Sunday Smash

Leslie and I ate some really great ($$$) food last night. Dan and Molly invited us to go to The Melting Pot with them. I had never been before and neither had Dan, but Leslie and Molly had been. We ordered the Fondue Feast, a 3 course meal you cook yourself for only $86 per couple. That expensive, but it was a real dining experience I suppose, not just a meal. The whole dinner took 3 hours, and the desert was amazing. Brownies, rice krispie treats, strawberries, bananas, oreo covered marshmellows, cheesecake, which you can dip in chocolate. Although it was pretty expensive it was very good.

Leslie and I both have Memorial Day off. I'm very excited about that. Since today is Sunday, it really is only like Saturday, when you think about it from that point of view. I took Walter over to Leslie's store yesterday and we went out to lunch. All the girls in her store were going crazy over Walter. For someone who gets so much attention, he's very apathetic towards people. He'd give his tail a quick wag, let them pat his head once, then he'd turn his head and be done with them. That's just how he is, not affectionate at all. He got really, really hot though from being outside and called it a day early. He slept the whole car ride back and the rest of the day yesterday too.

I've still been doing yardwork and cleaning up the house. I'm really happy with how things have turned out in one year. Next Saturday, I'm participating in "Motor City Makeover" with a church here. We go into Detroit, to houses that look abandoned, and fix them up for people. I wanted to do it to give a little something back, and it might be sort of fun. I'm going to be scraping the outside of a house and doing painting on it. It's in inner city Detroit, so that should be interesting.

Leslie's getting a new car this week. She's ending her lease early on her Jeep Liberty because she's over on her mileage and buying a new Ford Escape. The key word is BUYing. I'm so proud of her. Actually, she told me to pick it out and work out the deal, so I helped her with that. She was going to have to pay a huge amount of money in mileage, like, thousands, so this is cheaper. Plus Chrysler is bankrupt, and the Escape is very efficient for an SUV. So I'm happy for her.

Work, I don't really want to re-hash here. Let's just say I'm looking for another job, and I really want another job. I'm sort of "done" with this one, mentally and physically. I put in my time, and get out. The politics, negativity, and fakeness of that place is not for me anymore. I felt like I joined some sort of fraternity by working there, and it's completely unprofessional and not a good place to work as a first job, in my opinion (i.e. not a good place to develop professional work habbits). Anyway, I'm looking and I hope I can make a change soon.

That's about all for now I suppose. June is going to be a great month because Dad is coming up, and Paul, and Lindsey, so lots of good visitors!

This Will Be Good

I'm in love. I really, really am. I've always wondered how you know, like really know you're in love with someone. Some people say they knew from the moment they saw the other person, some say they grew to love the person. For me, this is sort of my story.

I can't say I was looking for love, but what I was looking for was a girl to date, someone to have a relationship with. The last two were sort of duds, and I wanted something a little more like real relationship. eHarmony really did work for me. I'm not sure how much stock I put into the actual "matching" of it, but we were two people compatible who found each other.

How do I know I'm in love? For me, it's waking up every morning and the first thought being about Leslie...everyday. It's thinking about her multiple times, throughout the day. It's wondering how her meeting with her manager is going, or wondering if her day is going well. It's my mind being on her, and not work. It's looking forward to seeing her for any reason, no matter what the activity is. It's looking forward to each weekend with her. It's thinking of ways I can make her smile, or make her happy. It's being thankful we get along so well, and laugh at the same stupid things. It's her family, and how well I get along with them. It's just her, I can't put it into words, because I've never felt this way. It's thinking about how I'll make her Valentine's Day special even though it's still not here.

I have a plan, a good one. I'm going to do a scavenger hunt, in my house. I'm going to write out small notes telling her what I love about her, and chronicle some of the experiences we've had. I'm going to scatter them through the house like clues and let her find each one. This will be good, I think she's going to love it.

I'm happy.

