Whew. Well, it's been a busy weekend, so this is my last post of the week. I'll probably hold off on a full update until tomorrow, but I just felt like checking in.

This is the last week of the semester. Hard to believe. I should probably start studying soon, but somehow, I doubt that'll happen.

I just got off the phone with my Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom a few minutes ago. For those who aren't in the know, they're my mom's aunt and uncle, and also my godparents. Anyway, they're going to be up in Michigan next week (they live in South Florida), so they wanted to talk with me and arrange a time for us to get together. I'm really looking forward to seeming the Shaughnessy's. It's been about a year and a half since my mom and I went down to visit them during my spring break, so I'm sure we'll have a lot to catch up on.

I guess that's it for now. I hope everyone had a great week/weekend.

Well, Stefy and I are seeing the man in black tonight. Unless something comes up, we'll be heading out to NCG to see Walk The Line this evening, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical about this movie when I first heard about it, even calling it Ray 2, but with all the rave reviews and press that the film's been getting, it's time to finally give it a chance. Now, I just wonder if they'll highlight Johnny Cash's collaboration with U2 on "The Wanderer" from the Zooropa album. Wha? You don't think they will?

From the Mars Hill Review:

BAM! BZ be cookin'! That's right, I made a real dinner last night for the first time in I don't know how long. Spaghetti. Yeah, I know it's not rocket science, but I managed not to screw it up.

Well, last night was pretty low key. Stef and I just watched a bunch of TV. The Apprentice, some other stuff I can't remember, and then Letterman. Dave had Oprah on for the first time in 16 years, and it was a pretty good show. I got the feeling that he was trying really hard to be nice to Oprah, because all his jokes for the night were entirely self-deprecating. The funniest moment was probably when Oprah gave Dave a "gift": it was a framed photo of her and Uma Thurman, autographed by both. I thought it was a pretty classy move on her part, considering the now infamous "Oprah, Uma. Uma, Oprah" joke that bombed at the 1995 Oscars. Of course, staying up to watch the Late Show meant that I got to bed, well, pretty late. Surprisingly, I'm not dragging it too much today, but there's still plenty of time left to crash and burn.

Anyway, that's it for now. Still nothing planned for tonight, but I think we'll probably end up seeing a movie at NCG.

Well, it's finally December. You can almost kiss 2005 goodbye. I can't believe how fast this year is going by. Next thing you know, it'll be May, and I'll be...

Anyway, I had my macro class this morning. For the second time this week, we spent the entire period just talking about abstract concepts like deficits, the national debt, and so on. In a way that's a good thing, since it means less note taking for me. On the other hand, it makes me nervous that we aren't learning more specific examples. Hopefully I don't end up getting burned on the final.

Screenwriting went well today. Since everyone was turning in twenty pages though, there was a lot more to wade through than usual. Neither Duane or I were able to finish Kendra's pages from this week, mainly because she wrote a lot more description than dialogue, which takes longer to read. This kid Robert was the first person to do a table reading today, and it was pretty funny. He's the one who is more or less a real life version of Napoleon Dynamite. His story is about this weird half human/half werewolf woman named "Mist Ravenwolf," and there's just all sorts of cheesy dialogue in his story, so it was pretty funny to sit through. Other then that though, there wasn't a whole lot else going on in class today.

It was another blah weather day today. Kinda snowy and drizzly. I had to go back out and brave the cold this afternoon so I could get my hair cut at Panopolous, but it was worth it since a trim was way overdue. Now I have that itchy post-haircut neck going on, and it's driving me nuts. There's definitely a shower in my future tonight.

I guess that's basically it for now. Tomorrow is a full work day, and as far as I know, there isn't anything really going on this weekend. We'll see though... I'm sure a movie and some Christmas shopping could be in my future.

I haven't had any Lou & Harry's since the end of spring semester. It was a good night for a gyro. Mmmm. And those fries!

Well, I finally finished my screenplay. I still need to go back through the thing with a fine tooth comb to catch all of my ridiculous spelling & grammatical errors, but I feel pretty good about finally getting it done. Ninety pages, baby! It might not ever win me an Oscar, but I'd say it's quite a feat.

