I decided to return home last night rather than stay over another night with elsaf and judiang. I missed my kitty, wanted to see Granny, and had papers to grade. I’m glad I did this (though I do miss the girls, terribly) because I had a nice relaxing day today. And I got to see Leo and Granny and best of all, got the papers graded. Yay! The folks took me out to lunch, too. To Arang, the local Japanese restaurant. I had shrimp teriyaki & California rolls. Very yummy! They gave me $50, which I think I might use to buy The Flash, the Complete Series on DVD. (Yay! It comes out Jan 10!) I also opened Amy & Rachel’s gift – they gave me a log cabin toy set (like Lincoln Logs, only squarer). Fun to play with.

I had a lovely holiday this year. For my birthday, Elsa got me some Fox River Socks! (I’m wearing a pair right now. I love new socks, especially Fox Sox.) Judi got me Dangermouse seasons 1-4 – yay! We headed off to Tom & Ardath’s to meet up with them and Elsa’s parents. Lunch was dim sum at a restaurant near there. Very tasty food and very fresh. Elsa’s father even bought us lunch – yay! (I love parents who buy their daughter’s meals. Witness my parental units above.) After lunch, it was back to Tom’s for a short concert of Tom on recorder and Elsa’s mom on piano. Very nicely done.

We headed off to see Memoirs of a Geisha at a theater near Elsa’s place. The movie was very good. My neck was wet when it finished, cuz I’d been crying and the tears ran down my neck. I haven’t read the book, but Judi has and she said it was a pretty faithful rendition. She really liked the book.

Once we returned to the car, my ankle started vibrating. I had my purse between my feet & someone had called me on my cell phone. It was Amy! She & Rachel sang “Happy Birthday” to me. 🙂 We chatted for a little bit as Elsa drove us home. And once we were home, we had ice cream & geeked on our computers. During the geeking, my cell rang again, and this time it was mom & dad singing me “Happy Birthday.” Heh – I love my family.

As it neared suppertime (and, alas, time for Trina to leave the girls), we decided to go out one last time for dinner. Most places were closed for New Years, but we found the Shore Inn open. I had a fish sammich and fries, which was yummy & filling. Elsa paid the bill – yay Elsa! I love friends who buy their friend’s dinner. 🙂

We returned to Elsa’s for my last bit of packing up the car & hugs. Then I headed on home. The drive was fine & I got in around 11:30pm. Leo was happy to see me (and had eaten all his food already). We stayed up for an hour or so, then headed off to bed.

This morning was my parade. I hate when they air it on the second – it’s for my birthday, you know! Alas, there was much rain, but the floats were still beautiful to see. I graded catapult reports while watching. And Leo decided he wanted to sit on the board I was grading on. No surprise. But it was as I had hoped – good kitty time and good grading time. I headed next door after the parade for lunch with the parentals.

When we visited Granny at her new room in a nearby nursing home, she complained that people weren’t visiting. Well, dad’s been going every day – and yesterday she was so sound asleep he couldn’t wake her. But today, she didn’t have to worry about lack of visitors. While we were there, Aunt Becky & Deanna arrived with a couple of Xmas presents & a new wheelchair. Then Mick (Becky’s oldest son), his fiancée, and two daughters (9 and 6) arrived. We couldn’t all squeeze into the room, so we sat in the lobby (looking at the live birds they have there) chatting. Granny was lucid the entire time and was looking better than she had when I saw her last. She’s still weak, but here’s hoping they can strengthen her up at the home. She’s eating (not a lot, but at least some!) and will be going to physical therapy. So I have high hopes for her.

I have tomorrow off as well, so I’ll have some relaxation times tomorrow as well. I hope to visit Granny again, as well as exchange some slacks I got at Xmas for a longer style. And who knows what else I’ll do. (Hopefully read some of the cool books I got this holiday!)