Yeah, I was totally unproductive this weekend. I did get some dishes done, but that's about it. Oh well, there's always Thursday.

Work sucked ass. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I saw a fabulous sign whilst browsing the AP photos tonight. It was out in San Francisco; I can't remember if they were at a protest or at the courthouse or what, but it said "Preserve Marriage Ban Divorce" That is exactly right. I still want to send some flowers out, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow. They are still marrying couples tomorrow, aren't they? I want to thank RevSpork's girlfriend for informing us all of these goings-on, by the way. Rock on!

Mom tells me our little Rusty has hurt his hind leg/paw. Rough-housing outside, no doubt. Silly puppy; I can't wait until we have him up here!

*BURN UPDATE* It wants to play Tetris.

I think I have a version of a cold. No stuffiness to speak of, but a terribly dry throat. Actually, my nose is pretty dry (and yes, I know how odd that sounds). Anyway, no matter how much water I drink I still feel parched. Poor Dani!

Maybe it's because I haven't had a soda in two days. I went to the dentist Wednesday, and I've been a bad, bad girl. I need lots o' fillings because I drink way too much soda. But Dr. Mitchell says he can save me (no, really, that's what he said) so I guess it'll be OK. Stupid girl.

A word to the wise: If you plan on being productive, don't get out the Tetris. Especially if you have a gamecube, because there are some crazy addictive games on there. I did get most of the dishes done, but I didn't even touch the bathroom or any laundry. I suppose there's always Saturday.

So, I realized today that in the next few months I'm going to need to start planning Dave's graduation party - or should I say par-tay, because it's gonna be huge! By that time we should be in a house (renting) so there will be room for more than five people to be there at the same time. If only BGSU's colors weren't orange & brown...maybe the history department has its own colors? Probably not.

I really want to redo my Web site, but I haven't been in a particularly creative or witty mood lately. Maybe inspiration will strike this weekend and I won't have to clean the bathroom. We'll see.

*BURN UPDATE* I think it tells Fat Mojo to be bad.


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It's so depressing finding out you really cannot hold your liquor. In the BGSU days, I could keep up with just about anyone, but no more. We went to the AMVETS Valentine's Day dance with Joy and Rodney Saturday night, and my buzz began with my first rum & coke. By the time I finished No. 3, it was all over. In my defense though, they were big glasses; they used those big red plastic cups. I was way too excited about the ham raffles and the door prizes, but that's OK. I had fun, and I didn't even get weepy until we got home!

Nothing else to report, sorry!

*BURN UPDATE* It likes my Garth Brooks Live CD.

Just a quickie 'cause my head is killing me. Star is back home, safe and sound. She was just two doors down from my parents' house, and they finally got around to calling the humane society Thursday, and found out where she belonged.

Fat Mojo is just fine. Apparently he just has some wacky "pigmentation" on the belly.

*BURN UPDATE* It's asleep.

Damn lunchlady bitch spit on my dessert today. My parents' puppy, Star aka Star-baby, is missing. She's been gone since Tuesday evening. I'm hoping that a well-meaning person picked her up and will see the signs and bring her home. You all had better stay away from me for a while, becuase my bad karma is apparently spreading.

No word on Mojo.

*BURN UPDATE* Who cares?

Oh, and no word on Mojo's biopsy yet.

As I stand in the line of the cafeteria of life, I look at my plate piled high with work casserole and financial casserole and say "That is so not what I ordered!" I take it back to the lunchlady of life and tell her she screwed up, to fix it but not to touch the personal dessert. She flips me off and piles more casserole on, but thankfully doesn't take my dessert. Well guess what lunchlady? I'm not paying!

I am so sick of playing catch-up, hurry up and wait, and all the other oxymoronic games that borderline sane people have to play. I'm sick of playing Capable Woman, Responsible Girl, Tough Lady and all the other stupid roles I have. I'm sick of smiling sweetly when I want to yell and scream and lock myself in the bathroom and cry. Thank God for Dave.

