Happy birthday to me

1 Nov

What a way to turn 40... thousands of miles from your family under the constant threat of the Taliban!!! Actually, it was a great day. My team here surprised me with a pizza, cake and a movie.

I have to admit, I woke up this morning amazed that I was actually 40... but that's cool. For 40-years old, I think I'm sitting pretty. I have a beautiful wife, great kids, a fun job, a kick ass car and a body that can still run a half-marathon.

I've anchored the news, won an Emmy, broke the sound barrier in an F-16, worked in the White House, served my country, taught at the university level and backpacked across Europe. I've been to nearly two dozen different countries. I've walked the beaches of Normandy and sat for hours in the Louve and Notre Dame. I've spent time in a Mexican prison, got hammered on a pub crawl in Dublin and drunk with Navy SEALs in San Diego. I've landed on and taken off from a carrier at sea. I've been a bachelor on The Dating Games and sat in the audience of The Price is Right six times. I've shaken hands with a President and met the man who piloted the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb.

I have attempted to squeeze every experience I can out of life... and I think I've gotten the most out of the past 40 years. But this is only the halfway point. Susan, Kathryn and Charlie can look forward to many adventures ahead.

I say bring it on. I can only image what the list will look like when I'm 50!