Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Hope the title didn't sound too narcissistic, but today is my birthday! Since this will be my first birthday spent away from home, I thought I should let you all know what I'm doing. For the third year in a row, I will actually be working on my birthday. 21 and 22 were spent and Pizza Ranch and this day will be spent at the airport. Kind of a gift in itself if you think about it. Yesterday and today I volunteered at the FBO for the North American Trainer's Association (NATA). This organization gets together once a year to practice before going the EAA Airventure Airshow in Oshkosh, WI. This year we expect over fifty T-6 Texans in Dubuque. As a volunteer, I helped park the planes and get the pilots from their plane to hangar safely. With airlines right in the middle of the ramp, we have to keep the pilots out of that area for security reasons when there's a Northwest or American plane on the ground; something I'm used to already. I work all morning and then about 12:30, I head over to Mesaba to change clothes and grab a quick bite to eat before I start working there. I got a nice nap in between my afternoon and evening shifts last night. Hopefully I'll get a ride today. Maybe the fact that it's my birthday will be a good bargaining chip. I signed off of work through Tuesday. Jacob will be coming to town tomorrow to spend the day with me. We'll play some Guitar Hero and grill out and maybe see a movie. Sunday morning I'll be heading to New York to spend a couple days with Paola, a friend from high school. I'm looking forward to a grand tour of the city and doing it right with someone who knows the area. I'd like to see the statue, around lower Manhattan, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, Times Square, a couple of the bridges, maybe Ground Zero, and whatever else Paola has planed or that we have time for. I'll probably look like a tourist with my camera out the entire time, but oh well. I'll take an afternoon flight back on Tuesday and do an extended layover in Minneapolis. I engineered this break in to maximize my time in New York, but make sure I didn't get stuck or miss the last flight of the day, because I have to be back at work Wednesday morning. On my layover, I plan to take the light rail in to downtown Minneapolis to meet Alli Linn for dinner and see what we can find to do downtown. I already hit the Mall of America when I was there for training, but didn't get to explore the downtown area. Alli moved back to school (Gustavus) yesterday and said it will take about an hour to drive into the cities. After a night on the town, I'll hop on the 9:30 flight back to Dubuque and should get in about 10:30 or 10:45. I'll let you know how it all goes. I'll probably post pictures of NATA later today or tomorrow. Thanks for the cards and birthday wishes!
(In case you're wondering, I bought Dora the Explorer cupcakes at Hy-Vee last night for my co-workers. I had my picture taken with her at the Mall of America when I was there for training, so it's an inside joke, but now you know.)