I finally got a chance to catch up with Paul online tonight. We've been playing phone tag for two days now, so it was good to finally talk with him. I think he and I agreed that the Holt High School Class of 2002 is bound to have some of the most awkward class reunions on record. There's just too much drama to go around.

I'm heading into the first weekend in I don't know how long with absolutely nothing planned. I know Stef has a lot of school stuff to work on, and I certainly have plenty of projects I could be working on if I wanted to get ahead on my exam studying, but we'll see what shakes out.

That's it for now. Yaaaawwwn. Time for bed.

Man, I wish I hadn't put off writing these last twenty pages of script. It's been slow going, and I feel like I'm coming up against a wall in the home stretch here. Right now I'm up to page 84, and I'm just starting the first of the last two scenes. There really isn't a whole lot left to do to wrap it up, but I'm just having a hard time actually doing it. Anyway, I'm hoping to at least get to page 88 by the end of today, but if I don't make it I'm not gonna sweat it since the final, final draft isn't due until next Friday. Right now 90 pages is the goal, and I think I'm still right on target to meet it.

I finally figured out my exam schedule. Exam week is two weeks from now, and the order goes like this: Wednesday from 12:45-2:45 is microeconomics, Thursday from 12:45-2:45 is my comm exam, and Friday from 7:45-9:45 is macroeconomics. Yes, that's in the a.m. folks. This really isn't that daunting though. I mean, after that first set of midterms I had earlier in the semester, with three exams in a two day swing, this actually seems much more manageable. Still, studying will, as always, be a bitch and a half. I think if I can pull down similar grades to the ones I've gotten on my other tests, I'll do pretty well this semester. Who knows though.

Well, I'm phoneless for the second day in a row. If anyone tried to call me and couldn't get through, I'm sorry. My poor cell got left at Stefy's yesterday morning, and I haven't been back to get it since. Ah, well. Hopefully I don't get in a fender bender, or lock my keys in my car again, and need to make a call.

Cooler today. And still gray. I guess passing 60º yesterday was a fluke. Ah, well. At least this week is going by fast... well, actually it's not.

Getting back into the school mode after nearly a week off is never easy. These past couple days felt like they were moving in slow motion. It's pretty crazy though that classes are over next week though. I can't believe how fast this semester went by. Halfway thru my senior year already. Yikes.

Anyway, there isn't much to report on today. Stef and I are going to my dad's house for dinner. Tomorrow I have to wrap up the last 16 pages or so of my screenplay. Thursday I'm hoping to get my hair cut. That's about as exciting as it gets right now.

One quick thing I forgot to mention. Well, I told some people, and haven't told others yet. If I forgot to tell you, please don't hate me... I just forget who I've told what to sometimes. Anyway, enough rambling.

I can finally confirm that I will be tagging along with the Spiros on their New Year's trip this year. While the trip itself is confirmed, I don't have the exact dates yet. I think I heard that it's December 28th until January 3rd, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, this is basically the trip that Stef and her family go on every year a few days after Christmas, and Stef's mom invited me to join them several months ago. We're going to this place called Atlantis in the Bahamas, which is supposed to be utterly fabulous. Miss Spiro and I will be joined by: her parents, Justin, Mara, Sean, Marina, Colin, Brandon, and grandma June. It'll be a full house, but I'm sure we'll have a blast. Anyway, that's the news. New Year's Eves have historically been mind numbingly boring for me, so I'm pretty jazzed. That's it for now.

Okay, it's time for this year's Thanksgiving break re-cap. First, let's rewind to Tuesday. My drive to Ohio? Easy, peasy, 1-2-3-sy. I made it in under four hours. A new company record. I pretty much just hung out at home with my mom and Dan that night and watched the thrilling—and, ultimately, heartbreaking—triple overtime MSU basketball game against Gonzaga. Dan's sister and her family showed up about halfway thru the game, because they were crashing at mom and Dan's that night on their way to visit Dan's other sister, Rose. I was a little curious what the dynamic would be like in the hosue with the some of the Schafer clan around, but it actually was pretty nice. They just sat down on the couch and watched the basketball game with us, and then went to bed. They were gone before I woke up the next morning.