*BURN UPDATE* It's a damned ugly reminder of how stupid I am.



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I would like to apologize to Meijer for saying mean things about them. They still make their lotion tissues, and I stocked up last week.

Now, anybody who had a suck-ass Thursday raise your hand (or just a finger if it was really bad). We had a really bad Thursday, so I am currently flipping that day the bird. It started when I got home from work and saw Fat Mojo sprawled out on his back, presenting the belly. In and of itself, that's not a bad thing; it was the bare patch around his little Mojo nipple with the mole-like spots that was bad. We poked and prodded the belly, trying to feel if these spots were raised and trying to decide whether we should be worried. We decided they weren't really raised and that maybe we should worry a little.

So, after three hours of sleep, I got up and called Dr. Jones (the veterinarian, not the archaeologist) and got an appointment for 9:30 that morning. Took the fat cat up to Bowling Green, and Dr. Jones decided to do a biopsy just to be safe. I left the fat cat with the doctor, promising said fat cat that I would be back to get him that night. When I got home I was going to try and nap, but that didn't really happen. I think I dozed off and on for about an hour.

I was supposed to pick Mojo up between 7:30-8:30 p.m., and Dave gets home at 8, so I was going to leave a bit before 7 so we'd get home around the same time. Well, Dave got home at 6, and when I said "What the hell are you doing home?" he said "I just got in a car accident."

Nobody got hurt, don't worry, but the front of the car is smushed in a bit. I don't feel like getting into all the details, but we'll just say it involved an old lady who kept slowing down in the left lane and the guy behind her (not Dave) who was riding her ass and was just shy of a DUI.

So, about an hour later, after Dave had calmed down, we headed out for BG. It had started snowing at some point, and the interstate was a mess. We finally made it to Dr. Jones', got Fat Mojo, wrote out a big-ass check, and headed home. The interstate was even worse, so I wasn't going too fast. We got about halfway home, maybe 2/3 of the way there, and I saw a knot of traffic up ahead, so I started slowing down.

One car went flying by me on the left, and then a second car went flying by. As they got up to the little knot of traffic, the second driver realized that the first driver wasn't going as fast as him, so he slammed on his brakes. On the icy road. Do you see where I'm going with this?

As soon as I saw those brake lights, I said to Dave "Oh shit, this is gonna be bad!" Car 2 swung to the left, then swung to the right, into my lane, in front of a semi so I couldn't see what was going on. Then it swung back into the left lane, fishtailed a couple of times, and then slid into the median. I cannot express to you how scared I was.

We made it down the interstate - seeing a semi upright but jackknifed on the side of the road and a car in a deep ditch (well, not really seeing the car, just the headlights pointing up and towards us) - with no other near misses.

When we got home we discovered that Fat Mojo was still messed up from the anesthetic, which is funny now but was disturbing at the time. He didn't have total control of his back legs, so he was kind of stumbling all over. It was like he didn't know where he was. Dave had to help Mojo into the litter box, and at one point Mojo wandered into the bathroom and just stood there in the doorway. Mojo also managed to get behind the entertainment center and the washer and dryer. He seemed to want to eat, but I didn't know if it would make him sick, so I was all worried about that.

We may get the biopsy results as soon as Monday, but most likely Tuesday, so I'll keep you posted.

I know it probably doesn't sound like Thursday was that awful, but it was. It just was.

On a completely different topic, I just want to say that as much as the governor sucks ass, Ohio is still a good state. There are several issues knocking around in my brain - state-oriented and otherwise - but I just don't feel like getting political right now. Sorry.

*BURN UPDATE* It's trying to recruit the scar on my left ring finger.



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All is right with the world. My Harry Potter Goblet of Fire & Order of the Phoenix (GoF & OotP for those of you as obsessed as I am) have been returned. I loaned them to a lady in the rental office months ago and finally asked after them yesterday. I'm seriously going to have to rethink my borrowing system, or start charging fines like the library. But anyway, I can get started on OotP for the third (or is it fourth) time and get back to hunting for clues. I'm pathetic.

