I'm having a good day so I thought I'd share the love. I got to spend most of the day with Matt today...and later tonight I get to see him, Laura, Amanda, Cameron, Ed, Jess, Adrienne, Nichole, Cathy, and Travis all at the gift exchange at Laura's. Yay! The only thing I'm not excited about is getting up to work at 8 tomorrow morning...but then it's cousin day! Yay again! Hope I get enough sleep...and I hope everyone else's week goes well. *love*

Christmas was awesome, but very busy. Christmas Eve I worked unti 5, went to the Tourville Christmas party with Matt (after getting there and then returning the cash office key that i still had to Kohl's and going back), then the two of us ate a delicious turkey dinner with my parents and bummed around the house...we amused ourselves watching Romeo Must Die while the fam was at midnight (10:00p) mass. Then was the gift opening and it was good. I got a spectacular new black 30G generation 5 iPod. And some great books from Matt. And a cool lamp (porcelain black horse head) with a hideous shade (think red fiberglass and shoelaces). And a coat rack. Then it was bedtime

Christmas Day I was over at Matt's at 9am for more gift opening. I got a DVD player from his parents and a spice rack and a scope for my .22 from him...so exciting! Then we decided to forego church in order to go out to breakfast at Seven Angels with his family and  aunt and uncle and other uncle. They have the greatest selection of omelettes there. I had a gyro....eggs and gyro meat with feta cheese...mmmm. Then I went back to my house where the Pierre family party was just starting. Got to see all my cuzzies which was good. The little ones had too much energy.

The highlight of the day after Christmas was spending the afternoon with Matt, dinner with Holly and Alex at Texas Roadhouse, and the Transiberian Orchestra concert. Jim and Kim (our daughter's adoptive parents) sent us 5th row center tickets. One word: Incredible!

Tuesday I worked 4-9 doing returns. Then I kidnapped Jess and we met Amanda and Perkins. It was icky and smoky but we had great fun together. I love those girls! Then I dropped Jess back off at her apartment and went home and read and watched TV with Mere until I was sleepy.

Yesterday I met Matt around 1 and we went to the range for a little while (it was only open until 2) to release some work-related frustration. Then we went back to his house, ate a late lunch, and got ready to work. We both went in at 4. I was supposed to leave at 9 but I stayed an extra 20min to help close down registers.

Today I slept late (around noon), ate brunch, showered, and ran to the bank to deposit my check from Grandma and Grandpa. Then I headed out to start shoppping for the gift exchange next week and waiting for Laura to call at 2:30. I was just finishing up at Old Navy (my first stop) when she called and I met her in the cafe court. We walked the entire mall and got all of our gifts (plus a stop at Cinnabon, a visit from Stephen, and a stop at Gloria Jeans on the way out) before I had to go a little after 5. Got home and we left for Uncle Willy and Aunt Ginny's for the Wayne's Graduation/ Ginny's birthday party. It was great fun to see the cuzzies and watch some home movies from back in the day...back when Nikki and Wayne sang duets in the same octave and Theresa was sure she saw the Easter Bunny...

New addition to the wish list: Vanilla Spice lotion from the Body Shop (I would prefer the body butter but the shop in the mall is all out)

Hey all, Christmas time is coming, and soon. Some of you have been asking me what I want, so I thought I'd do you all a favor and make a little list because it's so much easier to shop when you know what to get. Here goes:

CDs: newest Sevendust, any Dream Theater, Audra McDonald (my hero!)

DVDs: Phantom of the Opera, Amadeus, Young Frankenstein, Love Actually, LOTR: Fellowship extended edition

Books: newest Outlander, LOTR & Hobbit, Harry Potter 1-4

Miscellaneous stuff: a french press teapot, Godiva hot chocolate (double chocolate), pretty earrings (only prereq is that they be white gold)

Soooo excited....I get to hang with Holly, Jess, and Laura all at some point this weekend!

In other good news I got the solo soprano descant in "Christmas Day" (Holst)....come see the concert this Tues at 7:30 at the Weidner

Yeah...no 8am classes next semester. Anyway, my weekend was awesome and I think the next one will be decent too. Sunday was the first real "Matt day" I've had in awhile. We went to church, went shooting, changed the oil in my car and ate Dad's homemade chicken dumpling soup for dinner, and went back to his house to watch TV until we were sleepy. I need more Sundays like that.

