Initially, I was going to write about grandmas...

...but I'm listening to my iPod and the Bob Dylan song "Shelter From the Storm" just came on (a song I listened to almost every time I walked home across the Williamsburg Bridge), and I've just finished trading e-mails with a friend back home. As a result, America is very firmly on my mind at the moment. The fact that I'm only one week and three days from coming back to America is finally starting to sink in. And man, I'm really excited, probably more excited than I've ever been about anything ever before.

My dad sent me a home made "welcome home" note today. I got a little teary eyed reading it and realized why I was coming home - my friends and family are way too kick ass to live THIS far away from. They don't make people like you guys and gals in this part of the world. That's for damn sure.

So to Mom, Dad, Sister, Emily, Jessy, Brian, David, Ryoko, Bradley, John, Alan, Matt, Damien, Peter, Allison (even though you live in San Francisco) , and everyone else I hang out with in Oklahoma and New York - we're in the final days. I look forward to seeing familiar faces in the airport and as I walk down Bedford Avenue or as I get on the L train to head home from work.

And yes, for the first few months I'm back, I'm going to be one of those assholes who swoons at the sight of the Empire State Building. Get ready. It's going be awesome!

A very special blog post for my dad

I would like to say a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad as he is turning 63 years old today. He is probably the most avid reader/supporter of my blog, so I figured I would give him a little shout out - Hi Dad! See you in two weeks and six days!

I love you very much (and please remember to pick me up from the aiport at 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 8th).

P.S. The photo included is of my dad cheering on the Kansas Jayhawks to victory during the NCAA Basketball Championships. I was hoping to a use a photo of him that we lovingly call "Wally the Walrus", but I don't have a copy of it on my computer.