Classes went well this morning. My COM 225 lab went well. We pretty much just met in Snyder Hall for about 25 minutes and answered a few really pointless and easy questions. It was nice to see Stef's old roomie though. I chatted with her for a few minutes after class to get an update on how she's doing this year, since neither Stef or I have seen her since moving out day in the spring.

After the lab session got out really early I had a ton of time on my hands, so I wandered up to Grand River and read the paper in front of The Parlour while I waited for my dad to show up for lunch. He eventually showed up, and we had a nice bite to eat. Stefy was eventually able to join us, so I was glad that we were able to make that work out.

Well, after work this afternoon I'm going to head over to Stefy's place for a bit so we can finally set up her dad's new iPod nano. This way, Stef can give it to him on his actual birthday tomorrow. After that all I really have to do is a little bit of studying for my first macroeconomics quiz of the semester, which is first thing tomorrow morning. It shouldn't be too tough (basically an in-class homework assignment), but still, I want to do a good job on it.

It was a pretty quiet evening last night. I did some tidying up around the apartment before leaving to spend some time over at Stefy's. She had a really nice mac 'n cheese and french fry dinner waiting for us when I got there, so we scarfed that down while we watched Wheel and Jeopardy. Afterwards I dozed off on the couch for about a half hour while Stef watched some more TV, but I eventually perked up enough to watch a few episodes of The Wonder Years, and then go get some ice cream. It was dollar scoop night at Baskin's, so it was a pretty cheap little treat, and it definitely hit the spot. That was pretty much it for the night though.

Well, my comm. class should be interesting this morning, since it's the first time we're meeting for a lab session. Interesting enough, Stef's former roommate Danielle is my UTA for the lab group, so it'll be nice to have someone I know teaching the class... I think. After that I just have microeconomics, and then will be back at the office for a few hours before heading home to do some macro homework to study for tomorrow's in-class quiz. That's it for now... enjoy your Wednesday.

I can safely say that I survived my 21st birthday. Apparently Michigan State was worried about me reaching a 22nd birthday though, since I got a postcard from them last week reminding me of the kid who got alcohol poisoning and died after downing 22 shots at the bar with his buddies. Well, I did go to the bar last night, but I am still alive.

Anyway, backtracking for a moment. It was a wonderful weekend at Stefy’s house. Saturday was pretty low-key, and mostly spent by myself watching football on TV, but it was a nice way to relax. Plus, it’s always a good day when MSU wins and U of M loses.

On Saturday night I went out to dinner for a big birthday blowout with the Spiro clan to celebrate Tim’s birthday (and mine too), which is on Thursday this week. The seafood restaurant we went to was just down the road from Stef’s house, and we all had fantastic meals. I ordered a really great bowl of New England clam chowder for an appetizer—the white, in case you were wondering—and chicken stuffed with crab for my main course. Mmmmmm. Everyone had a really good time together, and it was nice to finally see Stef’s grandma for the first time since getting home from London (I know, I know… I’ll see my own grandparents this week, I promise).

Sunday started off with another award-winning Teri Spiro breakfast out on the back porch. Anyone who says this woman’s cooking is sub-par is quite frankly out of his mind (cough *Justin* cough). After breakfast, Stefy and I did some running around town, but the highlight of the afternoon was definitely going to the Franklin Cider Mill for the first time this year. Man, that place honestly has the best damn donuts on all of God’s green earth, I’m not kidding.

By the early evening Stef and I were ready to hit the road and head back to Lansing. Now, I feel like this story needs some explaining. You see, all weekend I’d been telling Stef that I wanted to go to El Azteco for dinner on Sunday, since it’s my favorite local restaurant. Of course, I know that she hates that place, so I wasn’t surprised when she didn’t want to go. Still, I acted like a total baby about it, and kept pissing and moaning about not getting to go to my favorite place on my birthday. So anyway, on our way back up to Lansing, we kept talking about where to go for dinner. I said that I wanted to eat at Bravo in Eastwood, since it’s another great restaurant, and I know we both really love the food there. Once we finally pulled into the parking lot, Stef drove right by Bravo because she said that the line looked too long from the outside, and that she wanted to go to P.F. Chang’s anyway. Of course, I was still whining about not getting to go where I wanted, and that it was my third choice of where to eat, and I think I even remember saying “I’ll remember this.” So yeah, I was being a total jerk about it.

