Boy, this great weather is awful. Luckily, I’ve got to study.

This weekend was the poster child for spring weather. It was bright, sunny, and in the mid 70’s. Where was yours truly? That’s right, holed up in the house and the library with the wife. We both have finals this week, and I especially haven’t been the most diligent at keep up for the entire semester. So this past weekend was what some would call a “cram” session for me. Holly’s done much better a being prepared in these previous weeks, but she also has a full week more of finals next week, along with boards in about one month.

The biggest busts for this weekend come from the fact that we missed Polka Boy Friday night, and then I had to give up watching the draft Saturday. Yes, I still kept up with it on ESPN.com…but it’s the principle of the thing. Watching it live it very, very different (for instance, I missed seeing Brady Quinn’s hangdog expression as he suffered falling to the 22nd pick). Friday night after Polka Boy, Doug, Bethany, Kari, and AJ all stopped by. Thanks guys, we weren’t sure what we were missing, glad to reminded us real quick. (I kid, I kid).

I couldn’t be any more ready for this semester to be over. Saturday – Cinco De Mayo. Oh, and I will have a margarita!

Thoughts at the closing bell:

• Spider-Man three comes out Friday. The inner nerd in me just squeeled a little.
• The Lions drafted ANOTHER receiver with their first pick. That’s the fourth receiver we’ve taken first in the last five drafts. I just…I just don’t know.
• Pistons cruised through the first round of the playoffs. Bring on the Bulls.
• Tigers pulled out the last game of the Minnesota series. Still hovering near the top, but the Central is pretty wide open at this point.
• For a while at least, Los Angelas will NOT have the worst traffic in California. It only took the Bay Bridge in San Fran burning to make that happen. Congrats, Los Angelinos!
• Barak Obama’s minister could be his Achilles Heel? I think we’re reaching, GOP.
• What a surprise, animal feed made in China has some questionable ingredients. I’m shocked.

That’s all for now, one love to you all. Holla.

You spin me right round, baby, right round…

The last few weeks can be marked by one phrase: utterly chaotic. In the last two weeks, I’ve had two group projects due, along with a paper for Career Development. Add in there a slice of the normal work week. And don’t forget to add the trip to Alabama I embarked upon this past weekend.

The MBA program has seriously consumed a solid part of my soul. In Macroeconomics, we had to get together and forecast the next ten quarters of the US economy. Simple, you say? I wish. Then in Financial Management, we had our final case study that we had to develop. Then let’s top it off with the five page personal memo due tonight for my Career Development class. At least its ove…oh, wait, that’s right, finals are next week. This weekend, just call me the Hobbit, and the Library will be my hobbit hole.

This past weekend, I made my way down to Alabama for the chapter’s annual retreat. I flew into Atlanta and rode in to Bama with Shoemaker. We met up with Greg Lee and got all of the supplies for the fellas. Then the other alumni got there, along with the active fraternity. My boys that showed up included Thrill Hill, Chadman, Drewbeans, that Bendrew guy, and Winslett. I figure one day I’ll refer to them by their real names…but that day is not today. The weekend was a blast, and Monday Drewbeans and I went and hung around campus. That’s right – we were those old guys.

I am fairly ready to be done with work. Of course, I’m not even close. I have told my boss that I’m leaving, though, so that’s a major first step. Her initial reaction aside, I think she’ll keep me on till my requested departure date, which was August 1st. If not, then you might see me in your nearest Starbucks. Espresso, anyone?

Thoughts at the closing bell:

• Watched the first season and some of the second season of “Entourage” at Thrill and JT’s place. Yes, it is as good as rumored. We tried to figure out who would be who. Who would I be – Ari, of course.
• Also had my first experience with the Wii. I knocked out Reagan and bowled a winning game. I took to the Wii like a fish to water. Virtual Water.
• Michael Thrill Hill is now engaged, and I will be participating as a groomsmen. September in Alabama is what it looks like for this guy.
• Winslett, Ben, and myself engaged in an intense talk on the state of the stock market. Simon Chadband looked at us and said, “Man, you guys have gotten old”. That was the gut punch.
• The Tigers are hanging around the top, but I’ve been less the impressed. Mostly the bullpen. Who woulda thought Jaime Walker made such a difference.
• Pistons and RedWings are rolling through their respective playoff series. Cross the fingers, kids.
• What on earth is going on with the Tillman situation. Just an utter tragedy.

That’s all for now kids. One love to you all, holla.

Look, I’m a He-man! I lift heavy limbs above my head! Grrrr….

Saturday was a day for me to commune with nature, to really become one with my surroundings. I took in the sound of the cool wind whipping past my ears, of the birds singing their sullen cold spring songs, and watched the trees grow just a little bit more. I also hauled a ridiculous amount of cut limbs for many, many, many hours. Saturday afternoon, I hauled limbs all day for my father-in-law down on my In-laws property in Southern Indiana. As I spoke in the blog before, he had surgery ya few weeks ago, and won’t be doing any lifting for a loooong while. Right before the surgery, though, he had done some major limb cutting down at the pond in the back of the property. So, being the good son-in-law that I am, I put on my gloves, boots, and Carhartt jacket, hoped on the four-wheeler, hooked up the trailer, and spent the entire afternoon hauling limbs from the back of the property to the front. Needless to say, I slept VERY well on Saturday night.

