There are certain things in this life that cannot be replaced by anything else. Spending time with friends and loved ones is one of the those things. Most of my time has been spent lately either with the people I care about or preparing for their arrival or seeing them. It is that time of year, after all.

I did a lot of shopping last week. I'm tired of shopping and yet I still have no presents for my dad, brother or sister-in-law. Nothing seems good enough. I have to start wrapping presents this week. Today there were also many hours of shopping, but it was quite delightful with the antics of two fellows from Calgary to keep me entertained.

My brat has been very entertaining the past few days with guests in the house. Standing guard at the end of my bed at night, being all skittish, and looking at me as if to say, "When are these guys leaving? I'm tired of having people in my house. Okay, rub my belly if you must."

I played a new game tonight called Tsuro. I played just one game of it and won. It's a quick game which I like, but it could really get my competitive streak going if I played too many games in a row. I'll have to watch that. I think my boyfriend would really like it.

On Saturday night, there was our company Christmas party. While 5 people cancelled, I was still pleased with the turnout and the neat gifts we were able to provide to everyone. The food was amazing and here is the menu. We started with crab dip with deep fried wontons, neptune stuffed mushrooms and bruschetta. Completely divine. [sigh] I was stuffed to the gills by the time the evening was complete. I think everyone else had a good time as well.

Oh yeah! And my date on Friday night was quite wonderful. It was the first time in a while that my boyfriend and I didn't talk about work or school at all. We forgot the rest of our lives and were just together in the moment. We saw The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. I must say that I enjoyed the movie very much. I was leaning over the seats in front of my with my knees squished against the backs of the seats because I couldn't get close enough to the movie. Audible gasping, sighs, and other such emotional reactions were a part of almost the whole movie for me. And I was so pleased to have my boyfriend in the seat next to me because I always enjoy movies more when I share the experience with someone so close to me.