OCD+ADD=OMG

We needed to go to Bath&Bodyworks, which is on Branson Landing. Branson Landing is just off the highway, an outdoor strip of shops where with a center lane only big enough for the trolly (which is free to ride) patrols up and down. Bath&Body (along with several other stores) are in this little strip. We hit the bath and body first. We got our gift (plus... a little something extra), and then we were on our way up and down the strip just to see what there was to see. Tons of restaurants were there, not to mention the normal chain stores like Pac Sun and such.

Then I spent some money -..- There was this lovely store, one I’ve seen here and there and loved to walk through but never bought anything from. It’s called EarthBound Trading Company. They have a lot of cultural items (old Egyptian, Indian, and Japanese) and there are rocks. Any place where I can look at and possibly buy rocks is a great place. Well, they had these huge rock book ends, and they were marked down. I got a pair of blue ones and they cost $19.15...they had previously been $49.99 O..O so yeah, I made out like a thief there.

Mom and Aunt Carolyn got something from the Bath Junkie store. I probably would’ve liked it, but Mom spent enough on me at Bath&Bodyworks so I didn’t bother to ask for anything. Then....we went to Sushi House.

Sushi House is the place I told ya’ll I went to back when Mom and I had our little browse-about Branson day a while back (probably in early December). I had swiped one of their to-go menus, but I hadn’t eaten there. Well, there were chef specials too, so we took a look at those. We had the crunch rolls and the yum yum rolls....and they were both very yum-yummy ^..^ The Crunch roll was much like Zen’s Crunchy roll, only the sauce that they put on it (if it is eel sauce) is not as bad as Zen’s eel sauce. Zen’s sauce was tangy and a bit too salty, but this one was almost sweet, and it just absorbed into the crunches lightly flavouring them and the accenting the crab meat and avocado inside. The Yum Yum roll was fried shrimp, avocado and a tiny bit of cream cheese, toped with stringy crab meat.....it was delicious, and a strange opposite to the crunch roll. Some time, perhaps after I start working and can afford to just go off to Branson some time on my own, I’d like to go there and just get a sushi sampler for myself so I can try all their sushi (as opposed to eating 2 rolls every time I go).

According to my research, there are 4 sushi places in Branson, but two are on that strip that we were on. The two we’ve seen are The Sushi House and then there’s the Wasabi - Japanese Steak and Sushi Bar (the two we haven’t seen yet are Japanese Steak Sushi & Cocktail Lounge and Shogun). I did pop into Wasabi for a menu to go, but in my opinion Sushi House will be better, because Wasabi has a menu full of things you can get like soups and noodles and chicken and steak and all that, and it comes with a paper devoted to their sushi. Sushi house is nothing but sushi, and sushi done well. So, in the end, the place that specialises in sushi will be better at it...I think. It was a slightly biased opinion, as I’d just been wowed over the Sushi House’s sushi. Mom says we’ll have to go to Wasabi next time (because for her Sushi just isn’t enough), so I’ll just have to wait and see. Maybe Dad will be able to go with us next time.

Yes, Dad is safely offshore so, he did not partake of this outting....I don’t know that he would’ve much enjoyed it if he had gone along. But I do know that he would’ve enjoyed being there rather than being at work.
Well, we’re off to church. I’ll talk later, Sunshines.

You Are Traditional and Dependable

You are optimistic, friendly, and cheerful. People appreciate the hopefulness and good vibes you bring to any situation. You are a very active, on the go person. You get restless if you're forced to sit still for too long. You're easy going and easy to be around. You aren't picky or high maintenance. You seek security in your life. Feeling safe is important to you.

