"Should auld acquaintance be forgot"

Ah...

That is me breathing a sigh of relief after one of my most stressful weeks of work yet. I'm over the hump and tomorrow should be smooth sailing. And I'm working from home tomorrow, so either way, I'll be pumping my new Black Lab CDs and thinking about going home.

I like Wilbe's post about Christmas. I, too, am a huge fan of this month and holiday. I can't wait until Saturday, which will commence a week long of friend and family-seeing.

And to kick off Christmas week, here's a picture post of recent weeks gone by starting with my Christmas-season highlight: Seeing "It's a Wonderful Life" on the big screen. It's one of my all time favorites and it was awesome to see it with a packed house at an 80-year-old theatre. Thanks to Rogers for getting the scoop on the showing!

This is me and my nephew, Preston at Thanksgiving. I like to gel his hair and in this instance, devil horns seemed appropriate.

This is Noel and me on a hayride during Ferndale's Winter Ice Festival.

"A pie in the sky"

There have been a lack of post due to a lack of thoughts. I suppose this occurs when one fails to take time to examine their life. So I will live unexamined for the time being.

After a quick visit from the Spires family this weekend, our house has returned to its usual state of messiness. Piles of Christmas presents here, a leaning tree there. But it is home, and I'm happy to have its warmth, comfort and other inhabitants every day when I come home from work.

I never imagined I would have a "desk job," yet I hear I am glued to my desk working for the 9th or 10th hour today. So am I doing what I'm called to do? Perhaps, for the time being.

Things I'm Looking Forward to this Christmas:

• Mint Brownies
• Once again gathering gift cards and dollars to put towards a Wii. (Last year's efforts were fruitless as car repairs were a higher priority -- but I've got a $100 start toward an 08 purchase.)
• Sleeping In
• Playing Games (Clue, Monopoly)
• Giving Rogers the present I bought today
• Going to see Its a Wonderful Life on the big screen.

Back to work for me. Read Rogers blog. She updated. And Phil, I owe you a call tomorrow.

"Welcome Christmas, come this way!"

Ten Things that Excite me about Christmas 2007

1. Dec. 22 - Jan. 1 spent in Central Indiana and wherever Brian Roberson tells us to meet him.
2. Seeing long-lost friends of today (Brian R., Nate P.) and friends of yesterday (Darren R., Drew W.).
3. It's a Wonderful Life on the big screen.
4. Spending time with family.
5. Sleeping-in and hanging out with Rogers all day.
6. Eating at Hacienda at least five times in a 10-day span.
7. Christmas Eve 11 p.m. Candlelight Service
8. Our new digs in the back room at the Rosenberg house.
9. Gift-giving.
10. Little to No Work -- Got to love those sandbagged vacation days.

Thirteen work days to go...this is going to be good.

"Connecting who we are"

I've been thinking about Lithuania recently and am now in part because I'm listening to Ben Jelen who I first heard on that trip. On my way to Lithuania I read "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and I listend repeatedly to the Maverick record label radio station on the plane. They played 4 Ben Jelen Songs, 4 The Shore songs, 4 Alanis songs and 4 of Tyler somebody. I bought Ben Jelen as soon as I arrived in Lithuania and it was waiting for me at home when I returned. Later that year I stumbled across The Shore in Chicago.

On Saturday, Lisa and I went to the Wright Patterson Air Force Base Museum in Dayton, Ohio on our way home from visiting with family in Middletown (Metro Cincy). A number of our family members went as well. Part of the museum dealt with the holocaust and included a map with swastikas marking the locations of concentration camps. In a flash I remembered visiting a holocaust museum in Eastern Europe. It was increadibly sobering. I remember walking into a small room in the museum and being told that hundreds of Jews were housed in a room this size. Unbelievable.

On another day in Lithuania we drove far into the countryside and ended outside an old rusted fence. Through the fence lay four below-ground silos...a former Russian nuclear missile base. We climbed down into one of the silos, walking underground in dimly-lit hallways hallways. Then crawling up through a hatch into the actual silo. Things you don't have the opportunity to see every day.

Another day in Lithuania we visited the Hill of Crosses:

I was in a forest over the Baltic Sea, on a mountain where I could see Russia, in a Latvian Opera House.

What an opportunity. And I almost didn't go...the day before I left, I was sad to be leaving the dorms early.

My cubemate has a sign that says, "Always do what scares you." Not sure what to think about that. Today, I think it's great advice.

"And party every day"

Thanksgiving Eve was a nice evening spent amongst friends. We dined, we conversed, we bowled, we rocked out to Guitar Hero.

Philip, how do I miss thee...let me count the recent ways:

1) You are at a moped rally in Michigan or Ohio.
2) You are in Nebraska or Lafayette to spend time with family.
3) You are hosting a moped rally at your house.

To all a good night and a Merry Thanksgiving.

"It starts in my toes"

12 hours from now I expect to be on my way to good old Indiana and to a fine dinner with some of you I hope.

24 hours from now I hope to be up to my ears in turkey at the annual Rogers' Thanksgiving.

36 hours from now I'll be in Cincinatti doing who knows what at the Martin's annual get together.

48 hours from now I'll be exchanging Christmas presents with the Martins at that annual get together.

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So that's what I'm up to. Now it's time to go hunt down a couple of white elephant gifts for those Martins, play one last game of Madden 05 before the long weekend, get some sleep and work for about 3 hours in the morning.

See you soon, I hope.

"How about it"

Lisa's been down with a cold for the past week. I caught it yesterday. Sunday was a miserable day in which I never got dressed and never left the house. I felt pretty miserable. I went to bed at midnight not knowing whether I would have the chills all night or break out in a feverish sweat. I wore a hooded sweatshirt to bed, usually I sleep shirtless (seems odd to type topless since I'm a man). Amazingly, I woke up around 3:30 and felt pretty OK. My throat was no longer sore and my body temperature felt normal. I couldn't sleep so I watched about 90 minutes of the X Effect on MTV, which is hard to turn off once you start an episode even thought it's another trashy dating show from the Music Television channel.

Anyway, I thought it was odd that I woke up feeling so much better until I found out that my Mom was praying for me in the middle of the night because she couldn't sleep. She said, "Praying's a good thing to do when you can't sleep." I said, "It's probably better than watching an hour and a half of MTV."

Today I still felt a bit foggy but tonight I'm feeling even better so that's good.

Happy almost Thanksgiving everyone. And to Phil and Wilbe, I too will attempt to update more often beginning next week. (Because I'll be out-of-town most of this week.)

Currently watching: The Bachelor -- can you believe that guy didn't pick anyone?
Currently listening to: The Killers -- favorite songs off of Sawdust after a weekend's listen: Romeo and Juliet, Sam's Town, Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf
Last movie watched: Slaughter High (1986)

"Stay in the game"

Going through old photos my Grandma's cleaning out so they don't get lost in her absence someday, I stumbled across this little piece of gold.
For any of you who ever doubted the tales of basketball at Liberty Christian:

Note that Josh didn't make the photo section, but he's in there. Happy upcoming Birthday to Richard R. Lehman. I hope you have some time to hang out on Saturday.

And to head off any jokes about weight or giant adam's apples in advance, let me say what's on everyone's mind:

"Man that huge 35-pounds of adam's apple must have dropped into his stomach sometime over the past 8 years."

"Golden arms, golden arms"

What is happening to quality? With a little patience I guess poor quality can pay-off for the average consumer such as Rogers and me. On Saturday the following events occurred, 75% of which were too our benefit:

• Arrive home with our Chinese take-out only to find Lisa's white rice is actually fried rice. Back to the store we go. They replace it.
• Go to Verizon Wireless to have my phone numbers transferred to my Blackberry. They succeed in doing this, but can't figure out what code to put in on their computer to charge us the $10 so they say "Don't worry about it. Merry Christmas." It was free.
• At Target we try to buy a curling iron for my Grandma for Christmas only to find that it has been recalled. Because we had to go get another one and get back in line, they gave us a coupon for $3 off of any purchase.
• Because we'd saved $10 at Verizon, we decided to splurge and buy a $10.99 Stuffed Crust at Pizza Hut. We make our order and go to the store. Upon arrival, they seem to have never entered the order and have to take it all over again. They give us our pizza for free. (The confusing part was that they clearly took my number, because they even read me my order from the last time I'd ordered there in case I wanted the same thing.) They knew how to take the order, but not place the order.

So with a grand savings of $24+ tax Lisa and I had a better Saturday than we did a Wednesday or a Thursday. That's $24 more to put toward Christmas presents or 7 Eleven Big Gulps.

(Of course that "better" was only enhanced by renting and watching Black X-Mas.)

Hey, we'll be in town this weekend. I hope to see some of you on Saturday.

"A tired song keeps playing"

Halloween (Yesterday)

1) 8:45 a.m. -- I'm on my way to work in stop-and-go traffic. Suddently, a scream comes out of my mouth as my car jerks forward into the car in front of me. It was a five-car pileup, and I was smack dab in the middle of it. No injuries thankfully, although I definitely got a little whiplash. Actually, my car wasn't too badly hurt either. Bumpers are amazing! Consider that I was hit hard enough to hit my car into another car and that car into a fifth car, and I'm basically left with a dent near the license plate. I drive on to work without any further incident.

2) 1: 15 p.m. -- I'm at work and I get a message from Lisa who I had just spoken with not an hour before. She says, "I've got bad news, so please call me back." I immediately assume someone has died because of the sound of her voice. Instead, her new Company informed her that she was "laid off" and they are eliminating her position. They told her they couldn't afford to pay her and didn't have enough for her to do. That was it. Yes, this is the Company for which she quit her other job one month ago and missed our family vacation. She got screwed.

