Sunday, May 29

I didn’t sleep in very much again this morning. I was up at 9:30, and started working on Stef’s computer some more. Man, all these women I know are getting new iMacs, and I’m definitely starting to realize how jealous I am. My poor 17” is ancient in comparison. Sigh. Anyway, Stefy finally woke up a little after 10, and we started the morning off right by heading to The Pancake House for breakfast. We hadn’t been there in about a month, so those pancakes and the homemade OJ definitely hit the spot. God that place is good. Mmmm Mmmm.

Miss Spiro and I got back to her house shortly after noon, and we were recruited by her dad to do some more outdoor maintenance around the pool before the Southers came over for a pre-Memorial Day get together. We spent about an hour sweeping off the back porch and arranging the lawn furniture. It’s funny how Stef’s brother Justin always seems to be AWOL whenever there’s work to be done. Okay, okay… I’m zipping my lips. Anyway, Sean and Marina and the kids got to the house at around 2, and we had a nice time outside in the swimming pool. Little Brandon got to show off his new swimsuits while we were out there—a fluorescent orange one that you can put floaties in, and a little Speedo with bananas on it (which would almost certainly look a lot grosser on an old man than a little kid). It was just a lot of fun to play in the pool with Stef and the kids and take it easy this afternoon. The weather has definitely been generous this weekend.

After a light sloppy Joe dinner at around 6 the party started to break up, since we had to hit the road for the Palace and tonight’s Piston’s game. Yep, this was my second NBA game ever, and it was a playoffs game. Rough, huh? Stef and I were up in the nosebleed seats, but I was just happy to be in the house (although, we were surrounded by complete morons who kept pounding each other with their complimentary ‘Thunder Sticks’, but the Palace was probably full of people like that). The game was a lot of fun, and a real nail-biter, even though the boys in Red White and Blue couldn’t pull out a W against the big Diesel and his mob. We got back to the house by 11 or so, and pretty much went straight to bed again. Another great day.

Saturday, May 28

Stef and I were up by 9:30 this morning. We had a light breakfast, and then got ready for the day. Tim had about a one-hour window where he could join us at Somerset to pick out Stef’s new computer, so we headed over there a little after noon today. The salesman who helped us was really great because, after showing us the new 20” iMacs which just came out a month ago (which we were planning to buy), he told us that they had just put out their old stock of the previous-model 20 inchers this morning. It’s the same model that my mom bought back in the fall for $2100. We got it for $1299. I couldn’t believe what lucky timing we had, because it’s a rarity to catch a deal like that with Apple products. So, for the same amount that we would’ve spent on a new-NEW iMac, we were able to add a new pair of JBL Creature Speakers, Apple Care (a warranty), 512MB of RAM, and an iPod mini for Stef’s brother. Cha-ching. So yeah, it was a pretty successful venture to the Collection this afternoon.

While we were waiting for Stef’s new RAM to be installed we grabbed a quick bite of lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, and then picked up the computer on our way out of the mall. There was about an hour window to start installing software when we got back to the house, but Stef and I eventually had to leave to head out to the lake for some early-season maintenance. Now, I had never been to the Spiro cottage on Bald Eagle Lake before, so this was a first for me. The cabin is really cute, and the lake is a little bigger than I was expecting. Today’s visit was strictly business though—Stef, Justin, Tim, and I were there to put out lawn furniture, clean out the garage, and rake the beach. It wasn’t exactly glamorous work, but we got a lot done, and I felt like I was finally earning my keep. Stef and I spent about an hour in the front yard doing some weeding before we finally left for dinner at around 6 at Bullfrog’s, which is right up the street from the cottage. Tim and Teri joined us a few minutes later, and we had a nice relaxing dinner after a busy afternoon of manual labor. Stef and I swung out to a local dairy farm after dinner to get some yummy homemade ice cream for dessert, and that definitely hit the spot.

We made it back to the house by 8:30 or 9, and spent the evening setting up Stefy’s computer some more, and just being lazy in the library watching some TV. We went outside for a dip in the pool a little later on at night, and the water was nice and warm for our swim. It was just a nice, quiet night at home with my girl. Another great end to a great day.

Friday, May 27

It’s amazing how such a low key day can be followed by such a hectic one. I rolled over this morning a little groggy, and thank GOD I had enough sense to look at the clock. It was already 7:00. My alarm was set for 6:40, but I hadn’t turned it on for Friday, so I was already 20min late. That really didn’t make me more than a few minutes late for work, but it still got the morning off on the wrong foot. I was only at the office for about an hour before I had to leave for the Capitol, since today was the last day of the TPL program that I’m working on for Brian.

