Christi Turns the "Big 25"

Last weekend, Christi, my Aunt Lois, and I celebrated Christi's 25th Birthday Weekend. The morning started off the best way any morning could start off...with a good breakfast. Christi and I met up with Lois and headed over to Mimi's, a local breakfast and bakery shop here in Phoenix. Christi and I hadn't sat down to a nice breakfast in weeks, so Christi's choice to go there for breakfast was a good one.

Now after breakfast, the original plan was for me to head back home to attend some school district training classes (optional, but have to be done by a certain date), and the girls would go shopping/hang out in Scottsdale. But, because I had/have a soft spot for some of the special women in my life, I was convinced by the two to join them in their "feminine endeavors."

My aunt took us to a cool mall (the size of Lloyd Center and the quality of Washington Square/Pioneer Place) where we (really they) were going to look for a couple of work outfits for Christi, my aunt's treat. Let me paint this picture for you: Here, in the front walking in the mall are Christi and Lois, with Matt pulling up the rear. We looked through so many stores, my head was left spinning. Not to mention, that we found Christi's work clothes in the very first store we went in to (Macys)! But you know what, I sucked it up like the good husband should. Not only did I visit every store in the mall, I had the misforture of missing my Wolverines (now 4-0!) game...which they won! During this "wandering through the desert" of this mall, Christi and I came up with the definition of what it means to be a good husband shopping with your wife. It's actually quite simple, here it is: To be a good husband while shopping with his wife, he must keep his mouth closed and smile in support. I heard this will take a husband far in life...I can't vouch for the results of that quite yet though.

After a brief break at Starbucks, where we sat outside under some misters (no, not a bunch of men, but lightly spraying water from above) that seemed to drip a solid stream of water on my head only, yet keeping the ladies cool and refreshed, we (the ladies) decided to tour some day resorts and some expensive homes around the Scottsdale area. This next two hours of my life was pretty blurry, so all I remember was walking around some resort with wild rabbits running around. From there I remember, vaguely, driving through many, many neighborhoods (none of which I will ever live in!). I also remember hearing a conversation involving the question of why Phoenix doesn't have a Street of Dreams...from that point on I fell into a deep sleep. The next thing I remember was discussing where we were going for dinner.

We ended up sitting down at a small Thai restaurant close to my aunts place. That might have been the best part of dinner.

All in all, it was a good day. Christi was satisfied with her first birthday weekend away from home, which meant that I was happy (kind of reciprocal, I know).

Crushing the Over-rated Irish

On Saturday, the Wolverines avenged last year's embarassing loss, by taking it to the Fighting (not-so-much) Irish, 47-21. Chad Henne threw for over 300 yards, with three touchdown passes. Mike Hart rushed for 124 yards (one touchdown), and Mario Manningham caught 4 passes (three for touchdowns)for 137 yards. Michigan shut Notre Dame to just 245 total yards and 5 turnovers. Heisman candidate, Brady Quinn threw, a season high, 3 interceptions. The previously #2 Irish dropped ten spots to #12, as the Wolverines (previously ranked #11)jumped to #6 in the AP Top 25 Poll.

Hey Suck-Eyes, hope you were taking notes, it's revenge year for the "Maise and Blue!"

Old Rivals Reunite

It's that time of year again. On Saturday, the Wolverines from Michigan will take on their arch rivals, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Indiana. The Wolverines look to avenge last season's 17-10 loss in front of their home fans at the "Big House."
Michigan enters the game ranked #2 in the AP Top 25. They've compiled a 2-0
record, winning games over Vanderbilt (27-7) and Central Michigan (41-17), both at home. The Wolverines are anchored by Junior quarterback Chad Henne. In two games, Henne has completed 21 of 41 pass, for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns. Also a big threat in the Wolverine offense is Junior tailback Mike Hart. In two games, Hart has rushed for 262 yards, averaging 5.2 yards per carry, scoring 3 touchdowns. Michigan's two deep threats on offense are Senior, Steve Breaston and Sophomore, Mario Manningham. The two wideouts have combined for 11 catches, with 164 yards, and 1 receiving touchdown.

Matt's Prediction:

Michigan: 35
Notre Dame: 24

New Apartment

We got moved into our new apartment in Glendale. By the end of our first day here, Jeff and I had the truck three-quarters unpacked. I knew it would be a long and tiring process, but with the heat, I didn't realize what I was getting myself into! The task was even tougher, considering that the "3" in Apartment, #3010 stood for the third floor! I don't know why I didn't realize that unloading a 16-foot truck with only two people would really suck (Christi was inside, the organizer/decorator of course!) We all slept well that night.

I'd have to say, the toughest challenge of unloading the truck was hauling, what normally took 4 guys, our giant, oddly-shaped entertainment center. We got it down the truck ramp (by the grace of God) and onto a grassy area at the bottom of our stairs. With it attached to the dolly, we started maneuvering it up the first set of stairs. No more than four steps up, we realized that it was too tall. So five minutes later,which included head-scratcing, pacing, and probably some not-so-nice words, we came up with the idea of taking that stupid thing apart (the man way of course). God must've sensed our pride rising through the roof, because no more than 10 minutes later, once we had the entertainment center from Hell in our desired room, we realized that we couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again (for lack of a better analogy). So Christi went out and did what we should have done from the first place...she went to Ikea and found us a cheap/small entertainment center (the woman way, aparently superior to the man way).

It took 3-4 more days to unpack, organize, decorate, and break down and get rid of boxes. Finally, as of now, our apartment is in full operation (thanks to the decorating expertise of Christi). Here are some basic pictures of what our place looks like.

Taking a Break in Shasta

One of the few fun parts of this trip was being able to stop, stretch, and have lunch in Shasta. What an amazing stretch of I-5! My good buddy Jeff, and I were able to toss around our bright yellow Ducks football we picked up in Roseburg - talk about quick therapy after many long hours of driving! I drove the moving truck (towing our Acura Integra) while Jeff drove our Isuzu Rodeo. I also had the best co-pilot, my other...better half, Christi.