November 1 (Today)

3) 8:25 a.m. -- I get in my car to go to work. It doesn't start at all. The lights and CD player come on, but no go. I assume this is somehow related to the accident, as it didn't at first appear to be the battery. I guess I'll work from home today.

4) 9:00 a.m. -- I, in my sock, step in a huge steaming pile of Grace's poop in our office. It gets all over my jeans.

5) 11:15 a.m. -- Upon closer inspection, the battery was the issue. We push it into the street so we can get Lisa's car out and we jump it. It starts so we're off to the Collision Experts to get an estimate -- not wanting to risk it not starting again. On the way, the battery light comes on. Oh, crap. I've jumped several times in my 8 year driving history, and I don't remember seeing that light afterwards. Normally you've drained the battery but once you get it going it is OK. We make it to the car place. While we're inside giving them our info, the car dies. We're told this is likely a bad alternator, not accident related so it won't be covered and they quote us at $475 ($300 for the part, $175 for labor).

-----------------

Praise the Lord, it turns out to in fact be a bad battery, which is only $125. This is received as extremely good news after 30 hours of bad news.

Interestingly, the only thing out of the past two days that REALLY made me angry was stepping in the dog poop.

"Same old dollar days"

After a brief stint in Michigan and an even briefer stint in Anderson (during which I'll update my blog and sleep), I'm headed down to Gatlinburg. Wilbe, you meeting me down there? It was really really great hanging out with you all on Saturday on the home turf. Thanks for posting the pictures, Shannon. Dress-up Dinner was fun.

Things to consider:

• Driving to Anderson until 1 a.m. works out OK if you're singing along to old favorites (and have a Monster energy drink).
• Saved By the Bell is on TBS every morning from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m. You can thank me for that tip later after you start looking forward to getting up in the morning to watch SBTB like you used to look forward to getting home from school to watch SBTB.
• Watching the Colts on Monday Night Football beginning at 11 p.m. is a bad idea on a work night.
• This vacation is way overdue -- two days ago, I couldn't even remember my own Social Security number.
• Next time you ask what day it is, follow it up with "but what year is it?" That makes everything seem much more dramatic and chances are some heavy music might just start playing from the heavens -- especially if your face is one of complete shock when you get the answer.
• I take the rollbar in between the clickers on the mouse for granted.

With a little luck, I'll have the internet this week in Tennessee and will have a postful time.

"The angels hung around"

Lisa Ann Rogers - 24 years old today. I'm looking forward to celebrating her 74 birthday 50 years down the road.

I was thinking today about how young we are. 24 years. Our whole lives ahead of us. The road is paved, but we have to finish the book - how's that for mixing analogies.

I've said it before, but I'm a very nostalgic person. I love remembering and talking about old memories despite Tony Soprano's statement that "Remember when" is the lowest form of conversation. So I was thinking about how strange it must be to have another 24 years of memories and fond times to recall. We'll be 50 and have doubled the experiences. Then one day we'll wake up and be 75 and most likely our best days on earth will have been behind us. And we'll think back on the memories piled on memories (if we're still able to remember). It's strange to think about.

But for now, 24 years old. Here's to the future, and here's to friends. Look forward to seeing some of you on Saturday.

-Berg

"That sleepy person sleeping next to you"

It's late and past time for bed. I'm up because I watched the last 5 minutes of Monday Night Football and 15 minutes of Yankees highlights and Joe Torre's postgame interview.

Now it's time for bed. Now-a-days I have to drag myself to bed and out of it in the morning. I'm so much more of a night person. I'm tired, but could stay up for several more hours, if I needed to.

Currently listening to: Stars -- "In Our Bedroom After the War"
Currently reading: Yahoo News
Currently working for: A retirement plan for law firms around the country
Currently watching: The Bachelor

"The missing stone in the graveyard"

This weekend was spent primarily relaxing with Rogers with a day of Wilbe, Phil and N. Danske who were in Metro Detroit for a moped rally as the centerpiece. The time spent with those three fellows was spent eating at the Grizzly Peak and pancakes and playing Monopoly. And most unfortunately losing to Phil in Tecmo Bowl in a game that was down to the wire.

Wilbe and I also watched Eastern Promises (with Rogers) and Fracture until 3:30 a.m. Both were enjoyable. The best thing about Eastern Promises was Viggo. That guy is too cool. Fracture, however, had a very enjoyable plot.

That's the news from Ferndale.

"I'm Mr. Brightside"

And for post 601 (not to out-do the very recent and much more informative post 600 immediately below), check out this link if you're a Killer's Fan. It's good news for us all!

"Let these swift roads destroy themselves"

9 Things that Were Enjoyable This Weekend...and 1 that was not
(in no particular order)

1. Watching late night horror movies (Saw III, Cabin Fever)
2. Playing some Poker
3. Sushi and Saki
4. Baseball at 1 a.m. (despite getting hit in the face by a 60 mph fastball)
5. The empty roof of Tom's Oyster Bar on a warm early-fall morning
6. The Lions Game -- league record for most points scored ever by 1 team and combined in the 4th quarter and we were there
7. Playing Poker -- and winning
8. Receiving the Mario Wallpaper
9. 6 Men packed into Parliament's Car (and getting honked at several times)

----------------------------

And not enjoyable: The first 3 quarters of the Lions Game. Nothing much happened until that record-breaking 4th quarter.

And of course none of that would have been Fun without the Company of Friends. Thanks for coming up guys (and Shannon!).*

-----------------------------
Well I made it to 600 posts. At this point, I've gotto believe that this Blog has now outlasted my High School journal, which was handwritten. In those days, I wrote a lot about basketball. In these days I wrote a lot about Halo.

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*Shannon, please note the exlamation point signifying exclamation. And you've got the footnote on post 600 dedicated to you. Now that's got to be better than any mention Ricky got in the last post.

"On our way into the night"

Well I seem to have finally done it. I'm back on college-like sleeping patterns. I don't think it's a good thing. But I'm sitting here at 1:30 not tired because I've been going to sleep around 2 for the past couple of weeks...primarily because I've been working several hours each night.

But tonight there was no work, so I should be sleeping like a baby. But instead I sit here doing nothing. Been playing a little guitar though recently which has been nice also.

Tomorrow will be a good day. Work should FINALLY be slowing down to an OK pace -- meaning I have plenty to do during the workday, but can take a few minutes and perhaps a lunch break every now and then.

Then by about 10, I'll be having QTWR. That's right Quality Time with Ricky, my long-lost friend whom I haven't seen since my birthday I think. To be shortly followed by 4 more friends coming up on Saturday. Looking forward to hanging out with y'all. Jason, bring the poker chips just in case.

Of course, a better use of our time, may be spent here: http://www.boogiefevercafe.com/. Seriously, go to the Website and then revel in the glorious music and imagine yourself hitting the dance floor in your best 70's get-up.

"Supposedly Pharoahless"

The countdown to 600 posts is on. This is 598. That's enough to get a story out there, eh? If someone were to read this blog from front to back, I'd bet they'd have a fairly good idea of who I am. Unfortunately, I may come off as fairly shallow (i.e., not deep) seeing as most of my posts are not of a deep or thinking-man's nature. I think it would be more fair to judge as "tired" seeing as oftentimes this Blog is my brain-dump before bed. What happened that day, what am I thinking about right now...that cool picture I just put on my profile on facebook.

Now...my good macaroni and cheese with lobster pieces dinner.

Now...how good a shower and bed is going to feel.

Ten minutes ago...how underappreciated the former band Elliot is: http://www.myspace.com/elliottmusic

Nine and eleven minutes ago...Summary Annual Reports and Summary Plan Descriptions

Time for that shower and bed that are going to feel darn good. Those of you going to the Lions v. Bears on Sunday looks like Grossman's been benched with Michigan's own Griese taking his place. Should be an interesting game!

"With a kiss or two her life is sunny"

Today was a great day spent with Rogers:

• Worshipping
• Walking the streets of Ferndale
• Garagesaling
• Relaxing
• Dancing in the kitchen to Frank Sinatra
• Eating superb pasta
• Watching Notting Hill
• Swinging in a beautiful deserted park

Work has got me down recently. Yesterday I was in the office for nearly 400 minutes trying to get things done. Billing 6.5 hours on a Saturday. That's about as much as a regular workday. Tonight I should be doing more, but I'm worn down. Seems like there's just too much to do...

In the meantime, I have received about 6 text messages today. If you are text messaging me, I can't read them so call me and leave a message or e-mail me instead. Or post a comment. Looking forward to next weekend. Y'all coming up Friday night?

"Gypsy mother and a bucket of tears"

While S&S Steel may not celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day, at least Mercer observes the day:

Also, DON'T text message me anymore. The screen on my cell phone is broken so I can't receive texts and haven't been able to for the past several days. I should have a new phone by next week, but otherwise for now please call and leave a message or e-mail me. Sorry if I've missed some messages.

"Counting all the ways which you will grow"

Two Cheers for....Lisa and her wall-scraping/priming/painting abilities! Well, she hasn't started painting, but I know it's going to look great.

Things I've Recently Purchased

• Kill Bill Vol. II DVD -- $6.50
• Match Point DVD -- $4.00
• Dave and Tim at Radio City Music Hall -- $20 (traded DVDs)

Movies I Recently Rented

• Kill Bill Vol. I and Wrong Turn -- 2 for $5.00
• Smokin Aces -- $4.50

Items I Recently Ate

• Rogers' Magic Stir Fry
• Oreo Pudding

Aside from the Concert, I had the most fun with Parliament

• Watching Wedding Crashers and laughing the entire time
• Discovering the pub we were watching the Colts game in had free nachos (about two hours after we arrived)
• Looking for and eating Sushi

Yes, looking for Sushi was fun. When you're standing on a street corner, not knowing where to go, and you pull out a cell phone and GPS Sushi and pick Little Tree Sushi from the list and the cell phone speaks to you and says, "Destination is on your right" three things happen:

1) You feel like an idiot

2) You laugh

3) Your thankful for technology and its ability to tell you what's right in front of you and recalculate your root when you walk the wrong way.

