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Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
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10:27 pm - Xmas tree
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I think I may have got just a little overboard on the xmas tree, lol. Its huge. :-D
I'll post more pics once the decorating and such is done.
current mood:  excited
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| Sunday, November 29th, 2009
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10:35 am - Book Reviews
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So I've been reading a lot lately and just wanted to give a review of what I've read:
Crown of Stars by Kate Elliot:
This 7 book series was definitely worth a read. The characters were well developed and it held your attention for the entire series. The magic/astrology connection was different from the traditional views of magic in a fantasy series. A fun set of books.
The Hythrun Chronicles by Jennifer Fallon:
The Demon Child Trilogy:
The characters in this series were great. There were never any "good" or "bad" guys (well there were some bad guys but the good guys weren't perfect). I didn't feel like the ending was enough. I felt like it just ended without bringing everything to a close. Maybe she'll return to this world in some other books.
The Wolfblade Trilogy:
I really like the story behind these books. And, even though they were a prequel to the Demon Child, the plot was still interesting. You weren't sure how the characters were going to end up in their rightful spots. I loved the way the book filled you in on the past of some of the characters. It really connected you back to the third book in the Demon Child. I felt like going back and reading it so I could finish making all the connections.
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb:
These were really good. When I first started reading, the 'flowery' language I thought would be a problem. But it definitely wasn't. The book is told from the point of view of an old man talking about his childhood. You really get into the book and see the language and the way it is written is really a part of the character himself. Although it took the main character a little longer than I would have liked to figure out some of the plot twists, it was a really great read.
Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson:
Awesome! These books really were great. I'm really happy that this author was picked to help finish the Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan passed away. These books were so different from what you expect in a traditional fantasy series. The way "magic" is done is wonderfully creative. This is one of the only series of books I've ever read that I felt truly satisfied in the ending. And nothing turned out the way I thought it would. Every time I thought I had it all figured out...I didn't. And the author never just threw a twist in there to trick you. Everything was laid out from the beginning. I almost feel like I should have been able to figure it out. But then, what's the fun in that? :-) Amazing books. Best I've read in a long time.
BTW....just as a rule of thumb, don't read the back of the books. I stopped doing it a long time ago. I don't read the back until I finished the book. I'm not sure if it goes for all books, but definitely fantasy. They give away plot. I hate to read something on the back of a book that doesn't happen until 4 or 5 chapters in. I realize they have to tell you something on the back to get you to buy the book, but I hate that. Mistborn was really bad. It had some plot stuff that you really didn't "know" until near the end of the first book. Argh.
So those are the books I've read over the last year. The last two trilogies were so good, I read both of them in the last month. I've decided not to buy any books that the series is not complete. I hate waiting on books. You can't fault an author for taking his time and writing it to its best, but damn it can be a long wait. I'm currently waiting on Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (I know, he died...not really his fault the series isn't done) and Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin. That guy is the slowest writer on the planet, but damn he's good. Maybe if the HBO series comes out for SoIaF it was tide me over for a bit. Anyway, that leaves me out of books again. I'll probably go back and read some stuff by Brandon Sanderson and Robin Hobb. I was impressed with them.
Hmmm...anything else...Holidays have been ok so far. Thanksgiving food was great, need a break from my family now though. Being single at the holidays sucks though. Makes you miss stuff. Decorating the house is going ok. I'll do some more of that this week. I've just got to get through today and I'll have 5 days off. I have to use up my vacation time, so I'm only working 10 days in December. Hopefully that will give me lots of time to work on the basement.
All and all, life is good. Work is good, house is good. Planning for the future and saving $$. Its a strange thing...in a little over a year I've gotten a pretty big promotion, bought a house, paid off my car, put probably $4k of work into the house (including a fence), and completely torn down everything that was in the basement... So why does it feel like I haven't really gotten anything accomplished? *sigh*
current mood:  thoughtful
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| Thursday, November 26th, 2009
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10:42 pm - Turkey day
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*yawn* I'm beat. Mom came over yesterday and we cooked most of the day. Then I had a migraine last night. Then we cooked again all day today. Dinner turned out well even if it was late. I didn't think the turkey was ever going to get done. But all was well and I'm stuffed.
current mood:  exhausted
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| Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
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1:32 am - Melting Pot
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Mom and I went to the Melting Pot for ladies night. It was really fun. Mom had never been, so it was all new for her. Alex waited on us, which was really neat. Mom hasn't seen her since she was 12 years old, lol. That was all, nothing too neat.
