Memorial Day Weekend.

Monday is Memorial Day which marks the official start of summer. The weather today is just about right for grilling out and I'm sure there will be a whole lot of people outside. As tempting as it is for me to grill outside, I'm pretty much planning on staying indoors. Later this evening, a number of us will be headed to a bar so I can finally use up my $50 bar tab. That's a lot of money for someone to spend on drinks so I figured it'll be more fun having a group of us there. I know my birthday was quite some time ago, but I have the entire month to use the tab. It'll be interesting to see how packed the bars will be this evening.

Nothing too exciting went on this week. It was a very short week, work wise because I was at the Governor's Conference on Aging on Monday and Tuesday. We had staff meeting on Friday which pretty much meant a good part of the day was spent. The Farmers' Market coupon arrived on Monday so all of us have been busy processing the coupons in order for our older adults to use them starting next weekend.

Another reason why this was a short week is because I worked half a day on Wednesday to watch the Liverpool vs. AC Milan game. Overall it was a good game although not as good as two years ago. I don't think any game will be able to compare with that classic game where Liverpool came back from three goals down to win in a penalty shootout. The way I look at it, if Liverpool capitalized on the chances they were given, they would have won the match. The dominated in the first half for sure. At the end of the day, I really did not have any major complaints since I too am a fan of Milan. What they did this year was amazing considering they were docked a pretty good number of points because of the whole match fixing scandal.

I guess that's pretty much all the news from me. Nothing else to report from this front.

Farmers Market.

Last weekend was officially the start of the Farmers Market. I did make it there last weekend and supposedly there were roughly 30,000 people in attendance. Now, that's a whole lot of people! The reason why there were so many people is because the weather was downright perfect. Everyone and I mean everyone and their dog was at the farmers market. This is one of the reasons why I love living downtown. Most people drive to the farmers market and have difficulty finding parking. I just walk ten minutes and I'm at the heart of the farmers market.

This past weekend, I was down there once again but this time I made it there earlier. I'm normally there at around 8AM because there's less people. Those who make it there at around 10AM are your socialites. I bumped into so many people I know it was kind of funny. I even got myself some asparagus and cooked it in the oven with a little olive oil and balsalmic vinegar. Yummy! I really did not do a whole lot on Saturday. The day was spent in my apartment catching up on dvds.

Today (Sunday) I cleaned my apartment since Carrie, Ann and Panom will be coming over for dinner on Wednesday. I guess we'll be meeting up once a month which is just a whole lot of fun. Mass begins at 9:30AM which is a good time because that allows me to get quite a lot accomplished after Mass. The weather is gorgeous today so I may go biking or at least walk around Gray's Lake later in the evening after dinner. We'll see.

Monday and Tuesday I'll be out of the office attending the Governor's Conference on Aging. It's the largest aging conference for the state and it usuall very well attended. Not too many of us from the agency will be there but there will be enough of us there. Since the reports are due to the state on Tuesday, I got my stuff done on Friday and it'll be ready to be sent by my colleague on Tuesday. I'll be working half day on Wednesday to use up the rest of my comp time since it is the European Cup Final. There's no way I'll be missing the game since it'll be Liverpool vs. AC Milan. Once again, I'll be rooting for Liverpool but it really does not matter too much since I'm a fan of both teams. Taking half the day off will allow me ample time to get the food ready for dinner. I'll be preparing a salad and roast chicken as an entree. I got the roast chicken recipe from a magazine and tried it out not too many weeks ago and it's turned out very well. So, I shared with the ladies that is what they will be served.

Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend but I'm not planning on going anywhere. I'll just spend time in good old DM catching up on more dvds. A lot of people like to travel over Memorial Day. Not me. I'm pretty sure I'll come up with something fun to do next weekend. Not sure what it'll be yet.

Mini Vacation.

