Let the Mother#*^@$ Burn

The expansion for World of Warcraft - The Burning Crusade - was released today. By purchasing it one can access two new races and level their characters 10 more levels to a max of 70. After playing on and off for two years, I fought the temptation and decided to not purchase the expansion. I still like the game and would have liked to see what the expansion had to hold, but 1) my guild recently imploded, causing way too much drama for a video game and scattering my friends, 2) there are other games I'd like to spend my time playing, like Final Fantasy XII, and 3) this was a great opportunity to move on. Without the expansion purchased, I have no motivation to play. And now it is totally sold out everywhere, so I couldn't get my hands on it if I wanted to. I actually had a copy pre-ordered at Gamestop, and I made some guy's day when he came in the store after me today and was able to purchase the only non-reserved copy in the store (perhaps all of Dallas!) as I traded it in for store credit (which I used to get a DS game). So someone else will have to go to Outland for me and do the male blood elf dance (it's the dance from Napoleon Dynamite).

In other gaming news, right now I am totally in love with Final Fantasy XII. I'd had it for a while but hadn't really played it. Once I started playing it I fell in love, as I did with Final Fantasy X. Any FF fan would enjoy this game, as it took almost everything good about previous FF games and added great new ideas, like no battle screens. And the story line is not, for once, about some anime boy having to save the world (it takes more of a political bent). I'm also playing Final Fantasy III for the DS, which is fabulous. An updated version of the game that really initiated the classic FF style, I'm having fun with it. My little thief, red mage, black mage, and warrior are so cute. And the graphical updates they included are really impressive on the DS. My next DS game - Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time.

So I'm stuck in Dallas right now. I came back on Friday night because Murphy is having some health problems (herniated disc) and I wanted to see him (and Matt too). He's responding to his steroids and painkillers, so we're feeling better about him. But we've had this winter weather thing, and I haven't been able to get back south. Yesterday it was the roads in Dallas that were the problem; today it is I-45 and roads to its south. A&M actually canceled classes today because of the ice. Speaking of A&M, I sent my letter into the vet school saying they shouldn't hold a spot for me in this fall's class. Reasons: 1) I'm not 100% sure that's what I want to be doing so I don't want to take the spot of some person who has applied 5 times and wanted to be a vet since she were born, 2) although things are going really well for me mentally and physically right now, it really hasn't been that long since they weren't and I don't want to commit to something as challenging as vet school without some more time under my belt. So yeah...

Matt's living in Dallas right now because busy season is upon him. I'm going to be coming back between Emily at the duplex and Matt in Dallas during this time. Right now I don't have any obligations in either city, but I'm hoping to maybe introduce some part-time employment into my schedule soon just to make a little cash and give me something to do (I've been perfectly happy relaxing so far, but once Emily is back in classes and I have more time on my own I imagine I'll want something more to do). As far as life after busy season, Matt will come back to College Station and work from home again. Additional plans for us will have to be made after he returns from the black hole of taxes.

The Holiday Scoop
The promised Christmas and skiing info...Christmas was great. We kicked it off with Bryan and Leslie's engagement party brunch at Amore the Saturday before Christmas. It was awesome to not be the couple of interest! Leslie and Bryan hid with us at our booth for a while to catch their collective breath. Christmas Eve we had the traditional Hall family duck dinner which included all the usual suspects (M&D, Carolyn, Leslie/Bryan, Cameron/Matt) plus Bryan's parents, the Klingners. We all crowded around the dining room table =P Then the whole group sans Carolyn headed to the Roberts' to play games, a new tradition in the making (how many years before it is officially a tradition? I think this was year 3). We played Apples to Apples and Quiddler (both fabulous games everyone should own, and both games played only with cards - no boards or pieces or small things not appropriate for children under 3). I spent Christmas Eve night with Matt at his parents' house (the first Christmas Eve without Leslie, ever - we always sleep together).