Moving Right Along

Saturday Leslie and I finally used the "L" word. We love each other! It was pretty evident earlier, but the words were finally said Saturday and it was awesome. Things are going really, really well. After the hour long episode of the best show on TV (The Office) I found this clip of Phyllis and had to post it here.

Let Me Introduce To You...

I'd like to post about Leslie, my girlfriend. I guess I've sort of kept this relationship a little quiet to people who aren't immediate family or close friends, but I can let the cat out of the bag.

After a brief thing with Gina, my dad actually told me I should put a profile on eHarmony just to see what would happen. I'm really skeptical of meeting someone online, not because of safety or security, but mainly because of how you explain to someone how you met. I hate saying "we met online". Saying "we met each other when she dropped eggs in front of me at the grocery store" or "her door hit my car in a parking lot" or something creative like that. But, Leslie is great, and I'm going to tell you about her so that's how we met, and I'm okay with that now.

I decided to try out eHarmony for a few reasons:
- I wanted to meet someone completely new. Not a friend who "becomes" a girlfriend out of convenience, or not someone a co-worker introduces you to, but someone fresh, and new, that I have no connection with
- The HARDEST work (i.e. wondering if the person WANTS a relationship) is already out of the way. You don't have to "guess" if your partner wants things to progress to relationship status. You're both there for the same reason
- It's effective. I talked to a few people on the site through guided communication, and met one other, but Leslie and I just hit it off. I think the long list of questions you answer really does pair you with someone compatible.

So, Leslie and I entered the "open communication" stage on eHarmony right before Thanksgiving. We e-mailed each other, with just small talk. When I got back from Florida, we met one day in Troy at Panera Bread. It was going to just be a 1 hour or so get together, but we were there 3 hours and things felt very comfortable and relaxed. We left that night saying we'd get together again, which we did a few days later. Our second "date" was dinner in Royal Oak. Finally, she came over to my house and we went out to dinner in Plymouth. She showed up with dog pastries for Walter and a birthday present for me. I left to go to South Carolina for 2 weeks at Christmas, and didn't think a whole lot about leaving her for 2 weeks, but while at home, we talked everyday, literally. I'm not sure if the distance made us miss each other, but I actually really did start to miss her and I looked forward to seeing her again. Sending her flowers at work, while I was away, in my opinion sort of sealed the deal. She said it was her first time ever getting "just because" flowers and girls at her work were jealous and she loved it. Making someone you care about feel special and cared for is a wonderful feeling.

When I came back, we spent a whole day together and it was great. Things just picked right back up where they had left off, and a little more. She's really special to me. I have never dated a girl who made me feel so relaxed, happy, and cared for. In Michigan where a ton of people are "woe is me" she's got a smile on her face and is joking, and doesn't work in automotive...a breath of fresh air for me! Her family is really great, she has funny and easy-going parents and siblings, and they seem very normal. Leslie took me to a bar to meet her friends last week and I never thought a great deal about it, but meeting "the friends" is a big step, because that tells you a LOT about a person; who they associate with. Her friends were really great, most of them were teachers, a dental hygenist, and a nurse. She said she got a ton of texts after we left and they all said they approved and liked me.

I think about her a lot. A LOT. And at work my mind sort of wonders off and I think about how she is, and what she's doing. I've never felt like this about a girl before, we just connect on a good level. I'm sure I'm pretty hard to find a match for, because I'm probably a little unique as far as humor and relaxing, but this is just no issue for her at all, she puts me right at ease. It's going really well.

I just wanted to "formally" introduce her, to you, how we met, how things happened, and where we are now. I'll keep this updated, because there are a ton of great things to say about her.

What I Did This Weekend

- Ate deep dish pizza at Buddy's, one of the country's 10 best pizza places, according to Food Network
- Finished the 5th Harry Potter movie, now I anticipate #6 this November
- Helped Dan clean/organize his basement
- Helped Dan list a huge amount of stuff on eBay from his basement reorganization
- Went to church
- Went out with Gina to a Thai restaurant

I like that list format. It's easier to see what I actually DID do. It rained about 5 inches here this weekend, nonstop Saturday and Sunday so this was a perfect weekend for that work that makes you stay inside.