To be fair, the Sushi was on our right, but one block up, so we couldn't technically see it from where we were standing.

"16 miles to the promised land"

First: www.vote756.com. Perhaps the coolest thing happening this week.

Second: On with the update. Parliament's visit to Ferndale made for an enjoyable weekend of movie watching, conversing and fooding. Shoot em Up, Smokin Aces, Wedding Crashers, 10 min. of Godzilla, Sushi, Max & Erma's, Taco Bell, a bottle of wine, Irish Pub, Colts Game, and Conversations later we were ready for the Rilo Kiley concert a full 1 hour and 45 minutes prior to the opening act which was a big fat No Good despite featuring indie rock George Wiley look-a-like on Guitar.

It was a fun weekend. And I look forward to the next friend visit in...2 weeks!

That's about it. I'm tired and need to do some work.

"We hope you enjoyed your stay"

I've got to say, the Killers show was unbelievably good. If you were in Columbus last Saturday night, you know what' I'm talking about. I can't say it was the best show I've ever been to, but it was right up there...they played a fantastic live show after about 3 hours of non-stop rain.

The crowd was nuts and we were right in the middle of it. Coming up with a drumstick was pretty stinking sweet thanks to Phil's block out of the girls next to us! Crowd surfers hitting the deck like a rock in water. Goth high schoolers moshing like...high schoolers. And the Killers rocking our butts off for 15+ songs at the highest volume possible -- 11.

We've got to see them again sometime.

1. Go to a Killers show. 2. Camp out with friends. 3. Eat at Steak 'n Shake at 1 a.m. with a cracked out waitress who at first glance seems to be unfit to waitress, but ends up being a great waitress complete with accidentally free milkshakes and Dr. Peppers to go. 4. Repeat next time the Killers hit the Midwest.

In other news, Rogers got hired today for a new job. Interviewed and hired on the same day. And she's very excited about it and so am I. More hours, higher pay and most importantly....wait for it....could it be.....yes, NO MORE WEEKENDS!

Rogers may get to eat at Hacienda again someday after all! Best Week Ever. Congrats to Rogerito!

Rilo Kiley on Monday. Bring your dancing shoes Parliament because Jenny Lewis is going to ask you to shake your Moneymaker! http://www.myspace.com/rilokiley

"Rags to riches over there"

i feel restless...like i'd better do something...and fast. like i'm wasting too much time being useless. i'm way past the training by now, aren't i? was it all for nothing...have i wasted and forgot all that i once knew. something's got to give.

"Can't keep the lights from going out"

Attempting to do work at night, is good for my Blog and yours. I do anything, but work, which is why I am a frequent commenter on most of the blogs I read.

My fall is booked thanks to the goings and coming of various friends at various times. Looking forward to seeing many of you. And it starts next weekend with the Ki!!ers . Yes that's right: !!

See you in Ohio for a rocking good time.

Currently listening to: Red Light Driver (Indianapolis band)
Currently watching: Big Brother 8

"I spiral down"

I'm a very nostalgic person. Today I miss the feeling of:

• Fall in college
• High school basketball -- the excitement leading up to each season
• Making mini-movies with my friends in high school

Listening to Radiohead's Kid A brought about the thoughts of high school and Death Cab's Plans the thoughts of fall in college. Going to class for one day now, would be such a refreshing change of pace. I truly hope I end up being a professor some day.

It's sad that these feelings will not be recaptured. But new feelings will replace them. I suspect a few year's from now, I'll fondly remember my house on Annabelle and falls in Michigan.

I realize it does little good to look back rather than charging forward, yet I can't help myself. Music does it to me everytime. Start playing Hootie and the Blowfish's second album and I'll quickly revert to middle school...

"In these typical times"

The time to post is overdue. Mi Padre y Madre Rosenberg visitan la Ferndale. It was a very nice weekend overall:

• Friday -- dinner at an Italian restaurant in downtown Ferndale (after a very big storm)
• Saturday -- toured the Edsel & Eleanor Ford house, Yankees vs. Tigers game
• Sunday -- church then Max & Erma's in Birmingham for lunch

A good time was had by all. Then Rogers and I rented Vacancy tonight, and I've got to say that it was a good scary movie. Suspensful, smarter than average for the genre, but still followed the typical plot points and threw a few good scares in. We both liked it. But then we also like Cabin Fever and House of Wax...

The next several weeks should be fairly busy around here. Looking forward to having visitors here and there throughout September. Goodnight for now.

"With my head in the clouds"

Saturday Aug 18 2007 Verizon Wireless Music Center
One Sweet World *Crash Into Me *Pantala Naga Pampa *Rapunzel *Where Are You Going Corn Bread *Jimi Thing *Eh Hee [new song] *Bartender *Crush *The Idea Of You *#41 *+What Would You Say *The Song That Jane Likes *Everyday *Ants Marching *

Encore: So Damn Lucky ~American Baby Intro *Two Step *

I've got to post the setlist for reference in future years. What an amazing set list. The Dave Matthews Band show on Saturday made me remember why this was one of my favorite bands for so long. I've barely listened to DMB over the last 3 years or so until this weekend. But this was just an amazing show -- the best I've seen out of the handful of shows I've been to throughout high school and college. Makes me want to snag tickets for the show up here on Thursday...ah, if only the money well ran deep enough to buy a house, fix up kitchens and go to every concert I want... I found out that this was the debut of the song called "Eh hee." First time the full band has ever played it. I'm trying to download the show so I can put it on my iPod. Assuming I can get past my lack of knowledge about BitTorrent files and download/convert as necessary, let me know if you want me to burn it for you... From the sample I've heard and what I've read, this is a really good quality recording.

And it was a great time with friends too -- despite Ben W. getting peed on and my brother-in-law nearly getting vommitted on by a female in the men's restroom. From sitting in the parking lot almost out of gas to yelling out answers to Movie Trivia to nearly losing Parliament to the tempting riches of a VIP life it was a great time...only enhanced by the contact high we all had.

Today I've had little motivation to do work. It was dreary out and I was tired. I slogged through the day from 9 - 4:30 then came home and worked for a bit. Then slept from 7:15 - 9:30. Now I'm trying to get another 45 min. to an hour done...so far, no good.

"It's 5:19, I'm feeling alone"

It wasn't too long ago that I would go to sleep at 3 in the morning night after night. Ah, college. Those who may read this journal in the future could read my posts over the past year in just an hour or two. The transition would be subtle when read. But the transition is anything but subtle.

As I said, 18 months ago, I was up until 3 a.m. nearly every night. My senior year of college culminated in me requiring only 5 hours to be in good shape the next day. So my bed time had inched up from 2 a.m. to a consistent 3 a.m. I'm not going to fact check right now (after all, it's late -- nearly midnight), but blog posts from that era may well confirm what I'm describing.

This being the case, my body was not prepared to wake-up at 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning and put a suit and tie on to fly to Indianapolis...My flight was at 6:20 a.m. the airport is 35 minutes away (plus parking). I woke-up, left the house at 4:35 or so and made it to the airport about an hour before my flight. Yes a bit earlier than necessary, but it was my first flight out since being in the new house so I wasn't sure about the drive.

By 8:15, I was eating breakfast with my sister and Noel. My boss arrived at 10 and off we went to our meeting. (In short, there are not a lot of direct flights from Detroit to Indy...) I arrived home around 8 p.m.

It was a long day. Now I am exhausted still on the recovery trail. Little rest for the weary as I'm getting up early on Saturday to drive down to Anderson for Dave Matthews.

What's the plan for the show anyway? Time of concert? Dinner? I'll be around mid- afternoon...

"Until then let's stay engaged"

As of 11:32 p.m., August 10, 2007, according to aVerizon Wireless text message Philandrea Patstra are engaged. Text: "Guess what? I'm engaged!"

According to Facebook this is the quickest non-relationship to relationship to engaged in history as noted in this photo:

Not to be outdone, as of 5:27 p.m., August 11, 2007, according to a Verizon Wireless text message Squacca Palmett are engaged. Text: "Becca and i are officially engaged!!"


Of course, becoming a part of a relationship and being engaged within the same minute is a hard act to follow. For ol' Squatch it took a day as noted in this photo:

I s'spect we'll have a couple of weddings to attend before long...and well, not to be presumptious, but these parties have White River Boyz reunion shows written all over them.

Congrats to my good friend, Phil and to my five-minute friend,* Squatch...You're in for a great time, no doubt! And congrats to their future brides. Simply wonderful.

*Squatch is my five-minute friend because since moving to Detroit, I have seen him a dozen times for an average of five minutes...including one visit that consisted of a wave from my car as I drove by.

"Tomorrow comes today"

• If one of my best friends growing up, Darren Rayl was still drumming for Jon McLaughlin, he would've met Jay Leno today.
• Do you think there's the feeling of melancholy in heaven? I really like melancholy. The changing of feeling/emotion, like the changing of seasons, is one of the things that makes life great. And melancholy is a great in the middle, kind of like the first whispers of fall in the wind.
• I haven't seen Darren Rayl since...my wedding day.
• I haven't seen Ryan Homer Chapman II since...sometime during senior year of college.
• I miss those guys sometimes.
• Disturbia is a good movie. It is a good Friday night thriller, but it holds up just fine on a Tuesday as well.
• Any work day that ends with ice cream in Ann Arbor prior to 5 p.m. is a good day.
• One of my coworkers realized that if I'm talking about food it's usually about cheese and ice cream -- now he makes fun of me for that.
• Tomorrow we find out just how far we can take our kitchen this month.
• I can't wait to see everyone at DMB, but I'm sad Lisa can't go.
• The only time I saw Dave live without Lisa was on the Carson Daly show when I was in New York with my Dad shortly after graduating from high school.
• Places I visited just with my Dad: Disney World (2nd grade?), New York City (18), Las Vegas (21), New Orleans (22) -- week before Katrina.
• My Dad is good at being a father. How do you learn that?
• As Wilbe noted many months ago, making lists is the way to go.
• Now that I live only 20 minutes from work, I sleep til almost 8 o'clock every morning.
• I wonder what Parliament's doing and if he is interested in seeing Rilo Kiley with me.
• I wonder if you guys would be interested in coming up for a football game this fall. Maybe the Lions, maybe the Big House (U. of M.).