The TPL kids were all dressed up and met as a group in the House Appropriations room inside the Capitol, so the meeting felt very official. Today’s meeting was set up as a mock legislative session, and the kids had to debate the fake bills they’d written for the event. It was actually a lot of fun to watch, and I got a lot of great footage for the video. I’m always amazed at how easy it is to distinguish the Republicans from the Democrats at things like this. They all stick out like a sore thumb. Still, I thought everyone did a really good job, even though there were some heated partisan debates throughout the meeting. I took off just before they finished for the morning since I wanted to get back to the office, and I made it back just in time to tag along with the Trust Fund crew for a lunch at the Cadillac Club. I was just going to skip the thing, but when I heard Christi was buying, I decided that I couldn’t pass up a free lunch.

It was pretty much just Wanda and I kicking around the office this afternoon, so it was dead quiet while we worked. I split out at 4:00 so I could beat the rush hour traffic on my way to Stefy’s for the weekend. There were four state police troopers with cars pulled over along the I-96 corridor. Still, I thought traffic was unusually light, and I made great time getting to the Hills.

Stef’s parents were ready to hit the road for Sean and Marina’s house shortly after I got there, and we weren’t far behind. Today was their son Brandon’s first birthday party, and it was also the first big event in their new house. Marina had the place adorably decorated, and there was loads of wonderful food. Stef and I got stranded outside with Marina’s father for a little bit right when we got there. Enzo is seriously the coolest guy in the world (he’s the Italian Consulate), but he can be a little difficult to understand at times, and has a tendency to ramble. Still, I had a nice little chat with him—we went from talking about High-Definition Television, to US dependency on foreign oil, to why we should hate the Swiss in about 90 seconds. Anyway, the rest of the party was a lot of fun. After so many events like this one, I’m definitely starting to feel like a regular in the Spiro/Southers clan. It’s pretty great to have a girlfriend with such a wonderful family.

Stef and I were pretty exhausted by the time the party started winding down at around 10 tonight. We hit the road and made it back to her house before 11, and pretty much went straight to bed. It was a REALLY long day, but I had a great time.

Thursday, May 26

Today felt like a Friday. Just about everyone is skipping work tomorrow, so that left me doing some of my usual Friday routines a day early. Still, the day went by pretty fast. I went to my dad’s after work, and had a splitting headache when I walked in the door. Lucky for me, I was greeted by my sisters… in TAP SHOES. Honestly, I don’t think there could have been anything more annoying for me to encounter right then and there than tap shoes. At least my dad had enough sense to send the girls downstairs to play so I didn’t go completely nuts. I dozed off on the couch for a few minutes while we were sitting there and watching TV, but I eventually started feeling better once we sat down for dinner. Sherry and Morgan had to dash off to a Girl Scouts meeting beforehand, so it was just Dad, Kyra and me while we were eating. I didn’t stick around long afterwards because I was starting to feel a relapse on the horizon. Thank God for Allegra.

My night was pretty low key. Stefy and I had ourselves a little video chat via iChat tonight, so it was nice to “see” her before I went to bed. I pretty much just putsed around the room, packed up for the weekend, and backed up my music for Stef’s new computer, and that was about it. Kind of a boring day.

Wednesday, May 25

Well, things picked back up at the office again today. I had an email request from Jane in our Detroit office to overhaul the main page on our website, so that’s what I spent most of my day working on. It was supposed to be a pretty minor tweak, but it mutated into this gigantic headache, since I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how I wanted to re-arrange things on the page without it looking like complete crap. I finally had an epiphany at around 3 in the afternoon, and everything fell into place after that. I think it turned out pretty well. You can see how it looks here. The front page is even more simple and plain-looking now, but I like it—especially considering how bloated most of our partner organizations’ sites look.

I was out of the office a little before 5 this afternoon, and hit the road for Jackson to visit my grandparents. It’s been at least a few months since I’ve seen them, so I was really glad to get a chance to go down there. Both of them seem to be doing better health-wise, and were in a really good mood while I was there. Grandma (of course) had this huge-ass meal waiting for me when I got there, so we chowed down on a fantastic pot roast, some potatoes, carrots, and dumplings. Oh, and she ALSO had homemade shortcake and strawberries for dessert. Man, I need to go visit them more often. We sat around and chatted some more after dinner, and they showed me their new car that they just got last week. I think they were pretty proud of the new wheels. As it got closer to 7:30 grandpa finally asked me if I was going to stick around for the last Jeopardy of the tournament, and I caved. I had to who would win. It was pretty surprising not just that Ken Jennings lost, but by how much. He got absolutely smoked—by something like $30k over three days—by this other dude who had won another million dollar tournament a few years back. Still, I don’t think he’ll be on the bread lines anytime soon.