I left for Beloit, WI for a short mini vacation early Sunday morning. Actually, I was headed up to Beloit College for Sonia Skidmore's graduation. I found it really hard to believe that she's graduating from college. It wasn't that long ago I was graduating from Drake. My oh my, time truly flies when you're having fun! Beloit College is a liberal arts college nestled in the town of Beloit, WI. The whole notion of a liberal arts education has always intrigued me because it's just so very different than a regular college/university. Looking at the graduation program, it was fascinating to see the different majors these students were graduating in.

After graduation, I drove north to Madison, WI to spend two days there with a friend, Kurt from seminary and his wife, Janet. Kurt was the first person in my pre-Theology class to leave the seminary. You can say he got the ball rolling! Not too long after he left, he met Janet and got married. A group of us from seminary went up for the wedding and over the years, Kurt, Janet and I meet up at least once a year. I figured since I was already going to be at Beloit, I should drive up and pay them a visit. We spent the evening grilling out and chatting/catching up with one another. There's so much to talk about especially when you don't see each other that often.

Kurt had Monday off and we started the day at Lazy Jane's. It's a wonderful breakfast place that caters to the "alternative" crowd. It reminded me of a quaint little coffee place a couple of blocks from where I live. One has to support the local independent places! After Lazy Jane's we walked to and around downtown Madison. Madison is such a great city to visit. It has a certain vibe to it that makes one feel at ease. We met Janet at her office as she took half the day off. We then proceeded to walk to U of Wisconsin, Madison. This university is one of the pre-eminent state universities in the country and they have a lake on its campus. We sat in the shade amongst students cramming for final and just had a great time watching the world go by. The three of us then walked on a nice path that led to a picnic spot. All in all Kurt and I probably walked roughly six miles without really planning on it. That evening we grilled out once again.

The next morning, I said goodbye to Kurt and Janet and drove to New Berlin, WI to meet up with Carmen. I've known Carmen since my time at Drake. We were all involved in the Newman Center. Carmen and Tyler are expecting their new baby on June 3rd so it was really exciting to see her. The last time I saw her was probably two years ago. Needless to say, she and Tyler are excited about the upcoming birth of their new baby. We went to a coffee place called Mrs. Sippy (get it? Mississippi!) It was so nice to just catch up with Carmen. We reminisce about the good old times at Drake. Boy, those were fun years and all of us had a blast hanging out with one another!

When Carmen and I were done, I drove back to Beloit which is on the way to DM to pick Charlene up. She and Sonia spent time together after graduation since David had to get back to Drake for a workshop. I do see Charlene a couple of times a week since we go to Mass on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we don't really have time to chat. So, it was good to be able to chat with her on the way back to DM. So much has happened in both our lives that it was good to be caught up with all the going ons.

That's really how the weekend went. It was a short but very good vacation.

A great weekend.

Talk about a great weekend and a wonderful way to celebrate one’s birthday! A good part of Thursday morning was spent up in Ames. I was staffing a table for our agency at a senior expo. I really do like being at fairs/expos because it give me the opportunity to be out of the office. At the same time, it’s at the fairs and expos where I get to meet with providers or reconnect with old providers. I had picked a cake up to be shared with staff at the office at 2PM. However, a good number of them were out of the office so I postponed the celebration to the next day.

Later that evening, a group of us went out for dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant. I had already placed the food order a week ago. Initially I ordered seven dishes for seven people. I called the restaurant up a day before and added two more dishes. When the owner found out that it was my birthday, he decided to cook me an extra dish. So, all in all, we had ten dishes. One person could not make it. Therefore, we ended up with six people eating ten dishes. Did we finish it all? No way, Jose! We had leftovers. Everyone did try all the dishes which was really nice. I brought back four dishes. Oh, I forgot to mention that the cake was cut after dinner at the restaurant and everyone had a piece albeit a very small piece of cake! I was very happy with my cake selection.

