I just want to take a moment to thank fate or whatever it is that made Luke happen to be a resident of Wisconsin and not California when I decided that love was the way to go lo those three years ago. I think that Arnold Schwarzenegger having been elected governor of that particular state is a definite sign that all is not well in the world.

I had to sort of re-pierce my first set of ear piercings yesterday. I rarely wear earrings in my bottom ones, so I like to check on them from time to time. I went to insert Tab A into Slot B and ended up hitting so actual skin, so I dug out my collection of piercing studs and went for it. I suppose I�ll have to keep them in for six weeks while they heal now, but at least I�ll be able to keep them open for longer that way. I first got pierced when I was 4 going on 5. My cousin (evil bitch maternal-side only-girl-cousin) went along and vowed that day that she would never get her ears pierced because I hollered up a storm and cried like crazy. The second set of holes was done first when I was 12 or so in D.C. when I went to the National Spelling Bee. I got it done in a Claire�s or something overlooking the water in Baltimore. They closed up and two years later, I got them redone as a birthday present from my best from my best friend at the time. Those have once again called it a day and I fear the pain involved in redoing them on my own. The third set got done during the summer after my junior year in high school and they have neither threatened to nor actually closed up � ever. They are the only set that I ever constantly wear earrings in. Had I a camera, I would take a boring picture of my ears to exemplify, but no camera means no tedium. You�re lucky this time, folks, but if I get a camera for X-mas, you�re in for it.

It�s really too bad that I don�t have the ears I was born with. No, I was never in some horrific accident that tore my real ears off and I now go about in prosthetics by that guy who used to work for the CIA, but they have changed shape since emerging from the birth canal. My grandmother says that when I was born, I had these adorable little pixie ears, all pointed and pink. They have since morphed into normal ears, though they are a little pink at the moment from the irritation of having driven a metal post through them yesterday. My grandfather is the one with the cool ears. Okay, just one of them is cool, really. When he was a child, I don�t know if it was polio or cancer that did it, but he had to have a part of the upper cartilage removed, so he actually has one pointed ear, making it look like something out of LoTR or something. The first time Luke saw it, he asked me what was up and I explained.

The foot has finally landed on emails from Luke�s ex. She wrote again, this time with a picture of her brand new mini-skank and saying that she has been thinking about him. I told him when I found out that he had to do what he should have done three months ago and he did. Essentially, he told he congratulations on the brat, but he�s her ex and he doesn�t care to know about her life any longer. This isn�t something I fed him; it�s something I suspect he�s wanted to say since day 1, but because of testosterone-induced pride wanted to draw out a bit just to prove a point. Point proved or no, I�m glad that he did it. Neither of us harbors particularly pleasant feelings for her and I�m glad that it will finally be settled. Now, if there were only some way of making it so that she won�t respond bellowing like a cow caught in a fence.

Now, back to the most pressing issue: the birthday/Christmas list. My Gram has stated that it is due on the 31st. Most people only have to worry about the Christmas part, but not me; I have to have a birthday 2 � weeks prior and thus need to come up with twice the stuff to ask for. If I don�t ask for what I want, there is a decent chance that I will end up with baby dolls and one of those Fisher Price� xylophones on a string. Yes, my Gram still wants to buy this sort of thing for me. My Grandpa has said that he often has to police her and make her drop the baby toys. So, my ideas are that I should either make the usual list or just say that I want two round trip plane tickets bought by everyone so that I can come home for Christmas. I haven�t the slightest clue as to what I should do. I was going to try and set up a little poll thingy, but I don�t have the patience to set it up at the mo�, so toss your hat in on my guestbook. I really need help deciding and since Luke can�t even say what he wants for dinner, he�s no help when it comes to decisions, which leaves me up the creek (or crick, if you like that sort of thing). There are a ton of things that I would like as gifts, but I would also like to go home. But, then again, chances are if I go with a list, I�ll get a chunk of cash and can go about buying what I want for myself, like I did last year.