"Play a song for me"

So it's my first normal Saturday in quite some time...July's Saturday's consisted of working, golfing/campbell party in Anderson, moving and visiting with my sister and niece in that very certain order. Work slowed down drastically for me yesterday, which is just fine as July was wearing me down. It'll come back around in no time so one Saturday of freedom will be nice.

I didn't sleep well last night, which is strange for me. It is hotter than coffee in our bedroom so we have a fan blowing on us. The air condition comes out of the vents and promptly disappears. In contrast, downstairs it's positively frigid. Unfortunately, our office is upstairs so working at night consists of sweating and sticking to the leather chair. I hate leather. Note: I'll never be able to sleep comfortably on Felder's couch in the summer.

Back to the point, I slept from 12 - 3 then woke up and watched Court TV and the first half of The Number 23 for 3 hours, then slept from 6 - 10. Strange night.

So with 8 hours of freetime, I've got plenty to keep me busy. I could:

• Mow the lawn
• Wash the dishes
• Do the little work, I do need to do this weekend.
• Finish The Number 23
• Sleep
• Coordinate with Bob to line him up for dishwasher/cabinet installation
• Go track down Billy to get my $20
• Call my sister back to finish our short conversation from this morning
• Sit right here surfing the net listening to my Bob Dylan record
• Write the longest Blog entry ever
• Walk downtown and buy a CD at one of two independent record stores in downtown Ferndale

Things I've recently found and later purchased on Craigslist:

• House
• Lawn Mower
• The services of Bob

Things I've recently found and later purchased at Lowes:

• Fire extinguisher
• Chicken wire
• Dishwasher
• 75 Minutes of Truck Rental (to bring the dishwasher home)

Time to walk downtown and buy a CD...then maybe finish watching the movie. The rest of the stuff can wait! See the movie Zodiac. It is good.

"When the roads are clear"

Five Things I Like About Living in Ferndale:

• New Commute = Old Commute / 3. Parking garage to driveway with zero traffic is 15 minutes. Used to be about 40 minutes. Even with traffic around rush hour it's about a 25 minute drive max. In the old days, with traffic, I'd have a lengthy 50 minutes to pump up the volume on Billie Jean.
• Record Stores. I haven't been to them yet, but even having an independent music store as an option is great. I never found any in Novi. Now I've got two one mile from my house selling new and used CDs and LPs.
• Things to Do. With dowtown Ferndale 2 minutes away, downtown Royal Oak 5 minutes away, and downtown Detroit 15 minutes away we've got a plethora of entertainment options. Coming soon: Rilo Kiley to the Royal Oak Music Theatre.
• My Room. Seems really cozy, and I really like sleeping in it. You'll know why when you see it. The king size bed takes up about 75% of the room (and that includes height).
• Space. We've got a huge mess, and don't have to trip over anything because of all that extra room.

That's a list at 1:30 a.m. Perhaps I'll be more thorough sometime in the future. Or perhaps I'll make a list of 5 reasons you shouldn't by a house once things start to break.

"Then I'd know how to"

How to move into a house and meet neighbors:

• Step 1 -- Have good friends who are willing to help you move even though a) they have to drive several hours to do so, b) it takes up their entire weekend and c) moving sucks...
• Step 2 -- Make sure those friends know they are greatly appreciated through hospitality, primarily through offering them a cold glass of water or at least a bottle of water.
• Step 3 -- Procure furniture from your boss in a 30 minute time-frame. If the 30 minutes extends to 75 minutes, pay your friend who is waiting in your empty, dismantled to help you move five dollars because he bet you it would take at least 60 minutes.
• Step 4 -- Rather than spend hours trying to pack your whole apartment into one u-haul, pile the furniture in, being sure to Tetrisize the table chairs and take to house. Return later for the boxes.
• Step 4.5 -- Let your friend drive the u-haul. He's better at it than you are.
• Step 5 -- When the load, unload, eat lunch, return to apartment process takes two hours rather than four, keep your five dollars, because you bet double-or-nothing it wouldn't take four hours.
• Step 6 -- Stop for water breaks, while your friends load and unload two boxes at a time.
• Step 7 -- Tie your dog up in the yard so that the neighbor girls can ask dozens of times if they can pet the puppy. Note: They will continue to ask, and may ride their bikes around down their street and up your street to get to the other side of the fence all in hopes of ultimately petting your dog.
• Step 8 -- Let your friends pick dinner. They've got good taste in food. Let'm pick lunch too. They know what'll hit the spot in the middle of the move.
• Step 9 -- Watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off until midnight.
• Step 10 -- Answer the doorbell when it rings around midnight. When Billy asks for the seller of the house you just moved to, tell him she moved to Arizona. When he begins the next sentence with "Most neighbors usually would ask for sugar..." and ends it with "do you have $15 I could borrow" shut the door and finish Ferris Bueller.
• Step 11 -- If you do not shut the door and instead give Billy $15, take his watch as collateral. If you don't, you will not see Billy again and his promises of getting you into all the good bars (including gay bars) and bringing down steaks to eat with you or taking you for a ride in his cool car will not actually happen.
• Step 12 -- Be relieved that Billy will not be coming back for his watch. Write the $20 -- yes if you give $15, he'll push for $20 -- off as a moving expense.
• Step 13 -- Watch your friends play "Pirates" the next day for several hours. Resting after a hectic Saturday that left you with a new home and a wallet 20 bucks short of a full load.

Thanks to team Philbe (or is it team Wilip) for all their help. Without them, we'd still be trying to get our King Size bed up our Twin Size stair well.

"There are faces in the houses where we used to live"

Moon river, wider than a mile
It feels strange to be in someone else's house.

I'm crossing you in style some day
The house is empty, dirty, remnants of Marie left behind.

Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker
Sad to see old records left on the shelf.

Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way
A bed left naked in a room where children once slept.

Two drifters, off to see the world
This is our house now, and by inheritance our records, our bed, our Richard Simmons' "Sweatin to the Oldies" video.

There's such a lot of world to see
Memories spanning four decades will slowly be forgotten.

We're after the same rainbow's end,
Pushed to the side, swept out with the trash, buried in the dark corners of the basement.

Waitin' 'round the bend
New memories with new faces will take their place.

My huckleberry friend,
A new adventure begins...

moon river, and me
With a dance.

"Start running the banner down"

Thanks to Andrea, Rogers and Wilbe who did finally update their blogs recently proving that whining about no one updating does work...a little bit.

So yesterday I saw Josh and Keri for what will probably be the last time in several months as they are headed off to Boston on July 30. They through a going-away party yesterday, cooked out, played games, sat in a circle swaying back and forth to Augustana's Boston. It was a good time. A very good time. I'm going to miss those two.

Rogers and I are also leaving to chart new territory. That is we are leaving Novi to move to Ferndale. The house is ours on Tuesday.

Rosenbergs - Detroit
Deardorff - L.A.
Parliament - Northern Michigan
Campbells - Boston

While we were the first to head out among friends, we also stayed the closest and visit frequently. I've never been to Boston...

"Oh my, oh my"

Yesterday was my one-year anniversary of working at Mercer. It's been a good year. A busy year. So that's the work situation.

Our house has been fairly dismantled in preparation for the move. So that's moving.

I've really got not much to say. I'm looking forward to seeing many friends including N. Parliament on Saturday evening.

We've got new neighbors that seem really nice, but we're moving in two weeks so that doesn't help.

I see that no one wants to update their Blog despite my recent pleadings. Although Rogers did update hers including pictures of our house. Hooray.

"Late night, come home"

Saturday brought little rest for the weary. Rogers began work at 2, so I tried to help around the house a bit before getting to my work. After that, I ended up with another full day's worth of work, ech.

If you have never watched the show Arrested Development do yourself a huge favor and go buy Season 1 at Target for about $20. You'll be entertained...well for about 8 hours, but you'll laugh fondly when recalling the jokes for years. After indulging, you'll no doubt want to splurge for Seasons 2 and 3. While I was very sad to see the show get canceled, it is nice to have 50 some odd episodes of a nearly flawless show. It never went downhill -- actually it never went much of anywhere. Many of the jokes from Episode 1 carry through the entire series. Which is why, anyone unfamiliar with the show who begins watching a random episode will no doubt not get or notice most of the jokes and will instead be bored and confused as to why people (like me) like and recommend the show.

Well there you have it.

"More importantly evolving"

Work has been rough recently. With 43 billable hours so far in July -- for comparison I had just over 100 in June -- I am wearing down. Like a Pantera concert, it's been aggressive as one of my coworkers would put it.

That being said, this Friday night has been good to relax and not work (at least after 7) and look forward to sleeping in tomorrow. The rest of the weekend is going to be pretty busy. Hopefully, it will calm down by next Saturday so I can make it down and relax on Saturday night.

Poor Rogers has been working her keester off getting us ready to move. Packing and cleaning like there's no tomorrow. Two weeks from tomorrow we'll be loading that truck with the help of a couple of generous friends (it looks like) and moving to Fabulous Ferndale home of Marvin Rosenberg Income Tax (located just a mile from our home). God bless that woman for keeping our house in order. She's a champ!