On Friday, the office celebrated my birthday by singing Happy Birthday off key – it’s kind of an office tradition that’s been around even before I joined the agency. I must say they sounded mighty fine to me! With the leftover cake, there was not quite enough for everyone and I actually went back to the bakery to get another whole cake. I felt much better because this way, the people who were not in the office on Friday, were still able to have a piece of cake come Monday. After work, I went back at the apartment and had some of the leftovers before driving to Clive After Five. Today was the first Clive After Five and what it is basically is an outdoor beer party where you pretty much stand around, drink beer and listen to live music. It’s kind of a fun thing to do especially when the weather is nice out. Brian met me there later but Kristi could not join since she was hanging out with a colleague of hers.

After Clive, Brian and I went to Cabaret West Glen which is a non-smoking bar that opened not too long ago. The reason why I do not frequent bars is because I just cannot stand the smoke. I like the atmosphere and the vibe, but I just cannot stand the smoke. So, I had gotten in touch with Brian and asked him if he and other people would like to go to Cabaret on Friday. They said yes. The place was pretty packed by the time we got there which was roughly 9:20PM. Thank goodness we bumped into someone we knew and they were just leaving so we got to sit where they were sitting. Off the top of my head, I cannot tell you the last time I was out at a bar. Needless to say, it’s been a while. Two of Brian’s friends joined us and we basically hung around until the bar closed at 2AM. Did I have fun? You betcha! I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that it was non smoking and everyone who were there made it fun for all. I went to bed at 3AM which is extremely late in Anthony’s books, but I did not have any problems falling asleep.

On Saturday, I got up and watched Liverpool play. They lost the game but it was a meaningless game so I did not feel bad at all. For dinner that night, I was off to Ann and Harley’s place. They had the Sargents over for dinner too. Kathy and Donny Sargent are good friends of Ann and Harley. I’ve known Kathy since my time working as a work-study student at Drake. She’s a cool cat! Ann had called me earlier in the day informing me that instead of eating at home, we would be going out to the Chinese restaurant really close to where they live for dinner and I was to meet up with them at the restaurant. When they got there, they found out that the restaurant was closed. So, we all ended up at the Corn Patch which is a mom and pop restaurant that’s been in Grimes for a long time. Ann and Harley used to frequent it when their kids were growing up. I’ve been there twice maybe and the food is what I would call American comfort food. Dinner was great and we all had a blast just chatting and laughing. After dinner, we adjourned back to Ann’s place for more conversation and dessert. Kathy bakes this amazing lemon cake and that’s what we had for dessert. After the Sargents left, I stayed and chatted with Ann like we always do. Talk about a great way to end the evening.

Since I went to church yesterday evening, I did not make it to church this morning. So, I ended up going to the I-max theater to watch Spiderman 3. I figured since the show was at 10AM there probably was not going to be a whole lot of people at the theater. I was right. The movie was fun and there’s nothing like staring at the I-max screen for close to 2 ½ hours! When the show got done, I was off to St. Kate’s for the last of our Young Adults Prayer Group. Joyce Rupp had taken on a new project that would be requiring her to devote a lot of her time. So, this was one of the things she’s letting go with a very heavy heart. The four of us met and shared and it was kind of a bittersweet last meeting. Bitter because we won’t be meeting again and sweet because everyone else will be moving on to bigger and better things. The other two people will be leaving the state. One will be moving to Naperville, IL since her fiancé got a job there. The other who is our campus minister applied and got a position at the University of Dayton. She’ll be leaving St. Kate’s at the end of July. We’ll be looking to hire a new campus minister soon. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get one hired before the students return in fall, but we’ll see what happens.

That’s kind of how the weekend went. I was reflecting on my birthday and how this year it was special and definitely memorable for many good reasons. It’s just nice to be able to spend time with good and fun people who make it all worthwhile. Next year will be the big 30 but I’m already looking forward to it. I think 30 is a great year to examine one’s life and see where one has been, where one is and where one is headed.