The Pokemon of the Week finally got updated! Suprise.

I Missed You

I heard someone talking about a blog today, and I realized I haven't posted on mine in such a long time, and that I missed it. So here I am.

Some interesting things have happened, like I thatched my lawn. Thatching is a technical term (I guess) for raking up dead grass clippings on the ground. The idea is that by raking up that dead grass, you expose the soil allowing new grass seed to be planted. So I planted grass seed as well, and fertilizer. I have such a tiny yard but it took up a good portion of the weekend.

Another interesting thing. I met a nice girl. A guy I work with who in a contractor for us pulled me aside last Monday and basically asked me if I would be interested in meeting his younger daughter. He said he doesn't play matchmaker, but he thought we'd be really good together. I went out with her this past Sunday and had a very good time. Her name is Gina, and she's very Italian. Very Italian. Almost like Marissa Tomei Italian, but not quite. My favorite thing about her was that she was very open and active and lively. There was no stupid dead silence or shyness. That is my biggest turn off - is shyness. I know the guy is supposed to "lead" but nothing annoys me more to than to hear "well whatever you feel like is fine" or "whatever you want to do is fine with me". You have an opinion, use it please.

Something else I did not realize, is that I am a good singer in Rock Band. I actually scored 98% and 99% on two songs. I originally did that as a joke, because let's face it, I DO like to annoy people and a good way to do that is speak, or sing. Singing works really well, especially to "Crush Crush Crush" by Paramore. That's a good one. When I say I'm a "good" singer though, I mean I can hit the key right, but the voice is awful. I don't think that's whats important for rock band though.

Yesterday was Grandma Hazel's birthday. Happy Birthday (late) Nana. I got to call her from work, but I didn't sing. As much as the Chinese people who sit behind me annoy me, I didn't want to sing out loud.

That's a good point, let's talk about those Chinese people that sit behind me. They annoy me. BADLY. In China, for some reason, they must teach people to eat in the most non-ettiquette way possible. This means slurping all your food as loud as you can, almost like sucking in a spaghetti noodle, but with rice and beef. Then (yes it's worse) they can't drink like a normal person. They have to slurp and sip very loudly. I bet you're thinking I'm prejudice or rude. Well I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Watch one of them eat and then come tell me you're not disgusted. So, what annoys me is having to sit behind them. Because they drink tea constantly, and sip loudly constantly, followed by "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" cough cough! I can't STAND it. Even with headphones in, I can still hear it. I called Jamie, our admin over to listen today. She heard it too and agreed it is horrible. She went as far as to say they need to be corrected, because while that behavior may be acceptable in China it's not here, and they need to stop. I think I agree. I think I will say something soon.

Back to Gina now. We're going to be going out again this weekend. I'm not sure which day yet, but I will call her tomorrow.

I'm going to California October 4 - October 7. I decided I wanted a vacation so I'm taking one. I'm going to Mountain View, south of San Fransisco to visit Jay. Hopefully I'll get to see Kiki while there too (I think so). I haven't been to California since 2001 so it will be nice to go back. The airfare was super cheap too so that's a plus. AND I get to change planes in Minneapolis. I've never been to Minnesota before, so that's another good thing. Now all I have left is Wisconsin, North Dakota, Alaska, and Hawaii to complete.

I heard the book "The Catcher In The Rye" is supposed to change your life. It's a classic, and most people read it in High School or college, but I didn't so I felt cheated. Did I mention I have been doing a LOT of reading? I have. I really enjoy it a lot too. Catcher just didn't do much for me. It was about a kid named Holden who is being kicked out of a private prep school, and what he does in the 4 days between being kicked out and going back home to face his parents. He doesn't really do anything Earth shattering though, and it happens in the 1940's so it didn't do much for me. The book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" however did, and I recommend that book to anyone. It was amazing and I read it in 2 days because I couldn't put it down.

