For the good wishes. For the lovely snowflakes decorating my profile page. Now the page looks like outdoors, as we're finally having our first snowstorm.

Dinner last Friday was lovely and I very much enjoyed the company. Not so much the noisy kids in the restaurant, though. Seriously, if your toddler spends his/her time screaming, please leave. These folks were finished dinner, too. And the grandmothers thought it was cute to let them run around the restaurant. A very busy restaurant with multiple Christmas gatherings happening.

Have not even started my cards for this year. This is good. It means if you forgot to give me your address, you're still in luck. Oh, who am I fooling? The darn things will probably not get mailed until about 3 days before Christmas! Anyone who missed my call for addresses can go here: http://sheryll.livejournal.com/163804.html Comments are screened, of course. Don't hesitate to leave an address, even if you're not sending cards my way. I just like to send something to brighten up everyone's day. If you want a card, please speak up.

We have to inventory the whole store this week. Yes, Christmas around the corner and we're counting stuff. Oh yay. NOT. Will be working 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday. I'm the on call Saturday night. Might consider homicide if someone calls in sick. :)

Treated myself to a Christmas present and bought the Wii Fit. Have all my presents bought except 1. Go me. Now to find a nice chunk of time, dig out wrapping paper and gift bags, pop in my Love Actually DVD and get them wrapped.

The tree is, of course, up and decorated. Three batches of cookies are made. Five more batches to go, I think. Should do another today while I have the day off. Not really going to feel like baking on Saturday if I get home around 4.

On Wednesday I celebrated 20 years sober. Or rather, forgot to celebrate 20 years sober. Thanks to zoepaleologa for inadvertantly reminding me of this.

Will celebrate with lots of good food tonight when we hit Carmello's for dinner. :D

for a private party. Didn't this happen to us before? In any event, I went ahead with the second suggestion and made reservations at Carmello's for 6 p.m.

It's easy to find the place, 300 Sparks. Entry is off Sparks, just west of Bank Street. Reservation is under my last name, in case anyone gets there before me.

Any questions, call my cell 262-4925

Well, yes, I know it is. The snow on the ground, the growing list of wishes I'm going to grant, the nearly complete holiday shopping and the pile of baking supplies in my kitchen all tell me that Christmas is coming faster than I can believe!

Some of you know how the wishlist idea works. For the benefit of those who don't these are the rules.

Step One
1. Make a post to your LJ. It should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. They can be anything at all, any size. Just make sure they're things you really want. If you wish for snow and I send you some, I don't want to hear the complaining as it melts on your floor. :D

2. Include contact information so Santa or his Elves can contact you. Doesn't help if there's a gift with your name on it and nowhere to send it. Especially if it's a food item. Elves will eat those if they sit too long!

3. Post some version of these quidelines. That way everyone understands how it works.

Step Two
1. Surf around your friends lists and see who's posted a list. Surf random journals. Join the holiday_wishes community.

Here's the important part:

2. If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. You don't have to spend anything beyond postage and remember that regifting is very welcome here. Something gathering dust on your shelf might be just the thing someone else is looking for!

3. As I said above, you don't have to spend money. Tbe idea isn't to put anyone out, it's to give you the chance to make someone else's holiday special. You can even grant wishes anonymously if you like. There are no guarantees with this project and no strings attached. Just wish, and it might come true. Give and you may receive. You'll have the joy of knowing you've made someone happy.

I also encourage you not to put your list behind an lj-cut. Sticking it out there in the open makes it much easier for someone else to see if they can do something to make your holiday special.


Without further ado: I want Alan Rickman for Christmas. Oh, wait, you want a serious list, something that's actually possible? Okay, here goes:

1. Handmade ornaments. With the exception of lights and tinsel, pretty much everything on my tree is handmade. It doesn't have to be something you made yourself, as long as someone crafted it lovingly by hand. Doesn't have to be new, either. I'm much in favour of regifting.

2. Yarn. Yeah, still not making much beyond scarves, but I donate all the extra ones to a local homeless shelter. Your scrap yarn could help keep someone warm during a cold Canadian winter.

3. Socks. One can never have too many socks. Anything except sports socks. Holiday designs most welcome. I work at a video store and some of the kids who come in regularly know I try to wear a different pair of Christmas socks for every day in December. Some of mine are old and wearing out. I wear a ladies 7-9. Or a size large will do.