It's a damn good thing I don't have a bad back, because I'm pretty sure I'd have thrown it out several times in the last few days. Our landlord apparently doesn't believe in salting sidewalks or the parking lot, so there have been some rather painful and unnatural movements on my part. I've taken to kind of rocking from side to side as I take tiny little baby steps, because it seems to work for penguins. Although today I found myself shouting "Son of a bitch!" on my dinner break as I tried to make it to the building. Serious back and knee twistage, but I remained upright.

*BURN UPDATE* It's plotting against me with the scar on my shin.



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I keep forgetting about that article I wrote and said I'd post up here, but I finally remembered tonight, so here you go...It's not much, but it's mine. And the Courier's.



History und sausage

Learn about the life of James Thurber, then grab a bite to eat in German Village



By DANIELLE HAUS

ASSISTANT WIRE EDITOR





From the outside, the Thurber House at 77 Jefferson Ave. in Co­lumbus looks like most any other carefully restored home.

In fact, even with my mom, my aunt and myself looking for the former home of author James Thurber, we almost had to take a second lap around the circular road.

Inside there was a museum-like aura, but that was probably due to the near-silence in the building, because this is not your typical historical site.

No plastic runners to follow, no docents "asking" visitors not to touch anything, no velvet ropes keeping visitors out of rooms — the Thurber family wanted the house to be a com­fortable place to visit and work.

The house (which is reported­ly haunted) has been restored to reflect the period when the Thurber family lived there (1913-1917), and even the wall­paper designs have been duplicat­ed. Some rooms do double duty, like the dining room/gift shop or a bedroom/staff office, but peri­od pieces or memorabilia can al­ways be found, and Thurber-like drawings abound.

Six days a week, tours are self-guided with the aid of a laminat­ed brochure, and you can roam the rooms at leisure getting a close-up view of any little thing that catches your eye. On Sundays, tours are given by a staff member.

If you don’t want to cart the brochure around, outside the rooms there are small plaques with a drawing and a brief des­cription of the room. Inside the rooms a more detailed descrip­tion is available.

We started off by wandering through the comfortable parlor — "suitable for reading and light conversation" according to the plaque — and the living room, and then headed upstairs. We checked out the area at the top of the stairs, where we found, among other items, an antique dress and pair of very small, pointy shoes.

We laughed quietly at the size of the shoes, because we still couldn’t shake the be-quiet-you’re-in-a-museum feeling. That didn’t last too much longer though.

After looking at some Ohio State sports pictures in one of the bedrooms and a showcase of memorabilia in another bedroom, my companions browsed through the Thurber family pictures down the wall of the hallway, dis­cussing how they would make over Mame Thurber, James’ mother.

We looked through James’ bedroom, making sure to find him in the fraternity picture, and even peered into the closets. We were amused to find the scrawled signatures of (we assumed) past visitors.

One even claimed to have been "Thurbered."

After peeking into the bath­room where Thurber once hid from a ghost, we made our way downstairs into the dining room/gift shop. I listened for the ghostly footsteps that allegedly go around the kitchen table and then run up the stairs, but sadly I heard nothing.

After one more look at the liv­ing room, we left the quietness of the Thurber House for the hubbub of the original Schmidt’s Restaurant und Sausage Haus in German Village.

Schmidt’s, located in a former livery stable, has been around since 1886. They offer an original line of German and American food and drink, including Ger­man and micro brews.

We were seated in the room where the German Autobahn Buffet is located, and after squeezing between the tables we had a nice view down Kossuth Street. The restaurant was quite full, and as much as I tried not to listen, I heard many snippets of conversations from other tables.

This is definitely not the place for a clandestine meeting.

Despite the impression my last name may give, I am totally unfa­miliar with most German foods. I played it safe and ordered the Ba­hama Mama sandwich with pota­to pancakes, while my mom and aunt went for the honey roasted turkey Reuben.

After very little debate, the three of us decided to split one of Schmidt’s famous jumbo cream puffs.