Watched a movie called Isolation it should have been called Attack of the Irish Cow Fetuses (Yes it sounds awesome, but it's no Cabin Fever despite an earily similar summary on the back of the box.)

"Not one speck will remain"

Lisa - May 9
Phil - July 4 (less than 40 min. ago)
Shannon - April 30
Wilbe - May 31
Parliament - May 15
Jason - 2005
Andrea - April 7
Deardorff - June 27

These are the blogs I check every few days and this is when they were last updated. Aside from Phil and Nate D. (find his very entertaining L.A. adventure blog by clicking here), my amigos aren't too great about updating. And thus, I have no idea if they are happy, sad, had a good day, week...ok more like month, or not.

On this Independence day, celebrate your freedoms to voice whatever you like and independent all over your keyboard until words are on your blogs. I did it and look how much fun you're having!

Happy 4th of July! See you at the Campbell's next weekend. (And no, I was not making a reference to vomit, I meant the house.)

"Proof through the night"

Flying into Indianapolis tonight at 10:30 p.m. tiny bursts of red...white...sometimes green exploded below. Some off in the distance, perhaps a mile or two away. Others close enough I could hit those watching below, if I were to throw a baseball out the plane's emergency exit door. Those, nestled into their loved ones arms, or swaying gently on their porch swing, or running wildly about the yard waving their sparklers.

It was haunting in that it made me think of soldiers flying into a warzone where the tiny explosions in the distance represent destruction and death. God bless those men and women. They are heroes to me.

-----------------

Yes, I am in Indianapolis -- for work. I'll be here less than 24 hours before jetting back to Michigan after a busy Monday. Work is a killer right now. Ah, for the days when I longed to begin working for pay 40 to 50 hours a week (rather than for education 60+ hours a week). I was so naive.

Love,

Andrew

"Ten days late and I don't know where to take it"

Yes - it has been 10 days since my last post and for that I say, "I've been busy." And I have been busy. Rogers and I were in Anderson last weekend primarily to give a speech at the AU donor banquet. Bonus was we got to go to Ruby Tuesdays with a bunch of our friends and otherwise hang out with some of the guys on Saturday.

Then we drove into the distance and spent 3 days in Chicago, which was a very nice break. Those of you who have known me long, know that I am an avid vacationer. This was literally my first "vacation" since our honeymoon. It was long overdue. In a typical year prior, I would have had 3 vacations over that time. I use quotes because I did have a week off over Christmas, but that doesn't really count as a vacation. And this was only 3 days! I write all this to gain sympathy, but I must admit that I can't complain too much. The Company gives a very fair amount of time off, which is nice. It's up to me how I use it...

All this to say, now I must set to reviewing my 32-page decision guide for one of our clients who wants some stakeholders to make a decision...a decision that will change their lives forever mwua, ha, ha*.

*denotes evil laughter

"To the soul of everything"

This weekend I watched 2.75 movies:
1. Breach -- great flick
2. Cabin Fever -- hands down it's a top 5 Friday night horror movie, at least the first 55 minutes were...then it started skipping so if it sucks at the end ignore this statement
3. Layer Cake -- seemed interesting, but I wasn't that into it.

The summer of a scary amount of work begins this week. Hooray.

The Absurdity of Life thought of the day:
Women, may at times, point to their own breasts, proclaiming: "These are real!"

"How we move our lives for another day"

It's a quiet night in on Novi Road...a perfect night for a mystery. Unfortunately, the only mystery tonight is whether Rogers will get home at 10:15, 10:30, 11:00 or later? Let's hope not later! I miss that one when she's off Emergencying all day.

I've a speech to write as I'll be speaking at an A.U. donor function next weekend primarily because my Mom's best friend Patty Rogers is the party planner. So I get to go and talk about how the Falls School o' Business has prepared me for work. Shouldn't be too hard...but it's something to do, and I've been keeping myself busy with plenty of other stuff today that wasn't writing speeches. (cleaned dishes and laundry, watched L4yer Cake, made dinner, walked the dog)

The good news today is that Lisa and I will be able to come to the Dave Matthews show after all. For a moment, I was confused and thought we had uber expensive Yankees vs. Tigers tix on the same day. Fortunately, that's one week later.

Hope to see some of y'all next weekend for a "Howdy." We should be free Saturday for lunch and then Saturday night after 9 p.m. or so as well. Course we also may be able to participate in Sunday night bowling...do you guys still do that?

"There goes my chains"

It felt like September this evening:
Stars. Warm. Clarity.
A couple walking together in the quiet night.
The sounds of a sitcom drifting through an open window disrupting that quiet night with the calming affect of a familiar laughtrack as background noise to silence.
A car slowly passes. I stare into the headlights wondering if the driver thinks I'm looking at them.
Ray LaMontagne. A soothing sound. A September sound.
I walk an extra lap to continue the gathering and organization of thoughts.

"Is this the 50's, or 1999"

Today's visit to the Redford Theatre for Back to the Future was a fruitful experience. Perhaps I'll post a picture of me in front of a replica Deloreon some time.

The rest of the day wasted away leaving my work for the Sabbath. Rogers has to work tomorrow again anyway, so I guess that's OK.

• I wore my Bada Bing! shirt today in honor of the Sopranos series finale tomorrow evening...
• I had Dinosaur Macaroni and Cheese for lunch...
• I watched one episode of 24...
• I called Nate Deardorff because I was listening to Hey Jealousy by the Gin Blossoms and it reminded me of him...
• I watched The Soup...
• I thought about Paris Hilton being in jail...
• I thought about working and did not...
• I ran several laps around my apartment complex...
• I read Phil's blog, but did not bother with anyone else's because they don't update anyway...

Yes -- my day was slow.

"It don't need money, don't take fame"

Many friends + Uno Pizza + 300 + Late Night Monopoly = one great birthday celebration. Thanks to you all for a great evening.

And thanks to Donald at Applewood for delaying the start of 300 for about 10 minutes so that we could make it through the I-69 back-up to only miss the opening credits. There's little like sitting down into those Applewood seats. Thanks for all those great times, Ricker.

Tomorrow will bring an interesting movie-going experience my way. I'll check out the adventures of Marty, Doc and Biff in Back to the Future at a theatre that to my best understanding is similar to Anderson's Paramount. It seats 1,300 and they show old movies every weekend for $4. The organ plays for 30 minutes prior to show, there's a cartoon to kick-off the movie and an intermission. It's a movie going event. If anyone wants to check out a classic on their visit up here, we'll check it out. Fortunately, I will get to see one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time on the big screen.

Tonight was a quiet night in el Rosenberg casa. Procured our usual Chinese takeout, watched a movie and relaxed. Always nice to unwind on a Friday night...

"Friends of mine"

Sunday, May 27, 2007
Quietly building a strong grass-roots following over the last two years, Jon McLaughlin has begun to catch the ears of fans nationwide. So much so that he attracted Better Than Ezra lead singer Kevin Griffin to co-write a song with him on his new release "Indiana."

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.alternativeaddiction.com/musicnews/article.asp?id=849

Am I the only one who thinks this is too cool?
------------------------------------------------
Well, tomorrow I have to get up early for a wedding, so that's not too good. The early part that is. Tonight was a great night of hanging out with some old friends and playing poker and cramming into a car and waiting in a line at Taco Bell's Drive Thru that spanned all the way out to Scatterfield and featured a crazy person who refused to do anything but stare at a telephone pool. It was a great trip to Taco Bell.

Also, as of 11:58 p.m. June 1, I found out that I am a proud owner of a Real Hacienda shirt. The start to a best Birthday ever? You be the judge...

"Let me on the inside"

24 years old minus 2 days. Twenty-four seems significant...much more significant than 23 and 22. This one sounds close to 25...and by 25 should you know what the heck you're doing? At this point it seems like it'd be just a little too easy...a little too convenient to let life slip by being average, being American. I'd rather take the inconvenient route of being Christian.

I've thought often that Jesus impcated the world through his recorded life from age 30 to 33. Can I impact the world in 75? Have I impacted it in the last 24 (minus 2 days)?

8,764 the aproximate number of days I've been living.

Do you ever think back to specific days? The greatest days? The ones that really stand out -- perhaps that one day that captures what your family vacations were like, or summer camp, or that one basketball game?

Time for me to change gears and finish up some work. Lots of questions. No answers tonight. I'm in Indianapolis tonight...working...lonely. See you in a few days, I hope.

"Revolution solution"

A nice Memorial Day weekend has come to an end. Anyone remember the Memorial Day over a decade ago, maybe '96 when Rik Smits hit a game winner from the elbow over the Orlando Magic. Ah, those were the days. When I really loved Pacer basketball and would listen to the games on my radio really really quiet late at night when I was supposed to be sleeping.

Well now it's time to sleep and I've just one thing to mention: Simple Life: Goes to Camp is on E! on Monday nights. Check it out. It's funny. And yes, I am well aware of what I'm saying. What can I say? Rogers and I...love it -- every second of it.

"The place there had been"

Posts have become less frequent recently.

And there is not much to report for this iteration of the Blog. Rogers and I decided to stay home this Memorial Day weekend to rest up between a weekend of company and a weekend of going home for a wedding/my birthday. Not to mention work's making me travel every week right now for a day or two. So far it's been a relaxing time. Just finished watching Wolf Creek on this early Memorial Day morning. That was a pretty good scary movie. Pretty intense.

Also of note:

Notice the date...(5/26) and notice the teammates (Rational and Reckless). That's right. Campbell and Rosenberg teamed up for some Halo 2 action on XBox Live yesterday. And we're going to do it again soon hopefully. There are even some new maps. Hang em High and Derelict (my b@!ls) were imported to Halo 2 for us. And the ain't bad either.