4. BPAL. Yes, a popular wishlist item this year from what I've seen on other lists. Have an imp you didn't like? Pass it this way. Any gender neutral scents are good, too, as I share those with my husband. He's a big fan of Juke Joint, says the women at work follow him around when he wears it. :)

5. Books. That's pretty general, so I'll add that my current reading tends towards YA, fantasy and food essays. Reading about food is next best thing to eating. :D

6. Magazines. Looking for old Life magazines, pre-1985. Anything you can bear to part with.

7. Food/drink. No holiday is complete without treats. Any type of snack will do as long as it doesn't contain nuts, seeds or whole grains. It's a dietary restriction, not an allergy, so if something says it may contain traces of or have come in contact with nuts, that's okay. I can eat those. Chocolate is always good and if you send me Reese's Sticks I'd be eternally grateful (if they're still available in Canada it sure isn't anywhere near me). Have an unusual flavour of potato chip? I'll try it. Chocolate covered ants? Yeah, I'll try those, too! I'm up for pretty much anything. Coffee? Tea? Sure, have to have beverages with all the holiday baking I'm doing.

8. Candles. Any size, scent or colour. I love candles. Need I say more?

9 - the BIG request. Harry Potter Lego. Used if fine. Missing a few pieces if okay, too. Cost too much to send it? I'll help with the shipping if you've got PayPal.

10 - the EASY request. Snail mail. Holiday cards, postcards, anything that fits in my mailbox is most welcome.

Since I've never been shy about sticking my address out there, and it makes it easier for folks to surprise me, here it is:

Sheryll Townsend
1-3 Lowrey Street
Ottawa, ON
K1Y 2S5
Canada

A big shout-out to glowing_dragon, whose card and lovely bookmarks arrived before I'd even given much thought to a wishlist. Thanks so much! Already using the bookmarks. :)

*wanders into the kitchen to start the holiday baking*

Okay, I know you're interested. Are we going to Coasters or Carmellos? Should probably make a reservation. What time works for everyone? Is 5:30 too early? Would 6 be better?

Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? :D

Yes, 'tis that time of year once again. I have a lovely stack of cards just waiting for me to send them out into the world. If you want one to come your way, leave me your name and address. Don't assume I already have it, even if I did send you a card last year. While I may be the queen of multi-tasking and other things, I'm also the queen of procrastination and disorganisation.

All comments are screened to protect your dirty little secrets, um, privacy and addresses. :)

I shall now return to my annually scheduled 'tidy the dining room to make space for a Christmas tree so the cats can have something new to play with'.:D

41. Tattoo This Madness In - Daniel Allen Cox
Interesting look at teenage rebellion.

42. Inda - Sherwood Smith
Definitely page-turner. I love the detailed world she's created. I really need the next one in this series!

43. Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger - Lee Israel
Quite short, not as interesting as I expected it to be.

44. Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich
As always, a fun, quick read.

45. Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine
Third in the Morganville Vampires series. Why have I not got book 4 already lined up?

46. Undone - Rachel Caine
First in a new series. If you liked the Weather Warden series (which I loved), you'll find this equally good.

47. A Friend of the Family - Lisa Jewell
An odd houseguest helps a family work through their issues. This one was just, well, meh.

48. The Lightening Thief - Rick Riordan
Bringing mythology into the modern world, another one that I need to get the next book for!

49. Throne of Jade - Naomi Novik
Book 2 of the Temeraire series, Captain Laurence and Temeraire travel to China. Yet another series for which I don't have the next book! *sigh*

50. The Tender Bar - J.R. Moehringer
Fabulous memoir, great storytelling.

51. Gone to New York: Adventures in the City - Ian Frazier
Slices of life in the Big Apple.

52. Deadly Decisions Kathy Reichs
Another Temperance Brennan novel, with all the expected twists and turns.

OMG, I'm actually caught up! How on earth did that happen? I'm usually scrambling at the end of the year to get this all done. Oh, wait, considering I read some these over a month ago, I guess I'm staying true to form. :)

Okay local peoples, we need to start getting organised if we want to plan a gathering of some sort for December. Instead of leaving things to chance, I'm going to specifically book an evening off for this. Obviously, since I work in retail, it's going to have to be earlier in the month rather than later. My best suggestion is December 4th. That's 2 weeks away and it's a Friday, which should be decently convenient for everyone. I know josee_madalia has said that Fridays work well for her.

