Hi kids,

Haven't posted since last month, so thought I'd give you the skinny on what's been going on these past few weeks.

I suppose the biggest thing that I can talk about is my birthday, which was a little over a week ago. I had about 25 people at my party, which was way cool. Like I've had my past few birthdays, this one was at my favorite restaurant/lounge, and it was as fun as ever. This year (my 23rd birthday), I decided to be a bit more appreciative to those who came to my party. Thus, I bought some fabulous appetizers and spent some money on buying a nice cake.

I had a lot of people express their disapproval that I bought all these things--they'd rather have had my boyfriend make all the arrangements. But bless his heart, he doesn't make that much money, and even though he's a really smart guy, he's pretty retarded when it comes to things like this. And besides, at least I know that things would go the way I'd want them to if I planned things myself. :)

Earlier that day, I went to my massage therapist and had a fabulous 1-hour massage which got me all ready for the day. After my morning massage, I went and had lunch with one of my favorite co-workers. He's a straight boy, and he's really grouchy, and that's why I like him! *lol* We had a nice time, and he even bought me lunch, which was supr nice of him.

I went to dinner with my boyfriend and two former co-workers (a brother and sister--the brother is really hot and I'm not sure if he's entirely straight...). He bought me a lot of really thoughtful gifts as well as buying us all dinner. I totally adore the boy, and he's a real class act.

So after that, of course, was my party, and all was fun and well. :)

In other news, I just turned in my term paper for my music history class. If anybody wants to read it (ha!), message me and let me know. It's a pretty informative paper, if I do say so myself, and it's pretty good, too. I even included a CD so that my professor can listen to all the musical examples that I cite in the paper.

So I have a lot of knitting projects to do right now! Oh my gosh! I have to knit a scarf for my Mom, stepdad, school friend, and a co-worker! I don't know how I'm going to finish it all before Christmas! Ack! Here's some more exclamation marks!!!!!!

Since I have finals this coming week, I think after I'm done, I'm going to be a knitting freak. The scarf that I'm knitting my Mom is made out of a really fine yarn, so it takes longer to make it. I have to go out and buy the yarn for my stepdad's scarf as well as the others I mentioned. It's all a labor of love, and I hope that everybody is thrilled with what they get.

In some not-so-happy news, my boyfriend found out last night that his aunt died. She was a really wonderful lady that I wish I would have gotten the chance to know a little better--what I did know of her, though, I totally adored. She will be missed.

I hate to end it on a sad note, but that's about all I can think of right now. I hope you kids are being nice to one another and getting into the holiday spirit of joy and gladness, and I hope you all don't get caught up in the commercial B.S. that this time of year brings. Enjoy your friends, family, and loved ones, because you never know how long they're going to be around.

Michael