That's about it for now. See you all next Saturday. Save the date. We're going out for dinner. Somewhere good. Saturday night. June 2. My birthday. See you there. Ciao.

"Five story fire"

What a great weekend with great friends. Thanks to those guys for making it up. Sorry you couldn't be here, Phil. Saturday night we hit the D-town on a special night, "The Downtown Hoedown." Fortunately, we were there for the Tigers game, which was awesome -- perfect night to chow down on some hot dogs and enjoy the evening. It was a good game too.

But the Downtown Hoedown made for some interesting Detroit dynamics after the game, as it was around 11 p.m. and there were thousands of people walking about, trying to get into clubs, trying to get to their cars, trying to get into fights, trying to cause trouble, trying to be annoying in parking garages, etc. When you put thousands of white "country folk" into Detroit + late at night after a long night of drinking no doubt, it makes for some interesting times. I was glad the girls weren't with us. We had a hard enough time keeping track of Parliament who kept getting left behind for some reason!

Anyway, it was a great weekend, full of fun, food (mmm...sushi) and campbelling.
--------
In other news, we're 100% closer to getting the house. It needs to pass inspection! The price is settled! So we'll have plenty of room for future visitors!

Currently listening to: Amy Winehouse

"All the right friends"

So it was 2, 3 and now 5 of my best male friends will visit the magical land of Novi tomorrow. Yet another of my best male friends will stay in Anderson. Boo... One friend's already in the 313 (D-Town), but with another of his friends tonight after seeing Damien Rice -- lucky!

The wind smells of a great weekend ahead.

We'll miss you, Phil.

A counter-offer came back on the house. Several grand out of the range we were hoping. We'll re-up tomorrow. Suspensful times...

Here's a pic for the curious at heart:

"I said 'No, no, no'"

Lost is so good right now. If you don't watch that show already, do yourself a favor and rent Seasons 1 and 2 on consecutive weekends, then get Season 3 when it comes out. I know I've said it before, but that show rocks.

Not much else to report in the land of Rosenbergs. Our offer is in. We expect a counter-offer tomorrow. We offered $26,000 less than the asking price + seller's concessions that would have left the seller with about $35,000 less than asking. We'll see what the counter-offer is tomorrow, hopefully.

Watched Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl last night. Has a movie ever had a longer title? As we did with Spiderman, by watching 1 and 2 in the weeks prior, we are doing with Pirates. Looking forward to #3. I think we'll skip Shrek. Catch it in 7 years when we're trying to keep our kids entertained. Well, I suppose I might rent it sometime.

Listening to: The Rolling Stones
Watched in the past year:

• Big Brother All-Stars
• Sopranos Season 6
• Entourage Seasons 1 - 3
• Seinfeld Seasons 1 - 3
• Arrested Development Season 3
• South Park Seasons 2, 3, 5, 8
• Lost Season 2 and 3
• 24 Season 5
• Scrubs Season 6
• The Office Season 3
• My Name is Earl Season 3
• American Idol 6
• Sex and the City Seasons 1 -6

Is there a problem here? Besides there being too many good TV shows I mean?

"Que sera, sera"

We're making an offer tomorrow, hopefully on a nice old 1929 classic in Ferndale, Michigan. 3 bedrooms, a "bonus room," an office, a kitchen, dining room, basement, fenced-in back yard.

Say a prayer that it will work out according to God's plan, if you don't mind.

Whatever will be, will be.

---------------------------------
How about the Sopranos last night? That first 15 minutes was a bit shocking!

"Outside the sun is shining"

to all friends -- Happy Mother's Day -- everyone has a mother so this is a holiday for everyone. I hope yours was nice like mine. We visited with my loan Michigan relatives in Ann Arbor today, which was nice. Some Mexican food and Kilwin's Ice Cream later and we were on our way. Then we ran/walked for about an hour all the way down to 8 mile, which sounds scary seein as how Eminem battles down in those parts. The wheather was great, a good day for exercise.

Since my typing is showing up about five seconds late right now, I'm going to wrap this thing up. See you later. By the way, if you're reading this don't make plans for June 2. Let's go out that night. Let's have fun like old friends do. Saturday, June 2. Yeah, I know Gwen Stefani's playing at Verizon Wireless that night...don't get tickets hang out with me. I'll be in town. So will Rogers...and, it's my Birthday so it's the least you can do. Save that date. Yeah, you.

"On the flipside"

Today was below average if days were ranked on a scale of Seinfeld seasons with Season 5 being average and the following seasons being below average (despite the Kenny Rogers Roaster episode). I've worked about 3.5 hours, which is never too good for the weekend. But, I don't think I've anything left to do tomorrow so that's a +.

I also had one of the worst toilet plunges of my life, resulting in me turning the water off two separate times to prevent an overflow. Gross? Yes - but much grosser if you were there.

What else? Well, Rogers had to work 8 hours so that sucked.

I suppose there isn't much more to say. It was a sub-par day, if days were ranked on a scale of Star Wars movies with Return of the Jedi being par and the Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones being sub-par.

The end.

"After all"

Old Bill Mercer called me to Chicago on short notice this week -- essentially, I got to work on Wednesday and saw that my presence was requested in Chicago for Thurs. and Friday. So after having a canceled flight due to fog, I made it over only about an hour later than expected. Business travel is interesting -- quite different than vacation travel. No luggage -- a personal travel agency to help you reschedule if necessary -- everything's free -- work long hours. It's a nice change of pace work-wise...but not nice to be away from home.

On my return, I found myself at the China Crown with Rogers getting our usual Friday-night take-out Chinese. Ah yes. It was good. And a little Touristas (Go Home) to boot. Rogers has grown fond of horror movies on the weekends...it's like a dream come true!

So now, it's time for, well, I don't know. Another movie, or perhaps Super Mario 64. Rogers is sleepin, so we'll see. I've got work to do...but work is not for Friday nights. Ciao!

"Build a goldmine"

Well we've got some news to share. If everything goes as planned we're going to make an offer on a house in the next week or two. It's a 1929 classic. Nice size for visitors. We're shooting for a good deal. We'll see what happens. Certainly not a guarantee, but we'll go for it.

Pray that we'll get the house if we're supposed to and won't if we're not.

The week is moving along nicely. Two episodes of Lost left this season and Season 3 is winding up nicely after a few rocky episodes early on.

Currently watching: D Ali G Show
Listening to: Jon McLaughlin
Reading: a Psalm here and there
Writing: Retirement newsletter
Shocked: Par is moving away. A visit to A-town won't be the same without him. And although he's moving to Michigan we'll still be 3+ hours apart. Hopefully, we'll be able to meet in the Palm occasionally or for a show in Grand Rapids. Who knows?

"All the way to Mexico"

Happy Graduation.

Happy Cinco De Mayo

Half-way through "The Hitcher"

Time to go to bed-o.

(I tried to rhyme it, but I'm not sure it worked.)

Happy Cinco!

"Well I can mash potato"

Yesterday Lisa and I had a once in a lifetime experience as we went to see Dirty Dancing for the 20th anniversary celebration. It was in theatres for 2 days only in limited release around the country (only 3 theatres in Michigan). What a great movie. We had a blast.

My favorite line: immediately after Baby sees her sister running away from a guy who was obviously getting too frisky a guy putting the moves on says, "I'm sorry you had to see that bagby...sometimes in this world, we see things we don't want to see."

Whoever wrote this stuff is just genious...I was laughing at that a few minutes later.

In other news, the Entertainment week is going off as planned. Jon McLaughlin's CD is very good. If you like the Fray, you will probably like Jon McLaughlin's album Indiana. That's what I've decided. Unless you're one of those, who doesn't want to like him, because it's not cool to be a fan of someone you went to school with. I don't care - that guy is talented. And his song was downloaded over 430,000 times off of iTunes in one week last month. He's going to blow up.

And Finally, tonight we finished Spiderman 2, so we're all set for Spiderman 3 tomorrow. Two movies in one week?! It's like we're back at the ol' Applewood theatre. Except, oh wait, Dirty Dancing was $11 for each ticket and Spiderman 3 is $9.25. Free movies, how I long for you.

So tomorrow, we'll probably decide whether we want to put an offer on this one old house or not. We're going to take another look. I hope the second viewing goes well. Ciao.

"Every word right from the start"

550+ Blog posts later there's no letting up. This public journal is self-censored in many ways, but in the end, it is a journal rather than the media's version of a blog. There's little social commentary. Instead it's a document that says, "I was here." And furthermore, this is what my life consisted of.

Today my life consisted of very little work, then reading about Consumerism in a health care not an out of control shopper sense. All in all, my day was slow. I did get a tax refund of a sizable sum, which was very welcome. Now to pay a few bills, or save for a down payment or fees on rent or mortgage...these are the questions.

Finals week. The best week of the semester. You know, I was right, it is great to be paid for work. But they were also right, it was great not having the responsibilities of "real life." If I could only go back and do it again...only one year out, and that question is answered. "I wouldn't care as much." But the truth is, I would care just as much. I would work just as hard, but I think I would play a bit harder. I was always from the work hard/play hard school, but I do think I would focus a bit more on the latter a second time around. Much more would just be lying. I had a blast in school. That last semester was a little too much, but even then I made some lasting memories.

So in the end, which is still the very beginning, here we are. Good luck this week.

"Want to be your superhero"

What a wonderful weekend of relaxation. Today we got up early for the first service before spending the day walking around Plymouth with Grace, watching Spiderman 2, Amazing Race and The Sopranos, and having an all around relaxin day to begin a week packed with high-potential for entertainment.

