fantastic birthday this year! dinner with justin, josh, parents, nadine, and half of carra (she only had time to drop by for bread and beverages) at the melting pot. got the present I asked for: a new kitchen faucet. nothing wrong with the old one, but this one arcs up higher over the sink for ease of use. so many people called/myspaced/texted me with well wishes, people I hadn't heard from in years. thanks!

if you missed this year's twenty-sixth birthday celebration, you can catch the encore in 2008. I'm finished for a while. not gonna turn 27, sorry. my age is frozen until I'm at least 38, hopefully.

random gift from dad: one touch can opener. usually the junk you see advertised on tv is just that, junk. but those things really are nifty.

tax return done. having a mortgage sure does help, oh yeah. my refund is obscene. next year it's justin's turn to claim the interest and property tax, though, so I'm not getting used to it. to celebrate I treated myself to a gig of RAM to punch up the computer a little in case I want to take the windows vista plunge at some point. once I get the money, however, the bulk of it is going into savings to help me bounce back from my post holiday brokedom.