I went to visit my brother in Savannah this past weekend. Really good times. Got play with my niece, chat with my sister-in-law, eat ribs. And play XBox. Lots of Xbox playing. Definitely stayed up until 2am every night after everyone went to bed, playing Gears of War and Assassins Creed. The former was fun, but not that much different than any other type of game like that. The latter, however, was awesome. Definitely made me realize that (a) I really want an XBox and (b) if I get one, I will probably never leave the house again. Serious potential for badness.

Whenever you finish a major mission in Assassins Creed, you get a new ability (throw knives, tackle, etc). This kind of reminds me of the changes that have been occurring in my life recently. In addition to visiting my brother this weekend, I also turned 30 (happy birthday kennyb!). And, as you probably know, I got married in October. Honestly, neither of those things changed my life significantly (yet, anyway). But it *does* open up new abilities. Being married, for some reason, gives you the ability to provide people advice on things that you have no business giving advice. Being 30 gives me the special ability of having my balls busted by my (mostly sub-30) friends in new and exciting ways.

Anyway, this post isn't about that. It's about a box of Altoids I just opened up. The other day (Allison gets upset with me when I use that phrase, since she believes that it means "a couple of days or so ago." I disagree with this, since if I wanted a phrase that meant "a couple of days or so ago" I would say something to the effect of "a couple of days or so ago," or possibly "a couple of days ago, or so." To me "the other day" means some other day, potentially years back) I was chatting with Allison about how Altoids just aren't as curiously strong as I remember them being. I've been eating them fairly regularly these days, and I can do two at once without even blinking. Back in the day, if I were to try to do that, it would burn a sweet smelling hole (not often I get to type *that* phrase) through my toungue. This box brought me back to my childhood, like it was a sugar cookie (how's that for a literary reference? Oddly enough, hanging out with my niece this weekend also brought me back to my childhood. This makes sense, since her name is Madeline).

This is relevant, because it was the first time I pulled a "Back in the day" reminiscence since I turned thirty. This sort of thing is totally de rigeur for gentlemen of my age, so you best get used to it.