We've got 2 choices: 1) going out somewhere or 2) meeting at someone's house. Personally, I'd opt for #1. No fuss for anyone, no one has to cook or clean up, someone else can wait on us hand and foot. It's also not so close to Christmas that anyone is busy doing their last minute shopping.

If we opt to go out somewhere, any suggestions as to where? Being December, we're definitely going to need reservations. Somewhere relatively inexpensive would be ideal, as would a central location for those who bus. If we're going downtown, there's room in my driveway for a single vehicle (truck parked there now taking up the other space) if anyone prefers to leave a car here and bus into downtown, thereby avoiding finding parking on a Friday night.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Small exchange of gifts?

Oh, don't forget, if we decide to meet at someone's house, HBP comes out here on DVD on the 8th. That means I'll have a copy on the 4th if we want to watch that. I realise that may deter some from joining us (yes, wolfraven80, that means you) but we did promise to help you mock the film. :D

Apparently so, since we're resetting the store for the holidays. Lots of work. I put in close to 11 hours yesterday, I think. I know my manager said he was staying late. Considering the buses, he probably worked until around 4 this morning - a 15 hour day. Wonder how much was left for today's staff to do. Massive price changes are the worst part. That and resetting our confection. I stickered soooo much chocolate for the clearance bin yesterday! Should have thought to bring some home, too, but by then I just wanted to come home.

We have free passes to see Pirate Radio this evening, courtesy of Alliance. Yeah for them sending us passes. Andy and I are going out for dinner beforehand. Kind of a belated birthday evening out for him. I don't think he's had dinner out since we went to The Works in January!

Contemplating getting dressed and heading to the post office to pick up a parcel. I know it's books so I'm debating whether it'll be too heavy to carry home. I need one of those little wheelie things that people use for groceries. Then again, I'd have to drag that through the construction zone that is Wellington Street. Perhaps better off to struggle with carrying it. Curses to whomever it was who pointed me to bookcloseouts.com. I spend far too much money there. Hey, not my fault they keep having sales!

On the plus side, some of the books are Christmas gifts. That'll be 3 people done off my list, leaving me 9 more people to buy for. Hmmm, if I'm going downtown for dinner on Saturday, perhaps it'll be time to get a bit more shopping done. The sooner done, the better.

Have also been watching the price of airline tickets to San Antonio. Prices range anywhere from $350 to nearly $800. The only drawbacks to the lower priced tickets is that I'd have 2 stops each way instead of just one. That could be brutal. Also, for the most part the flights arrive very late in the evening. Still, getting there in 8-9 hours is much better than the 48 that Greyhound takes. And the cheapest airline ticket is only $140 more than a bus ticket.

31. Movie Mavericks: Trivia from the Filmmaking Fringes - Jon Sandys
Fun to play with at work when things are slow. Some of us know the most obscure things about the movies on our shelves. :)

32. Are You Really Going to Eat That?: Reflections of a Culinary Thrill Seeker - Robb Walsh
Lots of good food writing, a few recipes included.

33. Thunderstruck - Erik Larson
Love this man's writing. Combines the story of Dr. Crippen with Marconi's story.

34. Heir Apparent - Vivian Vande Velde
Stuck in a video game and trying to stay alive until they can get her out.

35. A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray
Magic, suspense, girls with power!

36. The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963 - Christopher Paul Curtis
Well told story about growing up in the '60s.

37. The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine
Book Two of the Morganville Vampires series. Love these books!

38. Specials - Scott Westerfeld
Read this so I could finish the series. While I like the first book, this last one just didn't do it for me.

39. Best Friends - Martha Moody
Chick lit, follows two friends through their meeting in college and on into later life. It was okay.

40. The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History - Jim Piazza and Gail Kinn
Seems pretty complete to me. Well, aside from stopping in 2005, right before it was published. Lots of little lesser known tidbits. I know there's a spot somewhere in the book where I corrected something, but darned if I can find it now. :)

Much catching up to do. I'll break it over multiple posts to as not to have it one long list. :)

21. Ten Big Ones - Janet Evanovich
22. Eleven on Top - Janet Evanovich
23. Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich
24. Plum Lucky - Janet Evanovich
Fun to read, quick, light on crime, heavier on the drama.

25. Trading Up - Candace Bushnell
Decent chick lit

26. Blinded - Stephen White
Average crime drama

27. Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith
I loved this, even if I did want to give Mel a shake now and then. :)

28. Scarlett Slept Here: A Book Lover's Guide to the South - Joy Dickinson
Yeah, travel book. Obviously tying what you've read with where to go. It's pretty average, as travel books go.

29. Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit - Carole Nelson Douglas
Mystery and cats. Not bad.

30. Random Acts of Badness - Danny Bonaduce
Autobiography. Like watching a trainwreck on the page.

Now I can finally take this pile of books off the dining room table and put them away! :)

Yeah, that's a fairly accurate description.

Still have the cough, though it seems to be less severe at home than at work.

Totally horrid day at work yesterday. Got called an a*****e and told to f*** off by a customer. Oh yay, aren't I glad I work with the general public. Years ago I heard a comedienne say that it only takes 5 minutes of working with the general public to make you hate people. Some days I believe that. Yesterday was one of those days. Thankfully there was only 1 other customer in the store at the time. He's a regular, a pretty laid back kind of guy. He walked up to the cash and said, "Wow, he's got an attitude problem!". :)

Things went fairly well for a while after that. Got lots of tasking finished. My second staff person came in and he's a great worker, so we accomplished a lot. Then the guy from Pepsi came in. "Just need to chance the decals on your Pepsi fridge", he says. He removes the glass doors to the fridge, peels off the existing decals and proceeds to use what smells like industrial strength nail polish removed to take off the residual glue from the decals. Ummm.... nowhere in his "Hi, I'm from Pepsi" intro did he say "Oh, and I'll be filling your store with toxic fumes". Yeah, I'm chemically sensitive, buddy. Trust me, I'm making sure Pepsi gets a complaint on this one. The doors are small, you could have taken them outside to do this, it's not like our fridge is more than 20 feet from the door! It took about 5 minutes before I had a reaction to the fumes. I was sick enough to throw up, had to leave the front of the store multiple times, nearly passed out once and had to call my manager and ask him to come in early. NOT a fun afternoon. My second staff person is our health & safety rep. He doesn't understand why the guy didn't take the stuff outside. And because we had customers at our cashes, we didn't see what he was doing until it was too late.

Oh, and by the time he left he knew I was sick. And why. Never once apologised! No love for the Pepsi guy here. I have 2 days off and it'll take the better part of today before I recover from toxic fumes. *sigh*

to logospilgrim for the gentle prodding by email. Yes, I'm pretty darn slack about posting to LJ. Oh, I draft lovely posts in my head traveling home from work but they tend to fall by the wayside in favour dinner and movie once I get home.

Things I never posted:

- I broke my baby toe on my left foot a couple weeks ago. Fourth time for that toe. Probably because they never do anything for a broken baby toe, so it always just heals badly. Now I generally break every time I stub my toe. Same on the other foot. I think I've broken my baby toes 7 times in the last 20 years. I don't even go to the hospital anymore. All they do is tell you not to walk on it for a while. Did I even heed that advice this time? Hell no. I went to work about 3 hours after I did it and spent 8 hours straight walking on it. Doesn't seem to have hurt it any more than usual. :)

- The very same day, my bus driver got lost. Instead of backing up the 1/2 block (no there wasn't a lot of traffic) and making the appropriate turn, she took some convoluted route around something like 25 unnecessary blocks. When we got back to where we started she was facing the wrong and proceeded to start driving the route backwards, heading back to downtown. Needless to say, I was late for work. People on the bus were pissed at me because I was annoyed and kept telling me to cut the driver some slack. All well and good to be patient when the driver takes an extra 30 minutes on the route when you're going home for the day. Some of us were heading to work. And the driver could have listened to those of us who ride that bus every day. We were trying to steer her in the right direction (no pun intended).

- The day after that a bat got into our store! Apparently it just flew in the front door when someone entered. It was confused by all noise and shiny, I'm sure. It was very small and got tired very quickly. I grabbed an old uniform shirt from the back office and scooped him up when he fell to the floor, exhausted. Took the poor, wee thing outside and let him go around the corner of the building.

My trip to Sirens will be another post. I might even finally get around to telling you all about the trip to New Orleans that happened in, when, May? Yeah, so I'm a slacker. Not like my massive procrastination skills are news to my friends. :D

Was supposed to be heading to my parents place for a belated Thanksgiving dinner today. Sadly, am sick and cannot take my nasty germs near my mother. She said she has to go to the Heart Institute, which is not that far from my house, on Tuesday and will bring me leftovers then. In the meantime, I will sit in my flannel nightgown and do as little as possible.

