Thanks for the warm wishes folks!
I got in late from out of town on Friday, then had to get up to catch a 6 AM train to NYC yesterday morning for some volunteer work I agreed to do before I realized it would be right after I got back from out of town and on my birthday.
But, there are worse places to spend a day than Manhattan. Had a late lunch in Chinatown, walked across Canal St, which is like a transcontinental flight in 30 seconds as you go right from Chinatown to Little Italy in the course of a city block, and had dessert.
My mother and I have birthdays on consecutive days, and with a lot of traveling lately, have not been able to celebrate on the actual days. So today is a double birthday throwdown, with a bunch of roast duck and crispy pig I saw hanging in a window in Chinatown, some soft shell crab from a fish market in Chinatown that on a cold day packed in ice still should be good, and a bunch of Italian pastries for dessert. Oh yeah, and a half dozen char siu bao (savory steamed or baked buns filled with seasoned pork) that I forgot to mention. (Chinatown/Little Italy runs were a staple of my childhood, pardon the excitement as I haven't been in that neck of the woods in 8 years or so.)
Wash that down with a couple of Brady TDs, Hernandez making it rain, a whole bunch of Welker catches that lead to "the play is good for another Patriots...FIRST DOWN!", maybe a pick by Talib or McCourty, and Wilfork (or Wilcock according to the Mayor) facesitting on Flacco, and it could be a great day.