Saturday I was originally supposed to have the day off but, being a nice person, I took a 9-1 shift on register. Super busy...ick. Afterwards I was starving so I ran by Atlanta Bread Company and got a half sandwich and baked potatoe soup and a latte to go for lunch and went to Holly's to visit w/ her and Willow, who seemingly doubles in size every time I see her. I stayed there until almost 4. When I got home I was going to change my oil but Dad wasn't home and it was getting dark. Instead I did my laundry and washed some stuff for Aunt Nicole (who was spending the weekend with Gabe, 3 and Gus, 6wks, while Uncle Jeremy was off hunting w/ my bro). I played with Gabe for awhile to give Nicole and Mom a break...and tried to keep him from hitting the cat with a broom. When 6:15 rolled around I left for Matt's house. He had just gotten off of work and we were going to hit the mall for Christmas shopping and National Ammo Day purchases. First stop was Scheels, where I picked up $20 worth of .22 ammo (1,050 rounds of Federal) and Matt got a box for the .30-06 and some sabots for the 12 gauge he will get from his dad when he moves out. Then we wandered around a bit and he got a videogame he's been wanting and I picked up one of Mere's gifts and price checked some stuff for my Mum's gift. Then we stopped in at my parents so I could see Theresa, who's family had dined with them. Then I took Matt back home and we bummed a little bit before I left.

I can't remember back farther than Saturday.

I just updated the Quotes Blog

<img src="http://images.quizilla.com/D/dphenreckson/1049378297_Hmiddleearthrohirrim.jpg" border="0" alt="Rohirrim"><br>Rohirrim
<br><br><a href="http://quizilla.com/users/dphenreckson/quizzes/To%20which%20race%20of%20Middle%20Earth%20do%20you%20belong%3F/"> To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?</a><BR> <font size="-2">brought to you by <a href="http://quizilla.com">Quizilla</a></font>

Ignore my last two posts...apparently copy and paste isn't what you were supposed to do with those...and I'm too lazy to delete them.

I had a lovely weekend. Friday I chilled at the apartment until he had to leave for work. Then I did dishes and left for home and dinner w/ the fam. We went to TGI Fridays, where I had never been before. It was pretty good. Then I went home and read and spun a little (once again...spinning as in making wool into yarn, not riding a bike really fast).

Saturday 6:45 was way to early, but I had to be to work at 8. It was crazy busy back at the SD, even with 3 of us there. On the upside, 2 o'clock came early. I bought some nylons and then went to Matt's. He just got back from a movie w/ his little bro. I hung out and chatted with him whilst he worked out, then hung around whilst he showered and got dressed for Nick's reception. Then we headed to my house so I could iron my skirt and change. We headed to Neenah to the reception, which was truly lovely. We were kind of early, but we Nichole and Tommy showed up shortly after, so we got a table with them. The food and champagne were excellent and the DJ was impressive, what with his big screen where he alternately played music videos and digital pics from the reception. Nick and Courtney make a wonderful couple and I'm so very happy for them. I think I'd only met Courtney once before the actual wedding and I'm pleased to say that I like her and, more importantly, she makes my old pal Nick very very happy. They are totally going to have beautiful babies, too, I can just tell. As a show of support, I even danced a little. Poor Matt...he's so much better at it than me but he has to put up w/ my lack of rhythm/skill/coordination/etc. Nick and Courtney were spectacular, as was Leigh. Laura and her Stephen (who showed up after dinner) also were quite graceful. Tommy was fun, but he only danced because he was quite inebriated. Nichole made me dance to some 80s songs with her...and I'll admit it was fun but I'm sure I looked like a fool. At least the did the chicken dance correctly. In Ohio they did a silly doci-do thing instead of going in a circle. After the partay I bid adieu to the happy couple and Matt and I headed back to his house for a little while.

Sunday was also an excellent day. Matt and I ate a quick breakfast of cereal and made our way to Church. Excellent sermon by Pastor Steve. Matt's kind of impatient because we were just about to start the New Testament when Pastor Dwight left for Israel for a few weeks, so we've been getting topical sermons from the Assistant Pastors rather than diving in to the NT yet. Soon, though, soon. Anyway, after church we made ourselves a tasty omelette for lunch and I went home at 1:30 so Matt could study for O-Chem. I did my laundry and took a nap. Woke up around 4 and packed and chatted w/ the 'rents before heading back to Matt's. We shortly left for our long-anticipated Thai dinner date. I definitely recommend Tast of Thai on College Ave...mainly because I love Thai food. If I could afford it I'd have it maybe twice a week. Not too bad though, under $30 for 2 entrees and an appetizer. Anywho, after dinner we headed back to his house and watched a few episodes of South Park. I got back to GB around 9:30 and caught up on blogs and read for Brit Novels.

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<TD align=middle><FONT size=5><B>English Genius</B></FONT><BR>You scored 92% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 86% Expert! </TD></TR>
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<TD><SPAN id=comparisonarea>My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people <I>your age and gender</I>:
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<TD vAlign=center>You scored higher than <B>72%</B> on <B>Expert</B></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></BLOCKQUOTE></SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><table cellpadding=20><tr><td>Link: <a href='http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=14457200288064322170'>The Commonly Confused Words Test</a> written by <a href='http://www.okcupid.com/profile?tuid=577245280159428717'>shortredhead78</a> on <a  href='http://www.okcupid.com'>Ok Cupid</a>, home of the <a href='http://www.okcupid.com/oktest3'>32-Type Dating Test</a></td></tr></table>