Walter is falling asleep and I'm ready to go to sleep now. Now that I'm all caught up I will be back more often, and not let the dirty habbit of not posting rear its ugly head again. Night!

A Lot Can Happen in 3 Hours

Just as I was reading an article on Wikipedia about the most populated metropolitan statistical areas in the country, my Monday went from bad, to worse, to really great all in a matter of 3 hours.

The bad and worse you'll hear about in person, because I suppose it is significant. The great will stay to me, because the "great" is a life lesson I think I learned late at 24, but am glad I did. Things seem much clearer and balanced now.

I'm going to bed now, because tonight was a whirlwind and I'm ready for it to end.

An Explanation of Sporadic Posting Is at the Bottom

Walter was invovled in a small fight at the dog park yesterday, but it was completey not his fault. It was a stupid beagle, who for no reason, bit Walter's neck (although all he was biting was loose skin) and started shaking him around. Walter didn't fight back at all, he just stood there shocked. It was the first time any dog has ever shown any agression towards him. He was fine though and the owner of the beagle corrected him.

I decided since it was so nice out this weekend (by nice I mean sunny and in the low-mid 30's) I would take Walter for a long walk after the dog park, to get him super tired. We walked about 3 miles roundtrip and he got very exhausted, which was nice. Last night I went over to Dan's house to watch Garden State. I haven't seen that movie in about 3-4 years so it was good to see again.

Oh, and I forgot, the real estate agent that showed us houses last weekend sent me another list of houses. One just came on the market in Plymouth that is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch house in a really nice neighborhood. It has a full basement and a detached 2 car garage. It was completely updated in 2005 and looked very nice from the pictures. I drove by it yesterday and it looks very nice from the outside. It's on an amazing lot, at the back of the subdivision on the cul-de-sac. I want to look at the inside of the house sometime soon. The price is very reasonable too. Plymouth's real estate values still remain very high compared to other parts of the metro area, mainly because Plymouth is considered "trendy" and has a neat downtown. It's ranked as one of the safest cities in the US and Plymouth Canton has a very good school district. Another bonus is that Plymouth is next to Northville, where I work, so the location is great.

I've decided I will go ahead and get pre-approved for a home loan to see what price ranges I can afford. Based on my calculations, the house I like in Plymouth would only be about $500 more a month to own over what I currently pay for rent - and that's including all of the taxes and insurance on the house. I'm so sick of paying some investor close to $800 a month to live in a 800 sq. ft. apartment. I'm getting nothing out of it equity wise.

So that's a big decision, but now is an excellent time to buy because the values are lower right now. I'll seee what happens/pans out over the next few months.

Dan from work went to chruch with me today. It was a good service about what Heaven is like. I didn't know, but Heaven is apparantly 1400 x 1400 square miles (Revelation 21). It also has Japser walls that are 200 ft. thick. We were wondering why you need a wall 200 ft. thick, made of Jasper of all things. The units ofcourse were in Cubits and Stadia, so as soon as I heard the pastor say the values I went to the conversion table in my Bible and started to convert things to inches and feet. Dan did the same. We realized after the service that we're nerds and typical engineers to be doing math/conversions during chruch, but we had to know.

Katey was able to come over today before she had to go to work. I'm glad she stopped by, and she said the reason she did was because we needed to talk about "us". That was scary at first to hear, but she said she is ready to say we're officially dating, and to use the label "boyfriend/girlfriend" now. So we're not friends anymore (well, we still are friends) but now I can officially introduce her to someone as my girlfriend. So that's good. I'm glad it's official now because it was weird explaining it to people when they'd ask. Oh, and I'm happy she's my girlfriend now too.

So I guess that's about all. I talked to Kiki the other day and we talked about how my posting has been slack a little. Maybe you're disappointed, but it's because I have more of a social life now that maybe a few months ago, so I actually go out now after work and on the weekends - hence the sporadic posting. I hope you understand, so when you log on to read a post, and there's nothing, just realize I'm out having fun and you'll feel better.