I will spare you the excuses for slacking off yet again and get down to the highlights. I'll go back over this weekend at least, since some good stuff happened.

Friday I was sick with a cold. Not terribly sick but sick enough to not want to leave the house or change out of pajamas. I worked on my final project for creativity class most of the day. I also wrote a poem, had leftover General Tso's chicken and watched the wonderfully awful movie Point Break (or something like that -- Maureen had it). Where the highlight in that is, I'm not sure. Maybe the chocolate chip cookies I made after (just break and bake, but still delicious).

Saturday I was feeling better. It was Night of 100 Elvises day. The "Elvii" were fun; lots to see (including dozens of Elvis impersonators). Our friends Billy Woodward and the Senders played a fantastic set on the main stage, then played some more on the third floor where we discovered them and danced until 2am (when the last shuttle came). On the shuttle back to the hotel (where we parked) more music was played, and we walked into an Elvis karaoke dance party at the hotel lobby. We joined in on the dancing part of that for awhile, then got to hear the guys play some more music, acoustically, in their rooms upstairs.

Sunday my highlight occured at the "Mayor's Christmas Parade" in Hampden. It was SO COLD that day, yet the streets were packed with people and the parade was extraordinarily long (I really don't think we ever had a parade that long in Michigan). Candy was thrown -- I had a pocketful of Tootsie Rolls and other such treats by the time we left -- and many pictures were taken. But I think my favorite part was when a guy on one of the Christmas floats threw a stuffed snowman/bird sort of animal to me. I looked around after I picked it up to make sure I hadn't robbed any children of a new toy, then tucked it in my arm as my little friend. It seems silly and trivial, but I've been having a bit of a rough few days dealing with some emotional things (One being the death of a friend from home. We weren't close and I didn't know him that well, but he was always incredibly positive and kind and I regret not getting to know him better when I had the chance. The community has come together in a beautiful way to mourn him and it's hard not being able to take part in that). So having this sweet little stuffed toy given to me I guess meant more than it normally would have.

Today's highlight was my happenstance check of the Student Center site through UB. I figured while I was there I'd see if any spots had opened up in one of the classes I wanted to take next semester. Lo and behold, it had, so I registered for it. Also a sort of big deal because A) it was full before I even got the chance to register initially, and B) four more seats were added the following week and were full before I even read the email.

Another highlight was presenting/turning in my final project (which I was pretty proud of) and the gathering of classmates at Dionysus (a bar/restaurant down the street) afterward. I've tried to take advantage of opportunities to get to know my fellow classmates better, and I feel like the effort is paying off. Some of them are quite enjoyable to talk to.