Birthday Wishes To My Sweetie Pie (aawww)

Happy Birthday to Matt, Happy Birthday to Matt, Happy Birthday Dear Matty, Happy Birthday to Matt!  In case you couldn't tell, it's Matt's birthday today and we have a lot of low-key fun planned this weekend.  Matt's request was to keep his birthday activities simple because he is between business trips.  Poor guy, he just got back from a trip to PA and then he's off on another trip all of next week.

So, we are going out to any restaurant he wants and open presents tonight.  Tomorrow we'll be going to a movie and beforehand, I want to take Matt to a retro candy store I found in Toledo.  You can't see a movie without retro candy, right!?  Well, actually, I hope the candy itself isn't retro - that would be yucky.  OK, you can't go to a movie without retro covered candy, right!?

I'm feeling much better today.  I still have low energy but I think I'm well enough for a bike ride around the complex.  Let's see if I can do at least 3 laps around the building.  :)

Another Sick Day

Still sick today, but thankfully I'm up for blogging and some computer stuff this morning.  I mainly have a soar throat and low energy - which means I probably won't be leaving the apartment again today.  Which is really too bad because on Tuesday, I had a breakthrough of really getting to know the lay of the land.

For those that ask me if I feel like a resident vs. still feeling like a visitor, I've told people that it's hard to feel like a resident when I really don't know any street names or how to get from A to B. Now finally, when I have the car all to myself this week, I figured out which major roads connect - and then I get sick.  :(  Oh well, way worse can happen. I'll have to explore more next week.

On a different note, Happy Birthday to my cousin Kara!  I hope you have a wonderful day and congrats on the new camera.  Can't wait to see it in action!

Sicky Kirsten

Hi All,

Just wanted to write to let you know that I'm not up for blogging today because I'm sick. I'm probably going to try and sleep most of the day.  I think it's just a cold, but I'm pooped.  :(  Hope you all have a better day!

All By Myself...

Say goodbye to this guy for a few days because he's off on a business trip.  And to make matters even more lonely, Stephanie is in FL this week.  So, I guess I'll be spending this week with me, myself and I.  Maybe I can strike up a good conversation with Bonnie and Chazz - it's been a while since we've had an in depth conversation. ;)

Yesterday was all jumbled around.  Matt was supposed to leave in the morning with a co-worker and head straight to PA.  Instead, when he arrived to work, he was told that he would be leaving later in the afternoon with a different co-worker.  His poor colleague!  Talk about last minute notice - imagine going to work on a Monday and being told you would be gone for the week.  Thankfully he lives alone.  Or, imagine being the person that was originally traveling with Matt.  I hope she didn't cancel any plans for this week.  

So, I was given a surprise bonus of having lunch with Matt while his co-worker packed.  :)  That evening I did a lot of desk work, and chatted on Skype with M&D.  It's weird to think that in a couple of weeks I'll be in CA.  It's even weirder to think that CA is now a vacation for me, rather than just driving somewhere to visit different members of the family or friends.  

This week I'll have to be a little mysterious on my daily activities.  We have a lot of holidays and birthdays this month and someone may be taking advantage of the time alone to get her shopping done.  ;)  I'll try to fill in the gaps with some witty banter.  :)

Grab Your Passports!

Matt and I decided to flee the country for the day and go to Canada. Why?  Because we can!  So off we went in the afternoon.  Matt had heard that Windsor was an OK place to visit, but we heard that they had some really beautiful views of Detroit.  We decided to take the vista drive to Canada so we drove over the Ambassador Bridge - one of two options to cross the boarder.  

Waiting to cross the boarder.

We heard Windsor had a Caesar's Palace so we checked that out first.  Our intention was to do some light gambling and have a snack. Instead we were too lazy to deal with the currency exchange and did the next item on our list - walk the riverfront path.  On our way, I saw some beautiful flowers and had to take some pictures.

Caesar's in the background.

The riverfront walkway was across the street.  We went pretty far down until it started to rain so we headed back to the car.  Silly us, we forgot our umbrellas in the car!  We did manage to get some beautiful shots, though.

We got hungry by this point and were told we could find a good local place nearby.  After cruising the streets we found a Canadian BBQ place and we stopped there.  

Nothing like Canadian BBQ, eh?  Matt and I shared a Ruben sandwich and a local beer.

We decided since to take the alternate route back to the states which was by way of the tunnel.  Unfortunately, a car stalled and we had only one lane so we were stuck down there for almost an hour.  But it gave Matt and I some extra together time and I was able to take a shot of us crossing the boarder.

And here we are waiting to get back into the states.

Matt felt that the American guards were much nicer than the Canadian guards (despite their reputation). They were very suspicious as to why we would want to go to Canada for the fun of it. The American guards did a much better job at chit-chatting while asking us to explain every deep, personal secrets of our lives.  ;)

Mint Julep, Anyone?

We hung out with the same group that went to the baseball game on Friday because we had a crazy idea to have a BBQ and dress up for the Kentucky Derby.  The ladies each looked for big hats but struck out given the last minute nature of our planning.  Oh well!  But, we still had fun dressing the part regardless.  

Some gussied up ladies (from L to R): Gloria, half of me, Gloria's daughter Sam and Stephanie

As I'm sure you can imagine, the boys were less enthusiastic about dressing the part.  The guys are Dave (Dad, he's the Spartan fan!) and the back shot is of Michael, Gloria's son.

I want it to be put on the record, that it was NOT my idea to match Matt.  I was ready first and he insisted on wearing his favorite shirt because it's so comfortable.  So we had to endure with the, "Oh how adorable, you two match" snickers all night.

We decided that it was only appropriate to put some money on the game.  We were big spenders by betting .25 cents each.  Since none of us actually knew which horse to pick, we ended up choosing by the horse's name and what we were drawn to.  I chose Super Saver since I'm known for loving coupons!  And if you followed the game, you'd know that I picked the winner.  Ah, see, never mess with a Super Saver!  You'll always make money in the end.  Of course, I didn't actually collect on the bets, but it was to remind everyone who the winner was from time to time.  ;)

Our Friday Was A Hit!

Hmmm....Thursday was my last post huh...someone is sure having fun and slacking on her posts!  Well, thankfully I took pictures to remind myself what fun I've been having.  :)

Matt and I and a group of friends went to the Mudhens minor league baseball game on Friday night.

This stadium is really cool because it's a sunken field right in the middle of downtown Toledo.  One of our players hit a home run over 3rd base and I kept waiting to hear a car screeching on it's breaks.  Thankfully someone from outside the gate caught it.  :)

Unfortunately, we lost, but so far the team is doing well this season (although I don't know how since all the games I've seen so far they have lost!)  The exciting part of the evening was at the very end when I caught a baseball!  We think it may have even been the game winning ball.  :)  The visitors threw it out from the dugout and I was the only one paying attention so I got it!  Now I can say that I've gotten a ball from a game.

Here is Matt and Stephanie having fun at the game: