Later in the day on Thursday the 27th

Also known as Motorcycle Day! Right, Toadly? (Explanation: Toadly wanted a motorcycle for Christmas. Instead he got a little sister. I've been known as motorcycle to my brother for 46 years!)

We left the house about 10:30 and went to several places. Garden Ridge, Tandy Leather, a mall, Salvation Army. And I did not find a thing! Why is it that when I have money and time, I can hardly find anything to buy but when I'm in a hurry or broke, there are deals everywhere!?! Oh well, I'll just keep looking I guess.

We went to Incredible Pizza for my birthday lunch. Otter did a lot of work for me at work over the summer, and she chose games at I. P. instead of being paid, and we had intended to go at the end of the summer. Right about the time that Bill had the trailer hitch accident that nearly broke his ankle. So we decided to put it off a few weeks and then we forgot about it. Driving past the place a few weeks ago, she and I both remembered so we decided to just go this week since we are all off. Then I decided that I wanted to just make it my birthday lunch. And I'm really glad that we went today, because on Thursdays (maybe just this month, I'm not sure), if you buy or recharge a game card when you place your buffet order & pay then you get double the game money! So for $20.00, Otter got $40.00 worth of games. The food is pretty good, too. As soon as we finished eating, she was off and running and the big kid I call Bill also got several games in. We spent a little over 2 hours there and we all had a great time. Otter drove the go-carts again, and she chose a fast car. And she promptly bounced off the side when she was rounding the first curve! But it didn't slow her down any, she had a good time. But I'm not sure that I'm ever going to let her drive my car!!!!! :)

She found several books at a store in the mall, and even at the thrift store. But then she usually does.

Bill looked on Amazon last night, they have the Ipod that Otter wanted and for slightly less money. So she decided to buy that one instead. WalMart finally called me sometime this morning to tell me that their system was back up but the phone was off at the time so it went to voice mail. I got the message a few hours later, and I just called them back to let them know. They were nice about it. I have a WalMart gift card I haven't used, maybe I'll go shop there tomorrow!

We're going to take the Christmas tree down tomorrow. It's never stayed up this long after Christmas and it's kind of driving me nuts. For me, once it's over then it is over and it's time to put the tree away. I've always been like that, I've even been known to take them down Christmas afternoon! Bill's going to get up in the attic tomorrow morning and get the boxes down, then we'll get the living room back to normal. And I'll breathe easier, because I really feel like we are on borrowed time with the tree and those two dogs. Frasier took out one of the vintage heirloom ornaments to the back yard a couple of weeks back and he chewed another one. So in the interest of preserving my family ornaments, sanity and the dog's head, I think it's time to put it away!

All in all, it's been a very good birthday. I have really enjoyed myself.