Today is Jamie's bithday. I didn't call her or have lunch with her but we're getting together Saturday for our annual bowl a rama so I'll give her her gift then.

I spent the late morning and early afternoon shopping for Joey's birthday present. I went to get a leather jacket for her that she had been salivating over last week when we were at N0rdstrom. I was anticipating that it would be $60-100. It was a slightly distressed blazer-style jacket in blackish brown--so cute. So anyway, I get there and the big rounder that they had last week was devoid of leather jackets so I look around and find 2 of them on another rounder. They sold quite briskly. But thankfully, one of the two was in her size. So anyway, I sheepishly pick up the tab to see how much the damage will be and it turned out to be only $30! I couldn't believe it. I was so excited--that meant I could pick up a few more things so I got a cute white Adid@s hooded sweatshirt with cool blue stripes down the arms, a beaded shirt (that was on sale) and a very cute black shirt with lettuce-edge sleeves and bottom and with a pink J embroidered like Laverne's L. Oh, and a few charms for her bracelet. I think she'll be very excited about her gifts.

I also bought Stacey's birthday present. A beaded cuff-width bracelet with a really neat magnetic closure. I love the bracelet. In fact, I'm almost thinking about going back to get one for myself. There are 11 strands of beads in all shades of orange and amber and gold that make up the cuff. It's just beautiful. And perfect for her personality. I decided to give her her gift early (almost 2 weeks) because she'll be here this weekend and I would rather give it to her in person than mail it.

This evening I went to visit my friend Britt for a bit. Actually, I just stopped by to pick up a catalog she had for me and to drop off a book and some clothes of Joey's for her daughter and I ended up hanging out and talking to her and her husband for 2 hours. It was great fun. I really enjoy talking to them both--they're great conversationalists. And we see eye to eye on a lot of subjects.

Oh man--I finished 0ryx and Cr@ke today. What a story. Oh my gosh--I desperately need for someone (Britt or Stacey or someone) to read it right away so I can talk about it. It's one of those stories that begs, nay screams, to be discussed and picked apart and analyzed. I really really enjoyed that book. It was like eating really great, moist, rich chocolate cake. What language. Pure word art. I found it positively delicious the way she would string words together. Mmmmm.

And now it's time for me to go to sleep. Aidan will be here at 5:30 tomorrow morning. I hope he's asleep when he gets here instead of being awake like the last two times.

Later...

--L