Tuesday marks Jon McLaughlin's CD release, which we're looking forward to along with a 2-day only Dirty Dancing 20th Anniversary showing we may check out as it's one of Lisa's favorite movies. Next thing you know it's Friday and Spiderman 3 is coming to a theatre near you. We've watched 1 and are half way through 2 in anticipation.

We're considering a house in the Ferndale area. A nice big one with plenty of room for guests, animals, junk. Who knows what.... with 1500+ square feet and a basement, there's just plenty of room. And we might be able to get a good deal. We're going to take another look and see where the chips fall. If you think about it, say a prayer that God will keep us from error. Buying a house is a major purchase after all. I ain't spent over 100k on anything else yet...

Time to go play some Super Mario 64 and keep 24 Season 5 moving along before hitting the hay. I hope your weekend was as good as mine.

"Why wait any longer for the world to begin"

While this past year brought about a lot of change, this coming year seems as though it may make that change feel more permanent. Some friends will move away, some friends will stay away. My hometown will start to feel more like a place I love to visit, and my new home will start to feel more like home. Only one year out of school, time is still on the academic calendar year...

If it seems I write a lot about missing friends, it's because I think of you guys every day. Sometimes I pray for you as well. A big part of my life is four hours away.

Can you imagine a life without hope? A life where nothing mattered for more than a moment? Imagine only existing for oneself...with the infinite possibilities there is no agenda, but to do what you want without direction. And in the end, when you're about to leave life, you're left with nothing to take with you but a lifetime of memories and a feeling of emptiness. A life without hope seems to be the most tragic. Perhaps more tragic than a life without love?

"...He shall stengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord."

"Now ladies here we gizzo"

Yo, what up. R U down wit watt ben goin on wit Rosie. Miss O'Donnell is quitting the View. Perhaps, if Americans are lucky she will never again have a platform to speak from.

The search for an abode continues. Hopefully, we'll get to look at several more houses this weekend. So far, we've got our eyes on a big ol' 1929 build house in Ferndale -- a trendy suburb of Detroit. We'll see how it goes. Perhaps we'll have an Ah Ha moment and just know.

Currently Playing: Super Mario 64
Watching: Sex and the City Season 6, Lost
Reading: Nothing...
Listening to: Reggaeton (the genre, not a band)
Looking forward to: the weekend
Working on: finding a house

"No matter where I go"

This weekend was great. From beginning to end, it was nice. Saturday especially was nice as Rogers and I had a great lunch and ice cream run with some great friends before going our separate ways to hang out with our like-gendered amigos and amigas. 9 holes of golf with Wilbe and Parliament later, I was turning a bit red, but still ready to hit Broad Ripple with Ricker, Par and soon-to-be-graduating Josh and Deardorff. It was a good night. Glad to see y'all this weekend. Well most of you at least. Thanks for being great friends.

"Something to talk about"

Please note that we will be in town on Saturday if folks want to hang out. Nate Deardorff is graduating and moving to California so I'm hoping to hang out with that guy on Saturday night for one last night on the town. Anyone else available?

In other news, Rogers and I visited two houses tonight, both of which had their pros and cons. I'll tell you what: Paying Taxes on a home is going to break the bank. Some areas around here (including areas with more affordable housing that we're considering) we could have to pay $250 - $300 a month in taxes. Can you imagine? At the same time, right now we lose $1,000 a month on rent. We'll see...

Time for bed. Soy Tired.

"Lost without you"

Why Andrew's back scratches will never add up

Andrew: *Scratching Lisa's Back*
Lisa: *Trying to direct my scratches* "Ah Marilyn's Grove, Marilyn's Grove!"
Andrew: "What the heck are you talking about?"
Lisa: You know where that JFK guy died.

Rogers on current events

Lisa: "Ask me who Tony Blair is."
Lisa: "You don't even have to ask me because I know the Prime Minister of England."
Andrew: "Who's Saddam Hussein?"
Lisa: "That guy who died that we caught in a fox hole."
Andrew: "What country did he lead?"
Lisa: "Umm. Iran?"
Andrew: "Who's the leader of Iraq?"
Lisa: "That guy we can't find, with the beard. Who bombed us."

Andrew on fashion

Lisa: "I can't believe you know Chanel's first name."
Lisa: "What's Dior's first name?"
Andrew: "Christian."
Lisa: "Oh my gosh, I married a gay man."

Always better when we're together.

Tomorrow night: Tigers baseball game!
Friday night: We're hitting A-Town. We should be around Saturday.

"Long days came"

It's been too long. Thursday Rogers and I traveled to Fabulous Ferndale to see Mr. Jon McLaughlin perform with Matt Wertz (including Chad Kenner on drums for all you Andersonians) and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. We left before Stephen Kellogg, b/c Rogers had to get up early for work and wasn't up for too late of a night. But not before we got some nice shirts with the state of Indiana right on the front...and saying hi to Jon's wife Amy for a minute. Unfortunately this is the second time I've missed talking with Bob as he seems to be busy doing managerial types of things.

The weekend was...slow. Which is good, I suppose. Unfortunately Rogers had to work both Sat. and Sun., but fortunately I did not have to work so I chilled. Went to see Grindhouse yesterday, and it did not disappoint. Planet Terror was just the type of film we've looked to rent many times. Made to look poorly made, with tons of blood and some squemish scenes -- just what the C no D horror movie fan ordered. Death Proof on the other hand was more of an action type of movie. To be very specific, it was more of a chase movie. There wasn't a lot going on in it. Both entertained, as did the over the top trailers in the middle. Way over the top.

Otherwise, I tried to catch up on 24, take care of Grace the Dog, play some Super Mario 64 and eat a lot of pizza. It was good. But it would have been better with Rogers.

"So smooth"

I've been sucked into American Idol. It happened from the first episodes of the season, when I decided that it was the funniest show on television. Now I tape it on Tuesday and Wednesday and then fast forward through one or both episodes on Wednesday night after Lost to catch the highlights. I don't care too much, but I care just enough to want to keep up and watch it rather than read about it. I want Blake to win, primarily becauase I think I would like his CD.

In other news, Rogers and I will journey to the Metropolitan Detroit suburb of Ferndale tomorrow evening to enjoy the music of Jon McLaughlin, Matt Wertz and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. Jon and Matt put on a great show in Ann Arbor in February, so it should be fun. I've never heard of Stephen Kellogg until now, so we'll see about that. Unfortunately, they're headlining...but I guess we can always hit the road if we want to seein as how it'll be a late night anyway. Although now that I'm listening to their music via their Web site, I think I might enjoy that as well. Enough about that.

Enough about anything. I'm tired and should hit the hay. Read my girlfriend's Blog linked on the side of the page (my left your right). It's got some great stories from work. And those are the best of all.

"We have forgotten"

Ah Easter in Novi -- there's little like it -- OK, I guess that's not correct. It's like...well it's not like a holiday at all. Aside from the cards from my mother and grandmothers, Easter could come and pass without me knowing the difference. That may in part be because I neglected to give up anything at all when asked at church two weeks ago. On the flipside, I am listening to Sixpence None the Richer right now, which is classified as "Gospel & Religious" on iTunes.

I got a call from old Brian Roberson today. It had been awhile. Three months and five days to be exact as the last time I talked to him was on the early morning of New Year's Day.

Life rolls on and on.

Perhaps not too unlike my friend and yours Nate, I'm growing restless. As I told Lisa before she left for work, "I'm going to...look for houses in the area and jobs in Indianapolis." Not that I want a different job, but I do want desparately to be in Indianapolis. Unfortunately, at this point the job is more important than that desire. Nevertheless, I'm restless. I too want to do something great with this life. But I neglect to do so on every given day. What did I do that was great today? I took a two hour nap.

Isn't the preparation period of my life over. Isn't it time to move? (Of course I mean in the "Dare You to Move" way not the "I Moved to Detroit" way.)

Happy Easter to all and to all a good night! If you are reading this, you are missed.

"This house is not a home"

Trying to find a suitable place to live is no easy task. Is it time to buy or safer to rent? What town, neighbordhood, street are we looking for. How much can we afford? How much space do we need? It's a daunting task. We're going through it right now. The good news is, this year we have more than 2 days to find a place!

On that subject any of y'all that are looking for a place to live in Anderson, here are the details on my sister's condo. It's one or two doors down from where Eileen and Kyla used to live on High Street. They will sell for a firm $56,000 -- won't go a penny below. But others in their building are going for $60,000 (I think). If you prefer to rent it is maybe $600ish. However, if you find a loan calculator on the internet you might find that even with $0 down you could potentially purchase and only pay $450 or so a month.

There are condo association fees -- maybe $100 a month (too much if you ask me). Let me know if you want more info. They also have somebody lined up to rent for the next school year, but they really want a whole year lease. If a couple of you want to buy some time while looking for a place to buy, you may be able to rent just for the summer. With two or more people $600 to $650 ain't too bad.

Just wanted to pass that info along. Also, they are giving finder's fees -- $200 to anybody who identifies a buyer. $50 or so for a full year's rent.

"Dinner at eight"

Life keeps on rolling on. Each week seems to go by quicker than the last. I'll be 25 before you know it. For those keeping track at home that'll be June 2, 2008. I wonder what I'll have accomplished by the time I turn 25. I've only directly shared the Good News with folks on a few occasions and when it comes down to it, ain't that all that matters? That and nothing else. I think there's a bit more than that. And that bit more is loving. Loving our neighbors. Showing love and giving love. Sharing the Good News by exemplifying love. Hopefully, I'll have accomplished that consistently for most of my life by the time I turn 25. It's a daily challenge.