Well, we walked into the restaurant, put our name down on the list, and then Stefy pulled me over to the bar area so we could get a drink while we waited for a table. As we walked over, I looked into the small little party room just off of the bar area, and noticed my dad sitting there. For a second, I was totally confused, and wondering what the hell he was doing there so late on a Sunday night. Of course, Stefy sort of nudged me into the room, and I finally realized what was going on. My girlfriend—the most wonderful person on the planet, in case it wasn’t already apparent—had orchestrated a surprise birthday dinner for me. I had no clue, and because of that, acted like the biggest birthday baby in history. Still, it was a wonderful surprise, and it was great to see everyone there: Katie, Annie, Michelle, Sara, Danielle, Beth, my cousin Brian, and my old man. We all had a really great dinner, and I got a lot of nice gifts, including a couple gift cards, a new plant for the apartment, a cool new jacket, and a couple of really cool vintage t-shirts (one that says “Bayside Tigers” and another with “Camp Anawana” on it). So yeah, my birthday-eve was pretty fantastic.

All that fun, and I still had my actual birthday to celebrate. I can’t say that I was excited about getting up for work at 6:30 a.m. on my b-day, but I somehow managed to do it. My comm. class and microeconomics both went well, and before I knew it, I was back in the office for a good chunk of the afternoon. Once I split out of work at around 5, I met up with Stefy at the apartment, and then we drove out to The Outback for dinner with my dad, Sherry, the girls, and Keith and Marilyn. We had ANOTHER delicious meal—the third in a row, as a matter of fact—and I got more cool presents: “The Aviator” on DVD, some storage stuff for my closet, and a new DVD player.

After my third birthday dinner, Stefy and I went back to the pad for a bit and chilled out in front of the TV while I worked on putting some of my storage units together. At around 9:30, we finally ventured out to Dagwood’s to meet up with Brian for karaoke night. Everyone was pretty insistent that I get out and “celebrate” my 21st birthday, and I was happy to oblige with a few drinks (trust me, I kept it pretty Zack-speed though). We all had a lot of fun though, and of course it was great to see Brian and Stefy get up there and show off their amazing karaoke pipes, singing “Billie Jean” and “Somethin’ To Talk About” respectively.

So, it was a pretty fantastic few days of birthday celebrations, and I really can’t thank everyone enough for helping make them so special. Of course, an EXTRA-HUMONGOUS thank-you goes out to Miss Stefanie Spiro, who proved once again that she is the most amazing girlfriend in human history. Whew, well, I’m going to wrap up this mondo huge post now. I promise, new pictures will be posted in the next couple of days… please check back.

Wow. Well, it's been a pretty busy couple of weeks. I am finally settling into my new apartment, and after digging through my office, I managed to get my computer set up and online, and now I'm ready to let the new wesite design be free. I guess I don't really have a good excuse though for why I haven't been writing. School, I guess. Well, I promise things will get back on track from here on out, so you can expect pretty regular updates from here on out.

Anyway, just for a brief update, my first two weeks of senior year went really well. I'm taking two econ classes, a comm class, and the big doozie... screenwriting. In fact, I spent about four or five hours writing the treatment for my project to hand in today, wo we'll see how that goes. I guess taking a class like this will let me know if I'm cut out for a career doing stuff like this. Stefy and I are heading over to her house this weekend for some birthday celebrations; mine is on Monday, and Tim's is on Thursday. That should be a lot of fun. I'm FINALLY turning the big 2-1. Of course, we all know what a big boozer I am.

Well, I suppose I'll sign off for now. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys their weekend. If you feel like killing some time, take a look around the new sight. Once I get the forum set up again, I'd like to hear what you have to think about the changes. Cheers for now!