All About Raju

Friday was my dear husband's 36th birthday. For years he has been asking for a surprise party. Every year I say no. This is because on his 19th birthday I planned a surprise party but he became suspicious and ended up calling the restaurant to find out how many people the reservation was for. I did say he could have a party though.
I took the Friday off and we spent much of the day getting ready. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining. Early in the afternoon, Raju headed out to Fan Expo to do a special taping of Reviews on the Run. The whole team was here and they were all getting to meet one another. I stayed home and continued to clean and get ready. Raju arrived back at 6:00 and shortly after our first guest arrived. From there we had a steady trickle in and all of a sudden we had a full house (probably about 40 people). I had friends from work, Raju's friends and people from Reviews on the Run showed up. I think everyone had a nice time but more importantly I think the birthday boy had a great time. Happy Birthday hun. I look forward to celebrating many, many more. We managed to make it to be around 3:00a.m.
The next morning we woke up both in a bit of a hungover state. Not really sure what would make us feel better, we started with a bit of a clean-up. I have never seen so many beer cans and bottles before. We managed to fill our huge recycling bin. Afterwards we headed to Toast for brunch. By the time we got back home and did a bit more cleaning it was time to get ready and head to Fan Expo for Raju's autograph signing session. I planned to go with him, hang out for a bit, attend his panel and come back home. At Fan Expo I ran into Sally, Ron and her nephews and my friend Charlie and his son Nico. It was so weird to see Raju in this environment. We were at the Archie booth and while I was buying some comics, a guy walks by and says "hey Raju". I asked him if he knew him and he said no. This happened a few times, with kids asking to have the photo taking with him. There was a good crown for autographs too. He really is a minor celebrity. After the autograph signing session there was a bit of time before their panel discussion. I was hungry so we battled the crowds for a hot dog. This made him a few minutes late for his panel, but it made for a great entrance for him.
The room was packed. It was amazing to see how many people watch the show. The whole team is very amusing. Victor Lucas, the boss, really loves his team and it shows.
Afterwards we went for a drink with Steve and his friend Allison at South of Temperance to kill some time before Raju and Steve headed to dinner. I had never been there before. It was nice. I'd like to go back sometime to eat as the menu items looked kind of neat.
I headed to the streetcar stop and waited for the streetcar. I was just about to start walking home along King as there didn't like there was a streetcar in sight when my phone rang. It was Raju telling me to join them for dinner at Oliver and Bonacini. I happily obliged as I didn't really know what else I was going to do with myself. This also gave me the opportunity to spend time with his TV co-workers. After dinner we headed to the Charlotte Room where Sean (another TV guy) was going to be DJing. We stayed for a bit but then Raju and I decided to head home around 1:00a.m. It was quite a whirlwind weekend. I loved seeing Raju in this way though. It was like a big love-in with everyone telling each other how great they were and they all seemed genuinely humbled by the experience of the fans at Fan Expo. No big egos.....yet.
Congratluations Raju! I hope this made you realize the talent you do have and the opportunities it can bring for you in the future.