Wednesday, June 22 ~ Thursday, June 30

First, let me apologize for having such sporadic updates lately. It’s been a busy week leading up to my trip, and there’s just been too much going on. Plus, it doesn’t help that one MAJOR hiccup has developed with my current living arrangements over the last week or so, but I won’t discuss that in detail here.

I went to Stef’s over the weekend again, and we had a lot of fun. Her and I went to the Palladium in Birmingham to see “Bewitched” on Friday. If you’re a fan of disappointing movies, I would highly recommend it. Saturday we went to see little Colin’s second soccer game of the year. It was just about the cutest sporting even I’ve ever been to. After trying to score a goal against his own team they put Colin in goal, and he actually made two saves. Sunday was baby Brandon’s baptism at St. Paul’s (I think) church in Grosse Pointe. The ceremony was separate from the regular mass service so it wasn’t too long, but I was still really glad that I got a chance to see Stefy stand up as godmother to her nephew. We had a party at Sean and Marina’s house afterwards that was a lot of fun. That was pretty much it for this weekend.

Well, work has been very busy over the last week. I just finished my second edition of the M.I.T.F. quarterly newsletter, and I think it beats the last one by leaps and bounds. Hopefully this will further legitimize my design and P.R. work at the office, and start paying dividends once I get back from Europe. We just had a mini staff retreat at Wendy’s house on Tuesday, June 28 that was a lot of fun. Basically we sat around playing games and eating food all day, but it was only meant to give us some time to relax and bond (or whatever).

On Monday I had a nice dinner with my grandfather’s cousin Richard and his wife Donna at the Old Country Buffet in Okemos. I hadn’t seen them since my high school graduation, and they wanted to get together before my trip to England. It was great to finally catch up with them though. They are honestly the sweetest couple ever, and we had a lot to talk about. I think it goes without saying that after seeing them this week, we won’t let another three years go by between visits.

Tonight (Wednesday) I’m going out to dinner with my dad, Sherry, the girls, and Keith and Marilyn. I’m really glad that I’ll get a chance to see them before my trip, especially since I haven’t seen them since… well, maybe the fall? I honestly don’t remember. Afterwards I’m coming back to the apartment so I can start packing for London. It’s going to be a busy night.

Tomorrow is my last day at work. I’ll only be in the office for a few hours before taking off since I have a bunch of errands to run before I leave. Since my mom’s still in Michigan I think she’ll be tagging along with me so we get a chance to spend some time together before I take off. That’ll be nice.

Stefy is picking me up sometime in the middle of the afternoon on Thursday so we can drop off my car at my Dad’s house while I’m gone. After a short visit we’ll probably take off for Stefy’s house and spend the night there, because she’s driving me to the airport on Friday afternoon. Then, at 3:50 I’m getting on a plane and heading to London (via Chicago). I’m excited. Nervous. Scared. All of the above. It’s going to be an amazing six weeks, and I really can’t wait.

While I’m gone the site will be semi-operational. The first thing you’ll see when it loads will be my London blog, which has been up and running for a few months now. Since I’m not 100% sure how easy it will be to get online, I can’t say for sure how often I’ll be able to update, but I think once a week is a conservative estimate. Once I’m back though all of my updates will be archived and available for viewing, and of course I’ll have a million pictures posted. Anyway, I guess that’s it. I hope everyone has a great six weeks, and I’ll check back soon.

Cheers!
Zack