Time change sucks...
current mood: tired
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1:19 am - Halloween
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1:18 am - Mandie's Birthday
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So my little cousin turned 21. Wow, that makes me feel old. Anyway, I took her out for drinks. It was a lot of fun. I felt bad because she was really sick the next day. :-/ Oh well...I guess you're supposed to be, lol.
Here's me a Mandie (she's in the middle next to me) and a couple of her friends:
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| Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
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10:01 pm - And finally...the basement
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9:45 pm - Ladies night
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9:27 pm - Hair
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Haven't had a chance to post, but I got my hair cut a couple of weeks ago. Its definitely different.
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| Thursday, July 16th, 2009
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10:26 am - Mom
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Got the first of mom's surgeries out of the way. The gallbladder has been removed. She's uncomfortable, but she seems to be doing pretty well. Hopefully she'll heal quickly for this one and be ready for the next one. *yawn* Its my version on monday at work and its already been a really long week. Maybe next week I can have some fun time.
current mood: sleepy
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| Monday, July 6th, 2009
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11:08 pm - More medical stuff...
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So I took mom to see the surgeon today. The gallbladder will come out next tuesday. She doesn't even have to stay in the hospital overnight. The surgery will take less than an hour and then they have to monitor her for 2 hours and I can take her home. I got it on my day off so dad doesn't have to take time off work for it. At least that's all set up.
The mamogram is more complicated than that. They think one of her implants has ruptured. So...she's going to need to have them replaced. First that sucks because that's a really major surgery that requires them to cut open her chest muscles. And second it sucks because health insurance doesn't pay for it. Yikes. But that will all be dealt with after the gallbladder is gone.
So yeah...that's been crazy. I ordered books for mom and I to read. I hope they hurry and get here.
Also been trying to eat healthy. We've been doing it two weeks. I feel better and I've lost 5 pounds, which is always nice.
Argh...its trash night. I've got to go clean the cat box and get my brother to set out the trash. Then, I'm settling down with a book and chilling out.
current mood:  busy
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| Monday, June 29th, 2009
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2:26 am - No pictures yet...
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My home PC that has all of my pics on it won't connect to the internet current because it hates my wireless card. And my work PC has decided not to talk to USB devices anymore. So...that's kinda been an ongoing problem.
The lights are done! And they work. We have successfully put up and wired 14 recessed lights with three different switches. I am very proud of my wiring job, especially the three-way switch. :-) Next up is finishing the outlets and tearing up the bathroom. *sigh*
I haven't had too much time to work on it lately because mom is having a bunch of medical issues. And since she doesn't drive...I get to take her to all of this. Which is really better anyway because I get to make sure she tells them everything and understands what they're telling her. Looks like she needs her gall bladder out, which should happen in the next week or so. Hopefully we can get it on a monday so I have a few days off to make sure she's ok. Its supposed to be realitively minor, but surgery always sucks. And to top it off, while we're trying to schedule all of that, her mamogram comes back abnormal. So they want to do a breast MRI. I think its probably just a smudge on the mamo, but its better to be safe. We don't have any breast cancer or any of that in our family. And she has implants so that makes it hard for them to get a good mamogram. Anyway, I'm sure there will be new developements on that next week. For now...
Its my weekend! And there are lights in my basement. :-)
current mood: accomplished
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| Sunday, April 26th, 2009
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10:25 am - Haven't posted in a while...
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I guess I haven't posted in a while because its still same old same old...
I'm working thursday-sunday 10 hours days and I'm able to do my weekends from home which is really really cool. The only down side is not having weekends off like most of my friends do. I don't get to see my friends very often anymore. I miss them all.
Let's see...we're still working away on the basement. Christopher will be out of school in two weeks and that will speed things along. We've still got a couple of walls to tear down before we can have the heat installed. So we're in the tearing apart phase. Lol
Tear down walls, install heat, frame room, run electricity, put up lights, drywall, then floor. Also cabinets, sink, and bathroom stuff. *sigh* We haven't gotten very far. Hopefully soon though. I'll try and post some pics.
current mood:  determined
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| Saturday, January 24th, 2009
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10:07 am - Stimulating the economy
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The house is going good right now. :-)
I'm doing my part to stilmulate the economy.