Happy Birthday to me!

Today's my 29th birthday. Yup, 29 years old. One of my oldest friends, Adele sent me a note wishing me happy birthday at the same time reminding me that the big 30 is not too far away! Kind of scary when you think about it. I wrote to her saying that 30 is a good age to reflect back on life and to see what you've accomplished in life, where life is headed and whether you are happy with the current direction.

A good part of the day today was spent staffing our agency table at a senior expo. I really like staffing the table because it gets me out of the office, and I'm able to network with some of our current providers and/or new providers. More importantly, I get to "sell" our agency to different people.

Dad and mom called me yesterday evening while I was at Kristi's house looking at photos from her Trans-Atlantic cruise. She and Brian took tons of photos so it was really neat to see the photos. Sis called at 5:20AM and left a voicemail stating that it would be nice to turn my phone on and having a voicemail from her wishing me happy birthday. She was right! Not many people (if ever) call me at 5:20AM. I figured as much it was her.

After the senior expo, I dropped by Sweet Binney's to pick up my birthday cake. It's been quite some time since I had cake for my birthday so this year I decided to order a cake. When I placed the order, I asked them to write "Happy Birthday To Me!" on the cake and the lady just laughed. Even the guys in the bakery had a great chuckle. Anthony never ceases to amaze people. The plan was to eat the cake at the office at 2PM. Alas, a good number of people were out of the office. So, I postponed the festivities to tomorrow morning at 11AM.

Six of us went out for dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant. I had placed the food order a week ago and initially ordered seven dishes. However, I called the restaurant up yesterday and ordered two more dishes. The food was amazing as usual so there was no surprises at all. This time however, everyone utterly loved the walnut shrimp. All of them agreed that it was by far the best shrimp they've ever had. I thought it was fine. There were quite a lot of leftovers and who ended up with it? Me! Charlene took the shrimp home with her. All in all there was more than enough food to go around and then some. The six of us just had a blast eating and chatting with one another. This is what birthdays should be about. It's about connecting with people and having fun. I can see how some people would much rather have a grandiose celebration, but not me. I much rather have a small scale celebration with dear friends.

Tomorrow is the start of Clive After Five. It's an outdoor tent party where they serve beer and all the proceeds go towards different worthy causes in the greater Des Moines Area. The weather said it's supposed to rain, but hopefully the weather will be nice come 5:30PM. I even broached the subject of going out to a non-smoking bar/dance club after Clive After Five and a number of people were open to that suggestion. We'll see how that goes. If we do go to the bar/dance club, it will be my first in a very long time. I'm kind of looking forward to it, don't quite know why, but I am.

That's pretty much it for my birthday. I did have fun and a lot of it was because I had great people to celebrate it with!

Off to the Finals once again!

I took half the day off today to watch the 2nd leg of the Semi-final Champion's League match between Liverpool and Chelsea. Boy was it a good game. In the end, Liverpool once again beat Chelsea to make it to the finals to be held in Greece. I had already asked to take that afternoon off anticipating Liverpool making it into the Final. Now, it really does not matter who they play in the Final, I'll be watching the game. Tomorrow, Milan plays Man. United and I'm so hoping that Milan beats United to set up another Final between Liverpool and Milan. Talk about a match made in heaven for someone like me who is a fan of both teams!

It's kind of funny because different people in the office will take half a day off to run errands or to enjoy the weather outside. I, on the other hand take time off to watch Liverpool. You can't get more die-hard than that! I'll be watching part of the game tomorrow over my lunch break. I'll probably watch the first half, and if Milan scores in the first half, United will be in for a very rough night. There's nothing more fun as a Liverpool fan than to see United lose. Needless to say, I'll be rooting for Milan all the way. Personally, I could not believe United won at home in the first leg. Milan totally dominated the game. Oh well, it'll be sweeter to beat United at San Siro (Milan's home ground)