probably the top of the list for next year.
  3. Now that I’ve gone bigger on my tattoos, I’m going to do more and I’m going to finish the bottom of my leg sleeve. Not sure what other kind of tattoos I’d want, or how many pieces it will take, but I’m going to finish that side (and maybe get more elsewhere too).
  4. I will visit Paris. Since Ms. LeSage’s French classes in high school, getting to France and especially Paris has been something on my radar. I’ve been lucky enough so far to reach some cool places, but this is the one that has to be done, even if it’s part of a bigger trip (Rome, anyone? That’s aimed at you sugar-mama).
  5. I will eat spinach. Not because I want to but because if I’ve made it this fucking far in life, I might as well experience everything it  has to offer, even the terrible stuff. The last — and only — time I’ve ever had spinach was when I was about 11 and my step-mom tried to make me eat it. She didn’t like it either but she was eating it too and said I had to finish it. She was on her last bite (I still had 3/4 a bowl left) and I puked into my bowl at the table. It was so disgusting. Needless to say she never forced me to eat a single thing I didn’t like ever again. But now I’m a bigger person, a grown man, and I’ll go ahead and give it a try again. Once.

So those are some things I’m going to do in the next decade. And I’ll have a good reminder about why to do it.

Check out this video I took on my phone at the Kid Rock concert of his special song, “I’m fuckin’ 40.” Listen to the words (and don’t worry about the video, it sucks). Enjoy them. Pretty appropriate.