I bought a washer and dryer. (My dryer didn't survive the move)
I just had my fence put up. I'm really excited about that. The dog is too, lol.
I'm having someone come out on monday to give me a quote on putting stairs on the deck (so I can actually let the dog out from upstairs without going through the basement)
Then, once tax returns are in, we're going to work on finishing the basement. We have to run electrical, install a sink and cabinets, put up dry wall, paint, and put down flooring. Its going to be really awesome when we get done. :-)
Other than that...not much new. Birthday is soon...god I'm old. Lol
current mood: optimistic
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| Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
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10:40 am - House!
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I'm in.
This week has been completely crazy.
Monday, I closed on the house. Then we went over and painted my new bedroom. It took FOREVER. I hate painting. We got the primer on and one coat of paint. We changed the locks on the doors and really made the house mine. :-)
Tuesday, we painted again. We got the second coat of paint on the house. I was so tired by the time it was all said and done.
Wednesday was moving day. OMG!!! It was horrible. I should have hired movers. We moved stuff until 2am. I spent my first night over there.
Thursday we moved stuff again. We moved all day. We finally have everything over at the new house and put together my bed.
Friday, because IBM is awesome, I got the day off. So I worked on unpacking and making a list of all the things I need for the new place. There's so much to do! *yawn*
And I'm back at work today. IT's cold!!! Walking the dog in the cold sucks. At least he does it quick. The animals are starting to adjust. I hope they behave themselves today. I've got 5 millions things to do and tons of stuff I have to buy. And thanksgiving is next week. *sigh* Monday Trenton and I are going to get the old house cleaned up and ready to turn over to the land lord. That's going to suck. Trenton gets to do that part.
I'm ready to never see that old house again. Not that it wasn't a good little house, but it had so many problems. The landlord never does any upkeep on the place at all, so he's just let it pretty much fall apart.
The new house is great though. It's a little farther away from everything, but that's not a big deal. I'm ready to be unpacked and set up and everything. I'm sure it'll all be done soon enough.
Thanksgiving is next week. I have to decide what all I'm going to fix. I'll either do the turkey or the dressing and mom will do the other. Then I'll make a couple of desserts. Mmmm...
I guess that's all that's new. I'm ready for things to settle down. That probably won't happen until after the holidays.
current mood: busy
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| Saturday, October 18th, 2008
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10:06 am - House, Job, and stuff...
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I bought a house! Well...I'm under contract on one anyway. We should close November 17th. I've got my home inspection and signing papers at the bank on monday. All those who owe me a move (and you know who you are...) will be getting a phone call. ;-)
New job starts a week from tuesday. I wish it would hurry...I need the $$.
I'm trying to get my rental house ready for the landlord to come and look at it. I'm going to give him written notice the first of november. I've got a lot to do before then.
Here's a pic of the new house! The purple shutters must go. I'm thinking maybe a navy blue...
current mood: busy
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| Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
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10:35 am - House jobs and more
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I put in an offer on a house today. Yikes!
We'll see how it goes. *crosses fingers* If it all goes through correctly, we should close before thanksgiving.
I start my new job (which is really the same just just getting paid more) on OCtober 28th.
current mood:  anxious
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| Sunday, August 17th, 2008
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10:12 am - All kinds of craziness...
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So...over the last couple of weeks I've had a rollercoaster of ups and downs.
I went to see a mortgage agent. I wanted to see if I could have my credit put together and be ready to buy a house sometime in the next year. I've worked really hard on getting my credit back into shape from being out of work a couple of years ago....
But anyway, I went in to talk to a mortgage agent at my bank and she said I was good to go. She said my credit is fine and I could start looking for a house anytime I wanted to. Woah... :-) So I was super excited. I talked to a real estate agent and had her start looking for things in my price range.
Christopher is talking about moving in with me and living in my basement while he's finishing up college. That would be kinda cool.