Christmas morning we opened presents first with my family and then with his. Christmas evening we spent at Uncle Bob's house doing Susie's side's Christmas. It involved watching the Cowboys and opening presents and lots of pictures (and cousins!). A couple days later we did the whole thing again with the Roberts side at Grandma Roberts' house. We scooted down to College Station the next day to check on the duplex but returned to Dallas in time to spend New Year's Eve with Leslie and Bryan.

On January 1, Matt, Dad, Emily and I flew out of DFW to Salt Lake City. We got in, got our super-cool minivan (no sarcasm there, it was a neat one) and got to our condo. The condo was boring personality-wise, but perfect for our needs. #1 priority = hot tub! Then we picked up our skis and Emily and I settled in while Dad and Matt picked up Leslie and Bryan from the airport. Day 1 we skiied Solitude as a pack, my favorite of the four Cottonwood Canyon resorts. Day 2 we split up at Snowbird, letting Emily and Matt dive down the double blacks while Dad and I cruised down some blues and blacks and Leslie and Bryan did their own thing. Day 3 brought tons of snow, and I stayed home to finish the jigsaw puzzle and recover from days 1-2 while the others hit up Brighton and had their powder experience for the trip. On Friday Leslie and Bryan headed back home to California while the rest of us returned to Texas. I left Matt in Dallas and returned to College Station with Emily (for all of 6 days, before coming back to Dallas on my own...probably first time doing that drive since August).

Okay, I'm all caught up now! Now I'll try to do better so the posts don't become so out of hand. =P

Back in CS

Emily and I returned to College Station today, cats in tow. No Matt though - the beginning of busy season is upon him and he will be living in Dallas until at least March 31. *sigh* But I can go back to Dallas and see him whenever I want, so we'll get by.

I will most certainly be posting about our Christmas and Utah skiing adventures, but right now there are bags calling to be unpacked and perhaps a Netflix movie to be watched. =D

More later!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas is on Monday - how did it sneak up on me like this? It seems like I was just putting off Christmas shopping because it was too close to Thanksgiving and now we're less than a week away. I am relieved that everything I ordered online has come in (unless I've forgotten about something).

Matt and I haven't been doing much...he's been busy with work. I've spent my time entertaining Piper, playing some WoW and Final Fantasy XII, and learning more about editing/creating pages for WoWWiki. I like messing around with WoWWiki because I can find a random page, make it look nice and contain valuable information, and then make sure everything it refers or links to is also clean and helpful. An example of something I've put together would be: this, if you were curious.

On Tuesday we had to run back to Dallas for my appointment with Dr. Z. We drove in, had lunch at Cisco so we could say hi to Debbie, and stopped by the Roberts (giving Luke his Christmas present early - a Wii controller). We watched him play some 2-player tennis with a friend and Matt bowled a few rounds, and then we went to the appointment. Dr. Z and I are both really pleased with how things are going, and we didn't change any medication or anything. Matt and I did some quick Christmas shopping on our way out of town and came back to CS.

Last night we watched the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?" We really enjoyed it, as much as a movie that gets you pissed off about something can be enjoyable. Next in our queue are "Ghost in the Shell" and "Talladega Nights," so those should be a change.

Tomorrow afternoon we're heading to Dallas for Christmas, and we'll only be back briefly in College Station from the 29-31 before we go to Dallas again for our Utah ski extravaganza. Yay!

Oops, forgot to blog...bad blogger!

I got a little behind in blogging. Oh well, I can move past it if you can. We spent last weekend in Dallas. Matt had to go into the office on Friday so we headed out early on Friday morning (I slept 2 hours in the car, yay). While he worked on ... whatever it is that he works on, I got to go to Amore and have lunch with Brittany, who was fortuitously in Dallas. It was a very Christmas-y weekend - we had the KMPG Christmas party on Friday night, helped the Roberts decorate and the Halls pick out the Christmas tree. And Matt, Dad, and I got to watch Mom wrapped in lights, transferring them from around her neck to around the tree.