The Sandwich Cookie Personality Test

---

ISR WorkSaver Systems Christmas Lunch. Ok, so the lunch went very well. This little restaurant is just so charming and so superb. Not to mention that the company was just delightful. Donna and I conspired together to share an appetizer; the crab ravioli in a creamy buttery sauce...exquisite. Hell, I’d go back just to order a few more of those! Of course, Donna reminded me not to over-eat because they had some great deserts here. We immediately planed on sharing a desert. For my meal I had originally wanted to order a four-cheese fettuccini that could come with your choice of chicken or shrimp and with your choice of pasta. But, I think that I always get fettuccini when I go places, so I decided to try thinking outside the box and got a chicken dish that was fried and smothered in cheese. Not a bad dish, mind you, but I’ve also decided never to ask for something else when I know I’m gonna enjoy my original selection -_- We talked so much and just enjoyed Mrs. Ellen & Dr. Bunch’s company. We gave them their gifts (Mrs. Ellen got a very lovely candle and Dr. Bunch got a current Saint’s hat and shirt which he loved). I’m not sure what all the other girls got, but I got a $100 bonus as well from them. They really did not have to do that what with the lovely lunch and all, but it was an unexpected treat. Mrs. Ellen also gave us some great tips for how to ‘inconvenience’ a man without getting charges pressed against you. Donna and I ended up sharing a mudbath for desert ^.^

Sloths’ Con Christmas. We ended up getting out of our lunch a little late, and what with traffic being a nightmare, we didn’t actually get to Chibi’s till 4:20ish. I told Reiko that I had wanted her to actually feel as though she got there early for once...even though she was late too -.- Anywho! They were surprised to see my cousin, but almost instantly accepted her into the fold. In fact all it took was a ‘are you as cool as MM?’ question for them to want to boot me out _ But that’s another story. We all sat down and exchanged gifts and we all loved our gifts. I got both the Moutos gifts that corresponded without actually matching. Chibi and Reiko both received a beautiful hanging fairy from Pyramid Collection and a lovely key necklace, but their gifts were unique to them. I also got Scamp a 60 color pencil set and a year’s subscription to Writer’s Digest. I would’ve gotten her a membership to their book club as well, but her income is substantially less than mine, and it wouldn’t be fair to shove all those books in her face without her being able to actually get them. So yeah. Reiko got Chibi the second season of House, and she got me the first season of Bones. I’m pretty sure that I mentioned that I knew what she got me because of the escapades we had to go through to get it, but if not oh well. Chibi got me a T-shirt of Sesshomaru, a cool kanji mug, and a beautiful necklace; She got Reiko a necklace that Reiko’s always stealing from her (she figured she’d earned it), a kanji mug and a nezu & neko Furuba T-shirt. Very cute. Note: Pictures of this event is up on my FaceBook ^.^ After that, Scamp and I showed them all the benefits of having a GameShark to stop the timer on Katamari & We Love. It was fun for a bit when we could finally impress them by rolling up the world and all. Then we watched the first few episodes of Threshold. Chibi made some (very nasty) onigiri in between brakes (when we had to get up or permanently loose all feeling in our backsides), but we didn’t actually leave till 11. And even then it felt like we hadn’t spent enough time together -.-

Saturday. I was feeling a little more sick Saturday morning, but Mom, Scamp and I had all planned on heading to town to pick some things up. We had to be home before 1 because Mom had a wedding to go to. We got a couple of nice shirts at Avenue and I also bought a few products at Bath & Bodyworks. I was getting low on my pink cherry blossom shower wash, so I wanted to get a bit more, and I’ve noticed that my hands are cracking a bit, so I wanted to get some lotion as well. Well, I got both of those, and then I noticed some caramel corn bodywash/shampoo/bubble bath. I had to get that too! Then a sales lady said if you buy 3 you get 1 free, so I got Scamp some hot chocolate hand lotion (that I’m sure will make all British boys and pert puppies lap right out of her hands ^___^). We went home and just chilled out for a while. Neither of us was feeling that great. We ended the night gabbing our heads off in my room. Bub came in that morning while we were out shopping, so he had to take the guest room. I admitted that I was a fitful sleeper and Scamp said she’d rather sleep on the sofa. So that’s how things went. But before we really called it a night she checked in with her parents who’d called earlier. They said they were picking her up early, sometime Sunday morning because her uncle was coming in and he had gifts for them all. I couldn’t really complain since I’d had her for 5 days or so. I think we finally got to bed around...1ish?..I guess.../shrugs.

