I spent most of the weekend celebrating the 40th birthday of a very good friend of mine, and in doing so discovered quite a bit more about Norman, Okla.

Mind you, I've lived here for seven years now -- five in college and post-college and two in adult life. I think it took me at least two years to become acclimated to Dallas, and in some respects I think I'm finally coming into my own here in Oklahoma's coolest town.

That's not my opinion only; Money Magazine named Norman the 40th best place to live in all of America for 2006, ranking No. 1 among Oklahoma cities. However, between work and some semblance of a social life, it's been hard for the first couple of years to get acclimated to Norman-the-city-as-a-whole as opposed to Norman-the-college-town.

Nevertheless, J's 40th birthday weekend was a big step in that acclimation, the kind of experience that ties people to a place for decades.

First, we spent a little time bar-hopping up and down Main Street in Norman. For the longest time, we avoided Main Street because we're among the rare individuals that if we do drink, we don't drive. In a college town, that's pretty rare unfortunately.

The problem always was that there wasn't anyplace to park a car overnight without getting towed, a policy that practically begged for people to drive drunkenly. Recently though, the city built a parking lot in the area, and we called to make sure we could keep our car there ... and, we could.

Good for Norman.

Norman's Main Street initiative has been at least moderately successful, but it's still not the hot spot that campus corner is during football season or that Oklahoma City's Bricktown district is every weekend.

But, boy, are there some gems.

Bill & Dee's Tavern is a townie's drinkin' spot, a place for the mostly blue-collared locals to put back some cold brews and liquor. There might be a college face in the crowd from time to time, but mostly not.

The prices are uber-cheap, the jukebox is excellent, and the ambience is almost as good as Dallas' Adair's Saloon, which inch for inch is the best bar I have ever been in.

It's high praise for this little bar in Norman that's been around since the 1960s but has only been discovered by moi this weekend. Greatness. The only drawback is that, oddly enough, they have a rule forbidding the "f" word. That just seems a bit odd.

We're pretty sure they allow the "c" word, but we didn't test 'em.

There's a BlueBonnet Bar down the street, but they don't serve liquor. Just beer. While that's fine for me, that doesn't fly for my buddy T. However, the bartender had great, uh, bartending skills. A pair of them.

It seems -- and I could be wrong -- that the staff at each place wanders on over to the other establishment to get a drink or two in during their shifts. Don't know that for sure, but it's a brilliant ruse as long as nobody's too wise to it.

There were many more fresh faces in the BlueBonnet, but not enough that would make the place any less townie. In fact, depending on one's state of mind -- drinkin' or screwin' -- having both venues so close to each other is pretty advantageous to those of us who like a little variety in our nights out.

However, the weekend wasn't all about drinking.

I should apologize right off for not getting back to a good friend of mine whose father died recently. She had said she wanted to get together to catch up, but I never really knew when that would be over the course of the next couple days, so I didn't get the message her husband left until the next day.

The weekend was also about working out, kind of. In two years of living in Norman, I haven't utilized the park that sits a block next to my house, and that is an embarrassment. Part of what I'm trying to accomplish this year is to work out at least 20 of every 30 days in a month. So far, I've worked out on Mar. 1 and 4, which means I'll go at it on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday to get back on pace. I'll rest on Wednesday and Sunday, I suspect.

Anyway, I work out on a treadmill, which is terrific, but I think it does the body good to get outside for some fresh air while one exercises. Lions Park has a terrific jogging trail, about 1/3 of a mile long, and it's often chock-full of cute girls.

The trick to working out outdoors is to do yourself a lot of good without looking like you're too much out of shape. Hard to impress the ladies when you look like a coronary is imminent.

Well, unless they're the motherly type.

Finally, I got my car washed -- inside and out -- for a whopping $12 at a place called FastLane, down on Main Street. What's crazy about this is that, in Dallas, this type of detailing costs at least 2.5 times this much.

Now, Norman and Dallas are pretty much equal when it comes to cost of living. However, in Norman, dry cleaning costs out the butt compared to Big D, and I've learned, in Norman, I can keep my car spotless for a lot less than anywhere I've ever lived.

Now, the chicks might not like me so much when I'm in the midst of passing out in public (at the park not the bar, silly), but they definitely appreciate cleanliness, and that begins with a clean car. I love being clean but fail so often with it.

Bottom line, that's why it's so cool to discover these little things about your town. One can achieve more and use time better while still having more and more fun.

Or, perhaps I'm just giddy because spring is almost here.

May winter die a million deaths before we see it again.