A word to the wise — if you can’t handle spicy food, I’d try the "Milder Mama." I did my best, but I just couldn’t finish the sandwich. The turkey Reubens are fantastic, or so I’m told, and the cream puffs alone may be worth the drive.

I had been staring out the win­dow at Schmidt’s Fudge Haus und Gifts all through lunch, and my placemat told me to go see fudge being made, so we careful­ly made our way across the street — sleet had made for a slippery road that day.

The Fudge Haus is filled to the brim with candy, gifts and annoy­ing items that say "Try me" and make a lot of noise when you do. The guy behind the counter (Daniel) greeted us with a cheery "Hello," and I made a beeline for the fudge-making area. Alas, no one was there.

According to Daniel, things are a bit slow this time of year. He assured me, however, that the daily fudge making would re­sume in February.

After exploring the store, we made our purchases. The store apparently is frequented by Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel, so I made sure to get a "Tressel Truffle" for my dad.

If you plan on using a credit card, make sure you have a min­imum of $10 worth of goodies.

Our next stop was The Red Stable, back towards Schmidt’s. I would have liked to have spent more time browsing through this little shop, but the weather was getting worse so we only did a quick walk-through. There are all kinds of little antiques, trinkets, steins and more.

I got the feeling that you may never know what you’ll find at The Red Stable.

Schmidt’s Restaurant und Sau­sage Haus is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Satur­day.

Hours for Schmidt’s Fudge Haus have been shortened for the winter. Saturday is your best bet for a visit. Their hours should be expanding in the next few weeks.

The Red Stable is open from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.



*BURN UPDATE* It's very angry today.



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Has it really been a week? What a bad seed I am! And nothing exciting has happened, so I have no excuse.

We went down to the Pammer & the Papa's house Saturday. Watched the tape of the previously mentioned ex-step-cousin on Maury. Lovely.

Also got to see our little Rusty! He's such a sweet little thing! Dad and mom say it's all an act, but I don't believe them. SO wish we could bring him up now!

Those nasty little pounds did leave, and they did take a couple of their friends with them, so I'll keep pluggin' along for now. If we go out for Valentine's Day though, I may have to splurge a little and have some chocolate cake or something.

*BURN UPDATE* It's cold and has goosebumps.

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Damn you Mother Nature! Who do you think you are, covering Findlay in snow? Don't you know my husband has to get up early and drive to work? The nerve.

Did A1 almost on my own today; I think I'm getting better. You'd have to ask Ted whether I really am or not.

How about a big woo-hoo to "Lord of the Rings" for winning four Golden Globes! Best drama, Peter Jackson won best director, and two musical awards.

How about another big woo-hoo to Cleveland Heights, whose domestic partner registry begins today! I know it's not legal, and it's not the first, but still! It could help late on down the line. Take that Bob Taft!

So I lost two pounds, and then I got PMS and they came back. They're on their way back out though, and they'd damn better take a bunch of their friends with them!!! About 50 of their friends, and then I'd be happy. But just a couple for now would be good.

Sorry, I'm all hopped up for some reason. And I'm having trouble typing, so I'm going away now. I've screwed up about every other word so far, and I just can't take it anymore.

*BURN UPDATE* It hates the snow.



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Wow, I just updated the site, read a bunch of blogs, checked my e-mail, and it's not even 1:30 yet (although it will be past 1:30 by the time this is posted). It feels like I've been sitting here all night.

Have you ever been so full of love for your friends that you just want to call them and tell them how extraordinary they are? I get these moods of sentimentality extreme, and I'm having one tonight. I'm a pretty sappy, sensitive person, but these moods are ridiculous. Oh well, it'll pass. Then I'll be back to the nice but cynical midget that I am.

I have been informed that Mr. Hat is only needed if the entire class gets an A on a test. This means that Mr. Hat will most likely never be needed, but I'm going to make him anyway.

I went to the mall to get some new foundation because I'm almost out, and I need a new shade. The one I've been using is the same tone I used the day of my wedding when I was TAN, and as most people know I am PALE. Somebody at the Clinique counter last time thought it was a good match, and I didn't realize until the next day when I put on my makeup how bad it was. Anyway, the woman there today fixed me up with a good shade. She probably took my makeup off and tried a different color three or four times to find a good one. I've never had anyone be so diligent in helping me. It's probably a little bit because there weren't any other customers, but that's OK. The nicest part, though, was we stood there and talked like old friends for a very long time. She used to work at the Courier in the advertising department, and once she said that it was like the floodgates opened. It was kind of cool. The most pleasant experience I've had at a cosmetics counter.

However, then I stopped at GNC there in the mall, and that guy was an ass. I felt like he thought I was going to steal the box of Atkins bars and other stuff that I wanted to get. I almost told him that I wasn't going to get anything at his store because of his eyeing me. Oh well.

*BURN UPDATE* It's staring at me.


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Damn that man! No, not the man, that man, Dave. He sprayed catnip spray on one of the cat toys and then went to bed, leaving me to deal with the psychotic aftermath.

I have so many things I'd like to babble about, but I can't seem to decide. Maybe I'll just try to be brief and get them all in.

First, did anyone happen to watch the Maury Povich show on Monday? If you did, then you saw my ex-step-cousin. How, uh, special is that? All I'm gonna say is: it was a paternity test show.

I finished that travel story, and I'm pretty proud of myself. I know that sounds conceited, but I'm an editor, not a writer (because I hate writing) so I thought I did a decent job. I've written a guest column before, but that is so different from a real story. Especially because the column was about Harry Potter, which I adore, and personal, so it was kind of easy to write. If you'd like to read the column, click here. The travel story won't be online, but maybe I'll stick it on here in case anyone wants to read it.

You know one of the things I hate about life? How you can't keep track of some of the people you really want to keep track of, but others just won't frigging go away.

Know what else I hate? The way some politicians make their own prejudices into law. It seems that everybody in the state and local government is in a rush to ban/outlaw gay marriage. Who the hell do they think they are? They don't have any fucking right to decide who's allowed to get married. Not to mention there's this thing called equal rights. I hate to break it to them, but the divorce rate would go down if gay people were allowed to get married. Children of gay marriages would have two loving parents, which everyone is so worried about. It would put us one step closer to actually being a society of equality. I could go on, but I won't. I'm getting too hopped up. This will probably irritate my Republican friends, but depending on who ends up winning the primary, I just may vote Democrat in November. I've got some research to do.

On a lighter note, I'm going to try and make Dave a Mr. Hat puppet (from South Park for those saying what the hell is a Mr. Hat?). I guess he told one of his classes that if they all did well on their next test he'd teach using Mr. Hand one day. I asked where he was going to get said Mr. Hand, and he said he guessed he'd have to try and make one. Since I'm the crafty one, I figure I'll try to make it for him. I'm thinking he'll mainly be made of felt, but we'll see. If he turns out looking anything like Mr. Hat, I'll put a picture on the sight.

And, finally, I love rediscovering CDs. At this very moment I'm listening to a Clay Walker CD that I haven't listened to in years. "Rumor Has It," to be specific. I may throw the other two in later, or I may just keep this one going the whole time. It makes me think of Jen.

*BURN UPDATE* Still there on my scaly dry skin.



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Well dammit, I'm not supposed to put a link in my little blurb! Not fair! Maybe I'll just start putting the site at the end of my stupid ramblings.




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Whew! I can finally refer to the surprise party for the Pammer! I've had to avoid any mention of the birthday so as not to slip up, but I made it! Woo-hoo!

There was a little soiree for my momma's 50th birthday Friday, and boy did we trick her! (Or so she says, anyway) I talked to her right before I "went to work" Friday, then we booked it down to Worthington a bit later. She was a surprised Pammer! She thought Dave and I weren't coming down until Saturday, but we LIED! Mwahahahahahaha!

Saturday Pammer and my Aunt Nancy and I went to the Thurber House in Columbus. Damn if it wasn't boring. No guide for us, just laminated brochures. And the ghost didn't make any noise, either. What the hell am I going to write about? I just don't know. Maybe I'll include the bit about the Kroninger sisters wanting to give James Thurber's mother, Mame, a makeover. Anyway, after the house, we had lunch at the original Schmidt's German restaurant. I had a very spicy Bahama Mama and some tasty potato pancakes, and then the three of us split one of Schmidt's famous cream puffs, and I now know why they're famous - they're damn good!

After lunch we went to the Fudge Haus und gifts (or something like that, I can only remember the "und gifts"), and a little shop called The Red Stable, and then ran away from German Village because the weather was getting nasty.

So, all in all a fun day, but only because of the company. I did get some kick-ass fudge though.

Finished "Lord of the Rings." As I told Sean at work, it's one of the few books with a satisfying ending. It seems like there's always one little loose end that never gets tied up. Like Sean said, "What about that guy that was hanging off the edge of the cliff in Chapter 4? What happened to him?"

Mojo would like you to know he just took a big poop. At least I think that's what he wants. He ran in here from the litter box yowling at me, so I can only assume he wants you to know.

Anyhoo, chances are pretty good that Dave is going to get a two-year contract to teach distance learning classes at BGSU, so as soon as we know for sure, we're going to look for a house to rent somewheres around here so we can get a ... puppy! We're going to take one of my parents' puppies, although by the time we would get to bring him up here, I don't think he'd be a puppy anymore. That's OK though, we'll just go down and see him lots and lots. I'll put some pictures up sometime in the next few days.

BTW, I've been meaning to put a link to the site up in the happy little blurb, and I just noticed MB did that in her blurb. So I just want to say I'm not a copycat, I swear!

Spellcheck wanted to change Kroninger to corniness ... if you know my mom and/or aunt, you'll know why that's so damn amusing!

*BURN UPDATE* Still there.

I'll start the way I ended the last one: Fat Mojo is demanding attention. Daddy apparently has been asleep for more than an hour so there's been no belly rubs for the big-eyed boy. Damn but he's a crybaby!

So I did A1 today, with much help from Ted, and I am not a happy camper. I know it'll get better, but it gave me a headache today. My computer crashing didn't help things, either. P.O.S.

Ah, but I have the Mojo to make me laugh. Every time he gets done using the litter box he dashes out into the living room like he's gotta get away from the deposit he just made. Just now he had some trouble making it over the pile of shoes by the door, poor boy. Oh, and he yowls very loud once he makes it to the living room, I guess to announce what he's done. What can I say, stupid things amuse me.

Like how I noticed there's a bottle of white-out in the bathroom. Why? I honestly don't know. I'm thinking it got picked up with some other little bottles (nail strengthener, eye drops) that belong in the bathroom. I just don't know, but I found it pretty funny last night.

I got to see Jen for a bit Saturday, woo-hoo!! First Dave and I went to the GFAPA (Greater Findlay Area Press Association) Christmas in January dinner, then Jen got there and we headed home - with Jen of course. We babbled a little, I showed off some of my lame-ass crafts, and we played Simpson's Road Rage. Good times.

I'll be heading down to Columbus this weekend to do a travel story for work, since most of the reporters won't do one. Notable exceptions: Joy and John, thank God for them! See, we have a travel page on Saturdays, and the reporters are supposed to take happy little day trips around Ohio and write about them. Gas, food, admission, all paid for, plus a day out of the office. Who the hell wouldn't want to do this?

And guess what? This has nothing to do with the traveling, but I'm going to enter some headlines in the Ohio AP contest. I had a few I was pretty damn proud of last year, so what the hell, right?

Gots to go read "Return of the King." I'm almost done, and then I can turn my attention to my sewing endeavors. For some reason, when I'm reading something I've never read before, I can't focus on anything else leisure-wise until I'm done with the book. I'm nuts.