Sunday (Christmas Eve). Sunday I felt really bad. I thought maybe it was just because I was tired, but I really couldn’t shake it. After waking up and having breakfast, Scamp and I just hung out in my room till her parents got here to pick her up. We visited for about 45 minutes before they left with her and all the gifts I had gotten for her siblings. We then headed for church, which was very nice. I was nearly falling asleep by the end of it, but I was very hungry. That’s completely new for me considering we used to get up and go to the 8 am service and be out in time for 10:30. No one was really hungry, but we’d all head out to town (if nothing was cooking at home) and arrive just in time for the restaurants to open. Once we smelled the food we were a bit hungry, but even then it was a proper “I really want to eat” hungry. It was more of a “hmm, that sure smells good” hungry. This time we were actually hungry. So we went to Burger King for Bub, Dad and I and Mom got something from Taco Bell (which is not a church ^___^). Inside joke. I quickly succumbed to my illness right after eating and was miserable all day. I did manage to (somehow) get a scene from the book written out. It’s not in sequence, but it is crucial so I wrote it all out before I lost it.

Christmas. Christmas was fun and terrible all at the same time. Bub was just as sick as I was (perhaps worse), but we managed to try and put on a good front for the rents ^,^ We had our traditional breakfast of tomato gravy and biscuits with bacon. Then we exchanged gifts and all, and I really do think that passes entirely too fast. I got a very nice jewelry box, a pretty necklace, and a 60 disc CD holder from the rents. Scamp got me this adorable statue of a baby dragon, who I’ve taken to calling Edger (Eddy for short). I’d been eying him from the Pyramid Collection catalogs, even though I was certain it’d be one of those things I’d never buy for myself. Dad got a gift certificate from Harbor Freight from Mom. And from me he got the Bible Collection (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Sampson & Delilah, and King David), the Smokie & The Bandit Persuite Pack, and The Ultimate Johnny Carson Collection on DVD. Mom got a watering can fountain and the computer game Insaniquarium from me. She got Channel #5 from Dad. Thomas got a “grooming kit” from all of us along with some cash to get more clothes while he’s down here. We all retreated to enjoy our gifts. Note: There will also be pictures of this on my FaceBook.

I cleaned up my room a bit so we could scoot my jewelry box in here and then loaded it up. That got me to wanting to clean for good, and that kept me busy while Dad and Bub watched King David. I realized it had been a while that I’d been cleaning when Mom tapped on the wall and told me lunch was ready. We had roast beef in gravy with mashed potatoes, rolls, green been casserole, and rice dressing. It was wonderful. Then Bub and I promptly went off to be sick and pass out for hours while the rents went and visited other family members who were celebrating at their houses.

I woke up after being asleep for a while and they were back. It was dark, so I asked Dad if he wanted to watch some of the Johnny Carson DVDs with me. We laughed so hard at that. There was this one thing (which will explain the title) where Johnny came out and said that there was a woman arrested for performing sexual favors for spaghetti dinners. She didn’t demand money or anything she just wanted spaghetti. So he said “Does that make her a Pasta-tute?” and Mom like to died laughing! I had to pause it, she was so loud. And I’m not talking about insane giggles neither; no-ho! This was high-pitched, I can’t breath, my sides are aching, Hyena on speed laugh. We ended up laughing harder at her than at the video! She said it almost reminded her of when I was very young and I had read over something about concubines in the bible and I asked if we knew any ‘combines’. Started the laughing madness all over again...

Lord, it’s been a pretty good day. It’d be nice if this sore throat and heavy head would go away, but still. All in all a very nice Christmas. Even if I am more exhausted and sore from all the merry making. Now that I’ve finished up this monumental entry and the e-mal I was writing to Scamp, I’m gonna finish my hot tea and go take my shower. Goodnight.

Your Five Variable Love Profile

Propensity for Monogamy: Your propensity for monogamy is high. You find it easy to be devoted and loyal to one person. And in return, you expect the same from who you love. Any sign of straying, and you'll end things. Experience Level: Your experience level is low. You've probably either had only one relationship.. Or all of your relationships have been very similar. You still have a lot to learn... and a lot to try! Dominance: Your dominance is low. This doesn't mean you're a doormat, just balanced. You know a relationship is not about getting your way. And you love to give your sweetie a lot of freedom. Cynicism: Your cynicism is medium. You'd like to believe in true and everlasting love... But you've definitely been burned enough to know better. You're still an optimist, but you also are a realist. Independence: Your independence is high. You don't need to be in love, and sometimes you don't even want love. Having your own life is very important for you... Even more important than having a relationship.

The Five Variable Love Test

 

---