Well, I finally took off for home after the exciting Jeopardy finale, and made it back by 8:30 or so to catch the American Idol conclusion. They had this ridiculously long and drawn out two hour show tonight, so I kept myself preoccupied by reading this week’s EW. There was this big feature on Coldplay which got me even more pumped for their new album. Anyway, the show finally started to grab my attention again as it got closer to 10. I was really surprised that Carrie won. I mean, she was really good, but I still think Bo was a better entertainer overall. Ah well. Things didn’t exactly pick up in terms of my TV viewing for the night afterwards, since the Pistons ended up blowing a lead late in the game and losing to the Heat. That damn Shaq! The good news though is that I’ll be there in person on Sunday to see game four. Yep, it’s looking like I’ll be tagging along with the Spiro’s for my first NBA playoff game ever. Can’t pass that one up. Well, I guess that’s it for today.

Tuesday, May 24

Today went by MUCH faster at the office. The highlight of the day was getting to take a little field trip to Staples with Wanda to pick up some supplies for our Risk Management binders. I know, pretty exciting, right? Basically we need to set up these binders to give to everyone on the Risk Management Committee so they can keep all of our monthly reports organized. Getting them ready will probably be pretty tedious, but you know how I love organizing things.

I made it back to the apartment by 5:30 or so this afternoon, and just sort of hung out and did some tidying up around my room before Stefy showed up. She had a dentist appointment this afternoon so she didn’t make it into town until close to 7, but it was just in time to catch day two of the three-day Jeopardy Tournament of Champions final. YEAH! Ken Jennings better watch his ass, that’s all I gotta say. Stef and I settled in for the night with our usual slate of Tuesday night shows. Tonight was the first part of the American Idol, so we were pretty excited about that. I thought both Carrie and Bo sounded pretty terrible on their first songs, but it got better by the end of the night. Stefy and I are pulling for Bo, but at this point I really don’t care who wins. I was just glad to get to spend the evening with my girl.

Monday, May 23

Ok, I’m sorry if I was complaining about work on Friday. This morning was definitely worse. Sure we got 500 of those invitations out last week, but the other 1,500 had to go out by this afternoon. Gah. Thankfully, we had a lot of extra help: Wanda’s granddaughter came in to help, plus we had Christi, Kim, and Wendy all pitching in as well. I bet we spent about 4 or 5 solid hours stuffing envelopes this morning before we finally finished at noon. Good Lord, it was a pain.

Anyway, the afternoon flew by in comparison, and I took off at 5. I made it out to my dad’s by 5:30 or so, and spent a couple hours there hanging out and eating dinner. The girls were a little hyper tonight, and I took Kyra’s slamming the kitchen door about two or three times in a row as a sign that it was time to take off. It was about 7:30 when I got back to the apartment, so I spent the early part of the evening doing some research online about how to redeem lost savings bonds (a LONG story). I also finally got around to cracking that book about London and Paris that Brian gave me a while back tonight. There’s some really good info in there, and I’m definitely takin’ that baby with me to England. After reading it for a bit though, I was starting to get a little nervous about how clueless I’m going to be once I get there. I mean, I know it’s not going to be as confusing as, say, Tokyo, but there’s still a lot to take in.

The Pistons were on TV tonight for Game 1 of the series with Miami. Looks like the big Diesel still hasn’t totally re-fueled after his injury. Poor Shaqy. You gotta love the Pistons though. Honestly, who can stop them? Larry Brown is officially the Tom Izzo of the NBA. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, it was a pretty hard fought game, but we managed to make it look easy. It’s funny how much I’m getting into pro basketball again, especially after a 7 year stint of not caring. Hopefully I don’t sink back into my fair-weather fandom anytime soon. No promises though.

I talked to my Grandma for a little bit tonight about a possible visit on Thursday. My cousin Jake has his last baseball game of the year that night though, so I guess we’ll have to pull some strings in order to make it work, but I think everything will fall into place. Stefy was still on the fence about whether or not she’ll be able to come up for the American Idol finale (part one) tomorrow when I talked to her on the phone. We’ll see how that goes. Anyway, I guess that’s it for today.