Gotta admit, last night at work was a laugh. Of the four of us working, 3 of us were sick. I stuck the only well person out on the floor away from the sniffly, coughing, feverish bunch of us. It was highly amusing to see me pouring a dose of my co-workers cough medicine down my throat (we had no spoons). Nothing like a good swallow of Buckleys to bring tears to the eyes. Just like drinking liquid Vicks. :D

Off to make some kind of attempt to read a much neglected flist.

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes for my mother! They decided to repair her valve even though replacing it would have been an easier operation. Dad is picking Nyssa and I up tomorrow afternoon on his way to the hospital, so I'll have a chance to visit before I head to work for the evening.

I told my boss I might be pretty early to work tomorrow (probably not worth coming home after the hospital) and that I'd nap in the back before my shift. He's cool with that. :)

Bucketed rain here earlier and now the sun is out in full force. This means what? That it's freaking hot and sticky out there! Ick, again. This weather bring out the cantankerous old lady in me. :D

At least not today. Brief respite from the soaring temps, though there's still more to come. Along with a lot of rain in the next week or so. That's not new, it's rained most of the summer.

Mom is in surgery as I type. Went in at 8:30 and it's expected to last 4-6 hours, depending on what they end up doing. They're either repairing a valve in her heart or replacing it. Fairly routine stuff at the Heart Institute, but I'll worry quietly anyway until she's out. She says she'll be home in a week if all goes well.

My sister is back at work after a camping accident that shattered one of her fingers. Would believe catching a wet Nerf ball? Had to take at bit of time off work because she couldn't get a glove on (for those who don't know, she's a dental hygienist).

Inventory at work last night was cancelled and I went in for just after 6 instead of for 9. My manager had a wee accident playing ball the night before. Seems he caught it with his eye instead of his hand. Very purple and swollen shut when I got to the store, so I shooed him out and sent him off to the clinic to have it looked at. Hopefully things are good. I'm sure I'll hear from him today if we need to rearrange the work schedules a bit. Neither one of us are due to work today anyway, so he at least gets a day of rest.

Nyssa's cat is wandering my house. I guess she got in when Andy left for work. Since there's not kitty fighting happening and they're all asleep in various corners of the house, I'll leave them be.

Not a peep in response from OC Transpo regarding my email on their route changes. Time to email my city councillor instead.

Working straight through from tomorrow to next Wednesday. Someone tell me why I think I can watch 8 movies between now and Monday afternoon? That's how many I brought home to preview. Guess I better prioritise them, in case I can't make it through everything. Maybe I should go find breakfast and start watching now. I'm sure I can get through at least 4 today. :)

And still sweating on the keyboard. Only up to 89 in here for a couple hours today, then back down to 88. Better than the 96 outside (107 with the humidex), though not by much. Another day in front of the fan. Who'd of thought you could work up such a sweat just folding laundry?

Okay, I promised updates, so let's go way back in time and let you know about Texas. That was only, what, back in March? It was on this trip that we finally made the trip to Austin we'd talked about before. And it was worth leaving for this trip because we got to hang out with friends! ofenjen and ariadnemajic both live in Austin and dumbledore11214 was in town for a visit, and kelleyscorpio joined us for the fun. We all met up at Zilker Park, wandered through the gardens across the street and then had lunch together. Those of us who remained after lunch took in a movie (Frost/Nixon, which was very good) and then we finally all parted ways.

Amanda and I meandered through a bookstore, probably spending more money than we needed to. We had a quick dinner and headed over to spend the night with her friend Catherine and her little one. We managed to get in an Alan Rickman movie since we'd brought DVDs along with us. The next morning they introduced me to breakfast burritos before we made the trek back to San Antonio.

Most of the rest of the trip is a blur at this point. I do remember that we all went to the Witte Museum, which was very cool. I remember lots of the food stuff. We ate at Mi Tierra, which was a necessity because I had been given orders from Nyssa. We also hit Tip Top for chicken-fried steak. That was cool, too, because it's one of the Triple D places (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, for those not in the know). We spent an afternoon in Fredericksburg where I spent far too much money on things I didn't really need, but now I can drink coffee from a John Wayne mug. :D

Seriously, I'm content to just hang about with Amanda and family, so everything else is just icing on the cake. We made the next ornament in our series, too, can't forget that! The flights were okay. First legs were fine but it was second legs that did my ears in. Took the entire time there before they were back to normal and probably a couple weeks after my return before they were fine again. Yup, next trip will be on the bus, I think.

Okay, enough sweating on the keyboard for this shot. Off to pray for rain and cooler weather.