Then two days later I took my car in for a checkup. It had been running a little funny and I thought I might catch a little problem before it became a big problem. I didn't like the dealership I was having work on it, so I tried somewhere new. So...the idling motor was apparently broken and they replaced it for $500. Argh. So money is a little tight and that's just the way it goes. But my car was running better than when I bought it. So I was in pretty good spirits.
So Christopher and I go looking at a house. Damn he's picky. He has all these requirements for what he wants to basement to be like. Argh. Lol. So that was a little frustrating, but we'll keep looking.
From there I had to go help a friend that lives out in the middle of nowhere. Her husband was killed in a car accident 3 years ago. Well she's finally gotten his old things out of storage and has been going through them. So I went out to help her. I drove 45 minutes out to Jefferson. On the way up there my car started acting really strange and my check engine light came on. :-( So I leave my mechanic an angry message and spend the day going through old boxes of memories.
Her brother has one of those computers you can hook to the car and see what the check engine light is upset about. So it tells me the "Throttle position sensor and the MAP sensor do not agree" Ummm...ok. He resets the check engine light and I head for home.
On the ride home, the car overheats. WTF??? So I'm upset and angry. I let the car cool off for a while until I can drive it the rest of the way to my parents house. I'm mad. But I have to work the next morning, so I leave my car at my parents house and take christopher's car since he's not back in school yet.
I go to work...do a bunch of research on the two sensors. They don't seem to have anything to do with a car overheating.
So wednesday morning I go drop my car off at the mechanic again. I put water in the car to hopefully keep it from overheating long enough to get to the dodge place. I start my drive up there and when I stop at a red light the car dies. It takes a couple of times but I get it started again. And every time I slow to a stop, it dies again. But the time I get to the car place my nerves are shot and I'm upset and angry. So Trenton come to pick me up from the car place and we go home and sleep. The guy with the dealership calls and tells me that the throttle positioning sensor needs to be replaced. Ok...I researched that. I kinda thought it would. Now...it's a $37 part and takes 2 screws to replace it. 2 minutes...maybe. I ask how much...they want $210 to replace it!!!! WTF!!! So I'm already mad. Then they tell me I have a cracked radiator. Well the radiator was working just fine until they worked on the car. They want $750 to replace that. And they said they think something in the engine is causing the radiator problems, so even if they replace it, they don't think it'll be fixed. I'm like hell no. Put it back together and I'll come and get it. So now I'm really mad. They're trying to screw me and the car is falling apart. I still owe $4500 on that car. I already had to put $2200 in it last year to get the engine head replaced.
So luckily Trenton has AAA and we had them tow the car back to my house. So there it sits...dead in my driveway. I bought the damn sensor thing, but haven't had a chance to put it in yet to see if its going to run. *sigh* So...I decided I'm getting another car. Screw this one. I'll just eat the $4500 I still owe and have it rolled into my new payments. Argh. That completely screws up my plans. Now I'm probably going to have to push back the house buying until I can pay some on the new car and refinance. And I can't get the car I want because I have to buy something $4500 less that what I can afford because of the old payments. :-( Screwed.
But then...my boss tells me I'm getting a promotion!! Like a pretty big one. More pay, better benifits. Really awesome. I'm thrilled. But I won't know anything until next month about pay or specifics. That's going to make things tense at work. My coworkers are going to be jealous that I was just moved above them. I hope it doesn't cause too many problems. *sigh* So I have to use my vacation time with my old position before I start my new one or I'll lose them. So starting on the 30th, I'll have two weeks off. That should give me time to get a car.
So things have been crazy. Lots of good, lots of bad. Just crazy. So I'm going to be car hunting and getting ready for a new job. It's going to be stressful waiting to fine out the specifics. So yeah... that's what I've been up to.
current mood:  stressed
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| Thursday, February 28th, 2008
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11:39 am - Story time....
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So, Trenton and I took the animals to the park. Bowser loves the park. Seph was a little nervous, but he seemed to be doing really well. He seemed to be warming up to the idea of walking in the woods. Then...he saw a sewer pipe that drained from the storm drains out into the woods. He made a run for the drain. I tugged him back on his leash. but he'd already made it to the tunnel entrance and was just convinced he needed to get in there. So he turned around and backed out of his harness! He's never been able to get out of his harness before. So I scream for Trenton and he and the dog come running back over. And Trenton's like "Oh my God baby!".