FYI, spellcheck wants to change Findlay to fondle, and Mojo to moos (the Mojo change would be appropriate).

*BURN UPDATE* Yuppers, still there.

Damn, it's no wonder I have to take a sinus pill every day. My poor body doesn't know whether it's coming or going what with the drastic temperature changes between my apartment and the newsroom! I am currently freezing my ass off, but just an hour and a half ago I was in the oven/sauna known as the Courier. Bleh.

Just got done making some minor changes to the Web site, and now I want to make major changes, but that will have to wait for another day. I need to do some outside work first.

I'm learning how to jump stories from A1 this week. My biggest concern, though, is when I actually have to choose what stories go out front. Local stories won't be a problem, because Jim & Kurt will tell me what I'm getting. It's the nation & world that concerns me! I'm pretty sure my opinion of what's important isn't the same as a lot of other people's opinions. Again I say bleh.

Fat Mojo is demanding attention, and I'm the only one awake, so I must go now.

*BURN UPDATE* I'm pretty sure my last observation was a combination of poor lighting and imagination, because it's back to being pretty clear. Stupid thing.

As nice as it's been to have an extra day off the last two weeks, there is one good thing about the holidays being over...I may actually know what day it is at some point in the coming week. I'm not making any promises, but it could happen.

I am currently reading "Lord of the Rings" and I must say, it's pretty damn good. So far the movie seems to have stuck to the book for the most part, but Scott says that will change. That's OK though. Not everything in a book works on film.

I'm trying to get myself psyched up again to try my hand at making the Barbie doll dresses. I'm going to have to go wander through eBay again and tell myself, "You could do so much better!" Then I'll sell my stuff on eBay and get some extra money to buy the Arwen & Aragorn Barbie gift set. Or I could make sure Dave orders it now for my birthday, and use that extra money for some other frivolous thing. We'll see...it all depends on if I actually get motivated!

I have some other crafty ideas, but I'm keeping them to myself until I do something about it...so you may never hear of this again!

*BURN UPDATE* Pink line is still there. It may be my imagination, or poor lighting, but it looks slightly fainter.

Just read MB's blog, and I'm so glad to know I'm not a freak, because I too cried while watching "Return of the King." There were a few parts that got me, but I think the main one was when...oh, maybe I shouldn't say, in case people haven't seen it yet. I'll just say it's toward the end and involves Frodo. I haven't read the books, so I had no idea what was going to happen. We rented "Fellowship of the Ring" and "Two Towers" last week, and I had to know what happened, so we went to the movies on Christmas. Plus, I wanted to see Aragorn on the big screen... And one of the previews was for "Prisoner of Azkaban," so it was a kick-ass evening.

We had a very nice Christmas, aside from the migraine Santa brought me on Christmas Eve. As soon as we got to my grandparents' house I had to lie down with an ice pack on my forehead. Dave says I was in hiding for about two hours. I think I almost froze my left eye, but that's OK. I'm sending a big shout out to everyone who came in to check on me, and to myself for not puking on Grandpa & Ruth's bed.

On Christmas Day, we made our very first turkey, and it was go-od! Nothing like the one in "Christmas Vacation," which Dave was a little worried about. Sugar Puddin' started going nuts before it was even in the oven, which is always amusing. She got her little bit of Christmas turkey, and didn't even puke it up like she's been known to do when she eats meat too fast. Silly kitty!

One of the presents I got from "the cats" was Simpson's Road Rage for the gamecube. It's great, because you're supposed to drive like you're drunk! Sometimes you get a bonus if you destroy enough stuff, and they say some hi-larious things when you crash or run over people. Imagine Homer saying "I'm not a very good driver" in a low voice or shouting "I have no insurance!" or Mayor Quimby saying "You drive worse than cousin Teddy!" (For those of you who aren't familiar with the Simpsons, Quimby sounds very Kennedy-esque) We've been cracking ourselves up since Thursday.

That's all for now. Buh-bye!

*BURN UPDATE* Yup, still there.