Also worth mentioning about the weekend was Matt and I had our first Wii encounter. Luke has a Wii with the sports game and Zelda. I watched the boys do boxing, golf, bowling, and tennis and tried my hand at baseball. Matt and I both had authentic "Wiinjuries" for days later too (in our case, nothing too severe, just very sore shoulders). Saturday night we celebrated Susie's 51st birthday slightly belatedly by eating at Cuba Libre and then Matt and I watched Luke beat Zelda. On Sunday I gave Zelda a shot of my own, getting through the first dungeon, and Matt spent the evening suffering through a horrible Cowboys game at Texas Stadium with Dad, Jerry, and the managers.

We hit the road pretty early on Monday so Matt could get some work done. This week has been more of the same for us, although Matt has been relatively busy with work. Last night I saw my first shooting star (followed by at least ten more) during the fabulous meteor shower. =D

Oh, and I got my CT results back. I have a most likely congenital venous angioma in my brain, but it is totally innocuous and so I'm finally done with my brain testing. So I can drive! I may celebrate by going Christmas shopping tomorrow.

Christmas Season is Upon Us

I fully oppose stores beginning Christmas as soon as Halloween is over, but I have no problem getting into the spirit as soon as Thanksgiving is over. It was a little weird this year with the early Thanksgiving, so I held off until December (2nd to be exact). Matt and I woke up slightly late this morning and watched The Chronicles of Narnia. Then we hauled out the Christmas decorations and got to work. We are so fortunate that Mom and Dad have hooked me up repeatedly with decorations, so we had lots of different things to put up (and I got a little excited last year when we were in the apartment and bought some more). So we hung lights, garlands, stockings, wreaths, and put out the fake poinsettias, Christmas pillows and other things. Then we went ahead and hung some non-Christmas items we've been meaning to get up for 4 months now. All the while, I had my iTunes Christmas playlist blaring. And a good time was had by all.

On Monday I went to the neurologist to get my MRI and EEG results back from a few weeks ago. The EEG was fine, but the MRI showed a very small venous angioma. It was stressed that this was almost definitely nothing but that they had to do an additional test for completeness to ensure that it was, in fact, nothing to worry about. So on Wednesday I went in to St. Joseph's Hospital for CT angiography with iodine contrast. The iodine contrast was fun - the radiology technician warned me it would make me feel warm and like I was tinkling on myself, but that I should remain calm because I would not be urinating in my pants. Wow, awesome. And it was totally true - thank goodness she had warned me because I really did have to repeat to myself "you are not peeing, you are not peeing." =D Other than that, it was uneventful. They'll call me with the results sometime next week.

My big project for the week was assembling 10 care packages to send to soldiers in Iraq for Christmas. I baked them each a loaf of pumpkin bread (Susie's wonderful recipe). Also included from the suggestion list I was given:

• 2 pairs of white crew socks
• Candy (jolly ranchers, starbursts, holiday-themed chocolates)
• Fruit snacks
• 1 Little Debbie Christmas snack cake
• Little toys to give to Iraqi children
• Off Deep Woods insect repellent wipes
• For the three female-specific packages:
• personal wet wipes
• Lip Smackers chap stick
• body wash

I also wrote them each a card and put a picture of Matt and me in there. I had a blast putting it all together, and it made me feel really good. We took them to the post office and sent them off...it was really cool. Although the people in line behind us probably didn't agree, since it takes a long time to mail 10 boxes to Iraq! If anyone is interested in sending something over there (just a batch of rice krispies and a note would really brighten someone's day), e-mail me for the care package information.

This week was kind of odd because Matt actually had work to do every day. I really like having our desks together in the same room, because we listened to music together and I played WoW or did kakuro puzzles or something while he worked. I also created a WoWWiki page for my WoW guild and for myself, which was pretty fun. Oh, and I got my rogue to level 60...my fourth level 60 character. Hehe, go me. Tonight my guild is going to a new dungeon for the first time...the good news is Matt has two college football conference championship games to watch while I'll be dying over and over in my game. Speaking of games, I'm picking up Final Fantasy XII for myself in about an hour and am super excited.

I guess that's it for now - Matt and I are off to run and enjoy the beautiful weather (from 78 degrees on Wednesday to 29 on Friday - it finally feels like the Christmas season!)