Easter Sunday went pretty well for the Heaton’s, I’d say. Holly sang in church, I did the Guest Relations thing. After church, we went to Hoaglin-To-Go on Mass Ave for brunch (and a mimosa for yours truly). Then it was just an afternoon of relaxing. I know! We actually didn’t have anything to do last night, it was so weird.

Thoughts at the closing bell:

• Follow-up on the Indians game – It was ridiculously cold, I was wind burned when I left, the Indians won 6-1, and I’d do it again in a heart beat. I love baseball that much.
• Watching “The Apprentice:LA” last night, and I was just completely amazed. There were three teams of two who were supposed to give five-to-ten minute presentations, from what I could tell. Well, the first team gave a great presentation. The other two teams, though…I was just blown away at how AWFUL they were. Seriously, how do you get on “The Apprentice” and you have no idea how to give a respectable presentation. It was just spectacular to see how truly bad they were.
• Have I mentioned I love The Wall Street Journal. We’re morning BFF’s.
• I’m not gonna go into who it is because they’re still spreading the word, but another brother is engaged, and I have been called on to be a groomsmen. Yup, time to make another tux look good.

Tis all for now, one love to you all, holla atcha boy.

Your 2007 Indianapolis Indians…are frozen

In a few hours, I’ll be heading to Victory Field in the heart of downtown Indianapolis for the 2007 home opener of the Indianapolis Indians, Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The game temp forcasted: 44 degrees. You gotta love spring time in the North…ok, so you don’t have to love it. You do have to accept it though. So, I’ll trudge out there and have my beer and peanuts and suck it up like a soldier, all for my love of the game.

in my weekend review, I forgot to mention that I finally had my assessment review for the Leadership Development Institute’s (LDI) Leadership Assessment Center that I attended with my fellow MBA colleagues a few months ago. In that Assessment, we spent the day performing different management tasks, from holding a press conference, to being in a group discussion with a group of equals, to performing an employee review. In all of these, we were judged on our performance. The ratings were in a ranged Weakness-Low Competency-Competency-Strength-High Strength. In all four dimensions (Communications Effectiveness, Organization and Prep, Consideration of Others, and Problem Solving) I received a “Strength” rating, except for Consideration of Others for which I was rated “High Strength”. The feedback was very encouraging, and it gave me some confidence to know that I can be an effective manager and leader if given the chance. So now, who’s looking for a CEO?

Thoughts at the closing bell:

• Hanging out with the Med School kids tonight after class at Bourbon St. Distillery. Some of the guys asked Holly if I was coming, they wanted to buy me a drink. {Thinking to self} must avoid shenanigans…must avoid shenanigans…
• The Fed Ex Midnight sort was last night. It started at 11pm and went till 2am. I’ve never been so ridiculously tired while walking and talking. It was pretty impressive to see, but having to be told every ten minutes “how impressive this is” got fairly old. Still, I hand it to those guys, it’s a pretty good operation. To have planes coming in on the same runway every two minutes without a hitch was a sight to see.
• Pelosi has said, and I quote: “The road to Damascus is the road to peace”. WHHHAAAAAAAA???? Are you seriously saying that? Look, I’m all for opening the diplomatic doors, but let’s NOT kid ourselves. This is the regime that has been in puppet control of Lebanon for decades, had a hand in the assassinations of numerous high profile Lebanese officials, and just last year was helping to keep Hezbollah armed during their conflict with Israel. The road to peace. Please, get back to the Speaker’s Chair, Madame.
• My candidate choices are down to two: Romney and Biden. Biden doens’t have a prayer against Obama and Hillary, sadly, so I may have to start paying very close attention to “My Man Mitt”

One love to you all, holla atcha boy!

OPENING DAY 2007!!!!!!!

It’s probably one of the greatest days of the year in all of these United States. Opening Day of the new Major League Baseball season is like a right of passage. It’s a signal to a changing of the season. Yeah, Spring is already upon us. Now, though, we can take it’s presence seriously. I’m listening right now to the Tiger’s take on the Blue Jay’s. After a shaky first inning, Bonderman has been cruising and it’s all tied up 3-3 heading into the top of the 7th.

This weekend was a little nutty, but actually fairly calm compared to some more other recent weekends. Friday night Holly and me went to my MBA colleague Adam’s house, where he invited a small group of us over for dinner, drinks, and poker. He had actually never played poker before. I was pretty much set to run the table towards the end, but it got very late, and a sleepy wife made me decide to start playing kamikaze style just to get done with the game. Oh well, there will be other games.

Saturday was the open house at the law school. It made me feel much more like an official law student. Yup, it’s gonna happen, I should probably get ready for it. I’m about to send the email to my boss with the “memo of my intentions”. I’m just a tad nervous about it (and her reaction to it).

Sunday was just a nice day of relaxing and cleaning while the wife studied for a big test on Thursday. I was quite the Mr.Mom, except that we have no kids, so I was more just like a Mr. Mr.  Either way, that kitchen is pretty damn spotless.

Thoughts at the closing bell:

• What on earth are the Iranians hoping to gain by provoking the British over these captured soldiers. The whole thing is fairly ridiculous.
• McCain says that “he truly believes things have gotten better” in Iraq. I think my vote just shifted officially from McCain to Giuliani. Of course, it’s fairly early for my vote to be anywhere, I suppose, there are alot of people I’m keeping a close eye on: Giuliani, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, and Edwards are my list at this point. Sorry, Obama has about zero experience, and thus zero credibility as a president in my book.
• Watched “Rumor Has It” this weekend. Ok, I’ll say it – It wasn’t that bad.

One love to you all, holla atcha boy.