I suppose my birthday weekend warrants an update. I know I’ve been lousy at keeping up the details of my life… but hey! I’m a busy Computer Engineering senior!

So anyway… my birthday was wonderful…. I spent 7.5 hours in a bus and two hours in class. Fun fun. Amanda finally arrived at around 9:00. We had some Pizza Hut pizza and watched a couple episodes of Stargate on my 7-foot projector screen. We were gonna go out, but were both really exhausted (long days), so we turned in early.

Saturday continues below!!!

Saturday morning, first thing, we took a walk through Brookside Park. Note to self: I want to do this more often! Yeah, I sometimes complain because it’s actual “exercise,” and lately I’ve been really lazy. After that, we took my bike back to Target for much-needed repair work. We browsed around Target a bit, then went to check out that fabulous place known as GoodWill. Didn’t really find anything exciting, but we still had a good time.

Then we headed down to Des Moines to check out the new Jordan Creek Mall. It’s nice, nothing spectacular, just a big mall. We were going to do a matinee movie there, but apparently “matinee” means before 2:00pm down there on the weekends. Since the full price was $8.25, we decided we didn’t really need to check out the theater. B&N was nice, but all it was, more or less, was a big version of the Borders we have in Ames. Sharper Image and Games by James were about the only two exciting stores in the mall (for me). After the mall, Amanda took me out to Olive Garden for my birthday. Sweet! Haven’t been there for awhile. And for once I didn’t have a bad restaurant experience (I will not go to Applebees anymore… the Olive Garden in Dubuque has one last chance)! We each ordered a meal, so I’m still enjoying my Tour of Italy this week. Back home, I made her watch Blues Brothers with me, since she hadn’t ever seen it. Wasn’t too bad 🙂 .

Saturday morning, a couple of Tom’s friends, Laura and her roommate Amanda, made quiche for us. I don’t know if this had something to do with Tom fixing their computer or their living in a dorm with no kitchen, but I didn’t complain. Free brunch! That afternoon was an Iowa State Singers concert: only 50 minutes, so I didn’t get too exhausted. My parents came down and brought a “picnic” lunch and a DQ ice cream cake, and we visited for a while before they left, followed later by Amanda.

Good times. I got the mall “thing” out of my system for a little while, and realized I really like taking walks with Amanda (she’ll have to remind me I actually like it next time I complain about it!). Unfortunately, it’s getting harder and harder to say good-bye on Sundays…. Well, they say patience is a virtue…