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In other news, having Jason and Eileen visit was great. I'm glad they could make it up. While Rogers had to work on Saturday, the three of us had a good time visiting the book signing of Mick Foley (Mankind) -- although Jason decided it wasn't worth it after waiting for an hour and being nowhere near having his book signed. Then after eating Coldstone we debated going to a movie (in the running were Premonition, TMNT and Reign Over Me) before deciding to save our money and rent Little Miss Sunshine, which was simply great. When Rogers got off work, we scoped out Birmingham in hopes of stumbling across some Wrestlers in the nicest area of Metro Detroit. Instead we got dinged with $10 each cover charges and hit the road quickly.

Aside from the frightful scene of having 80,000 people in downtown Detroit for Wrestlemania, Sunday was a blast. We scoped out the town and ate some good Mexican food at Locos. Then Rogers and I had a blast at Snow Patrol while Wrestlemania went down a few blocks away.

This has been a step-by-step run down of our weekend in Detroit.

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Currently Watching: Entourage and American Idol
Listening to: nothing inparticular...Regina Spektor
Working: Plenty

"Let's not talk about growth"

Five scary things about Detroit the day of Wrestlemania:

5) A mass of people 80,000 strong all going into the same building at the same time.
4) 98% of those people either dressed up like a wrestler, carrying a championship belt or wearing black shirts.
3.5) 75% of those people are what some would call "uneducated." Even scarier? 25% of those people are eductated!!
3) Teenage girls passing out free Insane Clown Posse CDs with liner notes that are scary just to look at without even reading the lyrics.
2) People carrying metal chairs around town and on the PeopleMover.
1) Eileen and Jason were in the middle of it all in the brightest flourescent yellow shirts you can imagine. (Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see them on the DVD.)

"Your voice is small and fading"

It's been a quick week. A quick year really. It's hard to believe that one year ago, I didn't know what I'd be doing or where I'd be living. Now I call a new place Home and go to a building far away from the good old FSB. I've still got the same girl and the same friends. Is it odd that we haven't made any new friends in Michigan? I don't really feel like we need to...after all we've got plenty of friends. Great friends. While we've got one foot in Indiana and one foot in Michigan will we ever really assimilate to this new place? Does it even matter?

For now, I feel just fine knowing we've got a dozen friends for life a few hours away who love us dearly.

"One way or the other"

Nothing like a rough day of work to bring a swift end to a wonderful weekend. And the weekend was wonderful as Rogers and I had a blast watching Arrested Development with Shannon and Josh, eating at Bahama Breeze with a small crowd and hitting Broad Ripple with two great friends named Nate (Nathan and Nathaneal respectively).

And the day of work was rough as I had little fun drowning in work that I did not expect to do today, while the work that I really hoped to focus on remains untouched and daunting.

In the meantime, I thought I would update my Blog.

Listening to: Aqualung and Regina Spektor
Watching: The Hills
Feeling: Like I need a long shower and a nap
Hoping: To not do any work tomorrow night (fat chance)

At least Spring (or is it Summer?) has arrived. I love it.

"This is a story about the three of us"

So here's a new picture of my nephew -- by birth named: Jose Luis Toc Mejia. Adopted name: Preston Scott Luis Spires

The Guatemalian just looks like he's ready to conquer America doesn't he. I'm very stoked to have a Hispanic relative.

So work and Chicago and Indiana has kept me from updating recently. To my faithful blog checkers: I sincerely apologize. I know the feeling every day when you check and there's just nothing new. A feeling of mild disappointment. So there it is.

Currently listening to: Aqualung - Memory Man

Buy that CD. It is a stinking catchy album.

In other news, I'm behind on American Idol (and video games) so it's time to go do both.

"And the daffodils look lovely today"

Ah, the Return of Spring. There may be no single better day in the year. (And that's saying a lot because I am a big fan of Christmas!) Today was that day when Spring makes its return out of the depths of Winter. Of course it never stays long during that first post-Winter visit. But it leaves you with a taste that will get you through those last couple of weeks.

It was nearly 70 degrees here today. The Spring weather made me miss (in no certain order):

• TfT
• Spring Break vacations to warm lands
• College
• Late night Applewood movies with Ricky and Josh
• The feeling of being done with classes and having no homework on a day like today

I do need a vacation in the worst way. I'll have to settle with a short visit to Chicago and Anderson (in that exact order) beginning on Thursday.

I worked from home today. And I'm glad I did. I listened to music and enjoyed the breeze through the window. Unfortunately, I was working...hard. I've got so much to do, I thought it better to stay put rather than drive back and forth for 2 hours today. And I'm still going at it now. Just wanted to make sure I captured a few thoughts...can't wait to see you guys this weekend. Save room for me.

"The man keeps coming round"

The weekend is not as great when you have to put in a full days work as it passes by. Both Rogers and I had to do so this weekend. Nevertheless, we managed to have a great Saturday on our first visit to Grand Rapids to partake in Chinese food and a Pete Yorn concert. Not to mention the time we enjoyed driving around the area exploring with the windows down because it was so nice out. Ah, suddently it's Spring, I thought to myself as I opened the door to sunshine, birds chirping and a light breeze on Saturday morning.

Let's just hope this work subsides before next weekend when I should be in Anderson having a tiempo fantastico con mi amigos! Shoot am I tired.

"Dancing in the shadows"

Schedule for the next couple of weeks:

March 16 - 18: Anderson!
March 23 - 25: Anderson!

At least that's the current plan. We'll see how it works out. I understand many of the guys are going to see 300 on Saturday. If you wait one week, I'll go with you! If you do not wait, I understand. If it were me, I would be hardpressed to wait, because there are no other Bro Shows out right now so it is the perfect movie to see.

Notes about my childhood:
on Nintendo

• I was only aloud to play video games for one hour each day. I remember one time, when my childhood friend Eric R. came over to spend the night, we played Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game and defeated it. (Of course we were using the game genie.) Anyway, the point is, that game had to take over an hour. But Eric felt sick and ended up having to go home, which was no big deal because he lived pretty close. But I was sad. That night, my Mom could tell I was disappointed so she let me stay up late and play Nintendo for another hour. I remember, I turned to Super Mario Bros. 3.

on playing with action figures

• I vaguely remember the first couple of times that I played with action figures and imagined that they were fighting. On a related note, I remember at the dawn of imagining battles, my Uncle Dave played Army guys with me. We set them up and would take turns shooting down one guy at a time from the opposite army.

on Santa Claus

• I remember visiting Santa Claus and only being allowed to tell him 3 things that I wanted. I wanted a lot more than that, but my Dad said I could only tell him 3 things.
• When I asked my Dad if Santa Claus was real one Christmas, he told me he'd tell me later. That night when he tucked me in, he said that Santa Claus wasn't real...that he was the one who put the presents under the tree. "But I don't think Mom or Julie know," he said, "so let's keep it a secret." To this day, we still open presents from "Santa Claus" (fortunately, we have a baby in the family again, so it's not too pathetic!)

on my earliest memories

• I remember my carseats. In our blue car, I had an uncomfortable car seat. It never felt right. In our maroon stationwagon, the car seat was much more comfortable.
• One particular Sunday morning before church, my earliest tangible memory was learning that I shouldn't swallow the toothpaste...that I was supposed to spit it out. That was probably the reason I didn't feel good.

on holding hands

• In preschool one day, I made a girlfriend and we were holding hands in the hallway. I remember another kid saying something like, "Are you guys married or something." I told my mom about that later, and if I remember correctly, I was told to not hold hands with girls.

"Please come back"

It's not a good feeling, when you've got work hanging over your head for days on in, but you just can't find time to get it done. It's a college feeling, and not a good one. And now I'm experiencing it in the so-called real world as well. Booo...

That being the case, time to go back to work for a bit.

Things I'm excited about:
Visiting A-town soon
Pete Yorn on Saturday
Lost was really good tonight
Going to bed soon

"By way of California"

Listening to: Somewhere Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Reading: All about Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Associations or VEBAs
Watching: Amazing Race

Wishing I was: on a vacation...I really need one. Where's Spring Break when you need it?

Today was a good day. Mi ladi and I traversed the Oakland county landscape exploring just where Grand River would take us if we headed East through Farmington Hills for a Sunday Drive.

We found...a Coldstone as well as a very cool and huge Bargain Bookstore. I'm also pleased to announce that we found what will heretowefindanother be known as "our Mexican restaurant." It's a cute little place on the lake called OleOle Southwestern Restaurant and Bar. It features some darn good chips and salsa, and a good quesadilla (why isn't it spelled Kasadia?) and at the end of the day, all you really need is chips, salsa, & Kasadia. The caveat is that we also discovered at least 3 other Mexican restaurants during our Sunday drive within a 20 min. of our Novi apt. So we do have to try those before it becomes official-official.

"In the shape of something wild"

Listening to: Hot Child in the City
Reading: Psalms
Watching: Sex and the City - Season 3
Dreaming about: High School Basketball -- although Wilbe was in the dream as well -- I couldn't find my uniform before the last game ever, and Wilbe and Ricky both gave me keys that might let me into the shed that my uniform might be in.

I wonder if I'll ever have more "I am MasterChief Halo Dreams" -- Phil wasn't the only one...

Not too much is going on in the North. I have a b-load of work to do this weekend, so that sucks. By the way a b-load is maybe like 5+ hours, so it's not too bad...not even as bad as homework used to be...plus I'm compensated for it. But I still don't like it.

I think I missed my Indiana home this week more than ever. Maybe because it's been like a month since we've visited, which hasn't happened too often, or maybe because I know we're not coming home for at least another few weeks, or maybe because we've been gone for like 8 months now...but I sure do miss you all. I look forward to living in Indiana again someday. I just hope a few of our friends decide to stick around in Hoosierland. And if not, then we'll have a good time visiting you wherever you live.

And to think, immigrants came and never went back...not once.

Playing: NFL Street
Eating: Party Pizza
Drinking: Diet K (or whatever Kroger's brand is)
Snacking on: Reese's Pieces