Yes, that's a comment on the weather here. Those who thought otherwise - get your minds out of the gutter!

Currently running about 87 in the house. Heading up much higher outside, so hopefully it doesn't go much above 90 in here today. Not a good time to have 2 days off, away from the blessed A/C of work. Still, I get to lie around, watching movies, nibbling snacks and generally doing nothing productive.

Will probably putter about with the many LJ updates I've promised, too. Quite likely they'll be short and numerous, mostly to prevent from drowning the keyboard when sweating over it.

Let's start with the public transit rant. Starting in September they are discontinuing the 18 bus for the portion of the route that I take to work. They said it would go as far as Tunney's Pasture, but it doesn't. They are stopping it at Lebreton Flats. Not necessarily a bit deal, except that the 16, that takes over the slack from the missing 18? Well, that mostly starts at Tunney's Pasture. So they left a nice big gap from Lebreton to Tunney's without adequate local service. Like Saturday mornings when I want to go to work. I used to grab the 18 at 8:30 and that would get me to work before 9. Now I have to walk up to Tunney's Pasture (about 6 minutes). Heck, if I wanted to walk to Tunney's I'd take a damn transitway bus to work. So, if I do take a transitway bus to work (which is, in fact, faster), two things happen. 1) I lose my reading time for my commute. 2) I spend more time walking to/from bus stops than I actually spend on the bus.

Yes, they run the 16 later in the evening now, but the last bus runs from my work at 11:19 (instead of the 11:28 the 18 ran at). This means there is no margin for error in my closing at work. We shut everything down at 11. I still have to do the closing paperwork, change clothes, turn off lights, set alarms, etc. Not leaving me much wiggle room if something goes wrong. Oh, and the last bus? Stops at Tunney's Pasture. Doesn't even go downtown. I know I'm not the only one on the last 18 night. And there are regulars that are still on the bus when I get off. For those who think that the extra walking thing is no big deal? You do it in the middle of the night in winter. Then talk to me about good transit service. Those who drive cars? Don't even want to hear your platitudes. You don't bus, you haven't got a clue what it's like. Unless you're offering me service to/from work (for which I'd gladly hand you my $85/month bus pass money), you've got nothing valid to add to the rant.

So, yeah, OC Transpo? For the increased cost of a bus pass I receive shit service in exchange? Not impressed.

We give it thumbs up. Some of it we liked, some of it we (of course) nitpicked. Too much left out for my taste and some of the changes weren't necessary.

I found Emma Watson's acting much more relaxed in this film, too. The humour was well done, even if there was little of the twins to see.

Oh, and the costumers should be fired, as Dumbledore is still wearing that tacky bathrobe and poor Minerva was forced into some horrid outfit with pointy shoulders. *sigh*

Not saying more because I don't want to spoil things for anyone!

Nyssa won 2 tickets and we're off to see it at 7.

I've been very behind on updating about all my vacations. Will endeavour to take care of that this week, since I never even posted about the outing from San Antonio to Austin and that was back in March! Anyone here wants to place bets on whether I actually get updated this week, feel free.

Seeing HBP again on Wednesday, 6:20 at the Rideau Centre. Anyone who hasn't weighed in who wants to join us, we won't be hard to find.

Apparently I'm pretty much in charge of the store this week, as our acting store manager is only in for two shifts, having booked vacation time to attend Bluesfest. Yikes! Am sure I shall manage but daunting nonetheless. Guess I better get used to it if I'm applying for an assistant manager position. :)

Off to preview my last of this week's new releases before heading downtown to meet Nyssa. Hmm... guess I should update my movie and book lists soon, too. Don't hold your breath too long, though. I hear you turn blue. :D

Nyssa has adopted the wee white girl kitty and taken her upstairs. Her name is now Spezza and Momma kitty hasn't been too bad about her disappearance. Well, aside from a brief scratching at Nyssa's door and a bit of meowing about the house in the middle of the night when she couldn't find the wee boy kitty either (he was sleeping on the couch with me).

Feasible showtimes downtown are 6:20 at the Rideau Centre and 8 p.m. at the World Exchange. If we do the Rideau Centre and I'm working until 5, someone will have to be there to get us a place in line. Megan, if you're joining us, I'm guessing you might prefer the 8 o'clock show?

Weigh in everyone.

Oh, and tickets can be purchased online using either credit or debit. Though I'm still willing to go downtown and get them, since I live closest to either theatre.