So he gets down on his knees and looks into the drain. We can no longer see the cat. But we can hear him crying. So I call him. And Trenton calls him. And then he stops making noise. So Trenton tells me to take the dog home, get him a long sleeve shirt, a flashlight, and a pair of gloves. So I run home. I threw the dog in the house, grabbed two long sleeve shirts and gloves for Trenton. I grabbed two flashlights and head back tot he park. The whole time I'm been trying to call my brother to help, but his phone was turned off. So...I took a chance and drove by his house. Low and behold, he was there. So I run to the door and I'm like. "I need you, I lost the cat." So he drops what he's doing (being the wonderful brother he is) and comes back to the park with me.
We get back to the park. Trenton layers on his shirts and heads into the tunnel. This is not a big tunnel. He can't even get on his knees, he's having to wiggle through god knows what pulling himself with his feet and elbows. So he crawls a good 30-40 feet down this tunnel. And he sees the cat!!!
So he yells back to me that the cat is near a manhole and to see if I can figure out which one. So I run over to the nearest manhole. I yell down to Trenton, and he can hear me. He's like, "the cat's right here!". So I'm extremely relieved. I was really really scared that I had lost our cat. So...I try to get the manhole cover off the storm drain and I can't lift it. (Yes, I'm a terrible weakling.) So I look up and my brother is gone! I'm in a little bit of a panic at this point. Trenton is stuck in the storm drain and I can't get to my cat. So I"m yelling for my brother, and he can't hear me. I'm mildly freaking out at this point. Trenton's yelling at me to try and hurry and I'm yelling for Christopher. Trenton said there were hundreds of scarey looking spiders crawling all over the tunnel, and remember, he's basically pinned down and has very little range of motion in his arms.
You know how a scene in a movie when someone is lost or needs help and there is no one around...it kind of pans around the person and they are looking in every direction and can't find help.... That's exactly how this felt. It was weird. But finally my brother comes back. He had been looking for the other drainage pipe to see where it came out. He lifts the manhole cover off and climbs down. I'm really glad I brought my brother with me, not only could I not lift the manhole cover, but the ladder down was too far down for me to get to and I don't know if I could have gotten down, much less back up.
So now the cat is in a tunnel in between Trenton and Christopher. Trenton is trying to scare the cat toward christopher. Thsi takes a good 15-20 minutes. But finnally the cat is in christopher's hands and handed up to me to stick in the car. Trenton is able to climb out of the drain and we can all go home. He is covered from head to toe in mud. So when we get home he jumps in the shower. I checked him all over to make sure he wasn't spider bitten. I rinsed his clothes out in the sink to get the mud off before sticking them in the washmachine.Surprisingly enough, all the mud came out. Poor Trenton's elbows and knees are all bruised up. I told him he was the greatest man in the world for going in there after the cat.
So...needless to say... the cat is longer allowed to go to the park....
current mood: relieved
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| Monday, February 11th, 2008
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11:59 am - Birthday Stuff!
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So here's my birthday weekend....
First off Friday did not exactly go as planned. I was still kinda sick and had a flat tire on my way to work. But Trenton and Christopher came out and changed it for me when I got off work. It's unfortunately cost me $150 to get a new tire...but that's the way it goes I guess. We all went out to Maggianos after they changed my tire though. It was fun.
Saturday I met my Grandmom and Aunt at the mall of Georgia. We hot the sale at JCPenney and got some clothes and shoes. Then we had lunch at PF Changs.
Saturday night I went over to my parent's house and had dinner and cake. Mom bought one of the giant chocolate cakes from OCharleys. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all that cake!
Sunday Trenton took me to the botanical gardens. :-) It was fun. We took a lot of cool pictures. Then we went over to the new world of coke. That was fun too. I haven't been to the new one yet. Then we wandered around underground atlanta for a little while. From there we went out to eat at Fogo de Chao. That was really really cool. Expensive, but really cool. :-)
So now I'm at work. I'm tired from all my birthday excitement and I have another birthday party for Luke to go to tonight lol. Lots of February birthdays.
Other than that...things are pretty good. Keeping busy.
current mood: busy
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