Wednesday was a bizzare day. I slept in plenty late, and took my time getting up in the morning. The weather basically went from halfway decent on Tuesday to complete white-out by Wednesday afternoon. My mom and I went out for a nice lunch, and I almost plowed into the guard rail on an entrance ramp on our way back home. Pretty scary stuff. Dan and I went to see Harry Potter, which was good, but a bit of a let down if you ask me. Julie and her crew rolled into town pretty late on Wednesday night, but we still stayed up pretty late playing games with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. We had a lot of fun with them.

Thanksgiving morning/afternoon went by really fast. I had a bit of a sinusy headache throughout most of the morning, but it eventually died off. Being sick wasn't an option, since I had a green bean casserole to make. And let me tell you... that thing was gooood. So yeah, our actual Thanksgiving meal was pretty early in the afternoon, and all of the food was really good. I was royally stuffed after dinner, but somehow managed to choke down a couple small pieces of pie before hitting the road with my cousin Jessi at 3.

The drive back to Michigan was pretty uneventful for about the first two hours or so. Frankly, I've never seen the roads so dead before in all my years driving back and forth to Oho. That didn't last though. The traffic picked up around Findlay, and then I hit a wall of clouds and blowing snow. So, the driving conditions were less than ideal. Downright nasty in spots. Still, we made it to Ann Arbor without a scratch.

After dropping Jessi off, I proceeded to get myself lost on the way to Stefy's house, which helped tack on an extra 45 minutes or so to my trip. I was NOT a happy camper, but felt a lot better once I finally made it to Bloomfield Hills. For some crazy reason, Stef's family didn't start eating their Thanksgiving dinner until WAY later in the afternoon/early evening, so I actually arrived just as they were finishing the meal. I guess the timing worked out even better than I could've hoped for. Anyway, we had a nice huge (second for me) dessert after the dinner, but then the party dissolved pretty quickly after that. Still, I was really glad to catch the festivities, and see all of Stefy's family members that night. The rest of the night is kind of a blur to me. I think I slipped into a turkey coma at around 9:30 or so.

Stef and a stayed home and laid low for most of the day on Friday. We ventured out to Birmingham with Teri a little after 2 p.m., and ended up catching the 4 o'clock showing of Rent. Stef and her mom were just in love with the original show, which I more or less liked, so they were both pretty geeked about seeing the movie version. I guess I won't waste a lot of time here going thru an exhaustive review of the film, but let's just say that the song from Team America that parodies Rent, "Everyone Has AIDS!" basically sums it up. After the movie we managed to cajole Stef's parents into to choosing a place for dinner, and we all ended up going to the Redcoat Tavern to eat. This place is basically Detroit's answer to Kewpee's (although they don't serve olive burgers), and even though the restaurant's decor might make you contemplate suicide, the burgers and onion rings were SO worth the 30-40 min wait.

Saturday is kind of a blur at this point. I don't really even remember what we did during the day, but it was basically pretty low key. On Friday we ran into one of Stef's high school friends while waiting to see Rent, and she offered to give us her family's four tickets to see this comedy show Altar Boyz since they weren't going to use them (ahem... they're Jewish). So, before heading downtown for the 8 p.m. show, we all went for a nice dinner at Hella's restaurant in Greektown. The food was great, and after stuffing ourselves on lamb chops, we made it to the Second City Theater just in time for the show. Basically, the whole thing was like a parody of a Christian Rock/Pop Concert, and featured all of these really funny, satirical songs. I dunno... it's hard to describe. But we all had a lot of fun.

God, so this post might be approaching some sort of record length. Blah. Anyway, Sunday was our shopping day. Went to Somerset, and I picked up some presents for my mom and Teri. I got my mom some really nice _____ and a beautiful _____. At ______ I bought a really cool ______ for Teri too. It was a good day to get an early start on Christmas shopping.

So that's it. It rained today. G-R-O-S-S. I'll take it over snow though. Anyway, that's it for now. For those of you with less than the requisite 2 hours needed to read this entire post, the Cliffs Notes version will be available sometime soon.

Whew. What a week. I'm pretty pooped right now, but you can expect a full update on my crazy-busy Thanksgiving week at some point on Monday. I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday!