Am I old enough to have a 5-year-old?

So, while I was catching up on sleep and not blogging, The Boy celebrated his fifth birthday.

That’s right – not only am I a parent, apparently I’ve been one for half a decade now. Time flies when you’re changing diapers and watching hour after hour of Thomas and Friends.

The Boy celebrated the big oh-five with a pair of parties on his birthday – one with my family at a park northwest of Houston and another with The Wife’s side later in the day. All in all, he managed to collect an impressive array of gifts and eat an inordinate amount of cake.

Our first soirée was held at the park near Hockley (lovely name for a town, btw) because of a rather unique attraction: a miniature railroad featuring diesel and steam locomotives. The Boy had a good time riding the train with his grandfather, although there was only time to ride it once due to the large crowd.

The entire set-up was impressive, especially since the whole thing was run by volunteers and free to the public. They had a bustling station, a pair of work sheds, a track control tower and even old men serving as cabooses. There was also a woman there with a puzzling and possibly inappropriate shirt. All in all, a good day. (Click here for more photos.)

Fries at the bottom of the bag

• My car suddenly broke down Thursday on the way home from work. Fortunately it was fixed after a quick visit to the dealership the following day. Apparently the do-hickey failed to interface with the thing-a-ma-jig.
• The most exciting aspect of the 2008 election has finally kicked off. The CNN election rig so completely kicks the ass of that lame C-SPAN BookTV bus. Yet it’s still way behind the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile in terms of awesomeness. Maybe if they remodeled it to look like a giant Wolf Blitzer luging down the highway…
• Kudos to Miller Lite on their ‘More Taste League’ ad campaign featuring John C. McGinley. I don’t know why, but I can’t help but crack up each time I see or hear one of the ads.
• Who conducts an online poll to name a kitten and then rigs the results? The BBC apparently.
• I don’t care what else he does during his tenure with the Astros – Ed Wade is already my hero for immediately dumping Jason Lane. I now have one less thing to harp about while watching the Astros get pummeled every night.
• What a disappointing loss for A&M against Miami on Thursday night. Nothing like getting your teeth kicked in on national television for the umpteenth time.
• My son’s new Power Rangers underoos are satanic. Natch.