Time to post...a.k.a., recap time!

They Might Be Giants kicked ass, as expected. They had a few surprises up their sleeves in terms of what they played. Songs that my cousin and brother and I were surprised they played. One of them, "Dead," is a very basic two-part harmony song that me and Will have sung in the car (and on our camping trip last summer). They did not play "Spider," but they did play a "song" called "Fingertips," which is basically a string of one- to two-line "songs" at the end of their album Apollo 18. Songs such as "Leave me alone, leave me alone," and "I turned around. I heard a sound. I turned around to find the thing that made the sound." Those are the entire "songs," and there's about two dozen of them strung together, that each sound completely different. They also played "Why Does the Sun Shine?" and really rocked out to it, which was awesome. And they played some stuff off their upcoming album...they also did this hilarious Christmas song where the lead singer asks Santa what he left under his Christmas tree, and Santa says "NOTHING!!! NOTHING!!!! NOTHING!!!!" Too funny. It was a great show, and the XRT folks were happy to get the toy cars from me.

We went to Twisted Spoke to get some eats afterward, and they were good. I then headed home because I was kinda tired, and Saturday promised to be a big day.

Gina and I were going to go window shopping downtown with her roommate and her "man" or whatever. But that got cancelled early on Saturday. So Gina and I decided to go to Old Orchard and do some Christmas shopping ourselves. Got NO Christmas shopping done. Instead, my wardrobe revamping began. I dropped about $120 on three shirts and new shoes. I needed all of them (and didn't need Gina to tell me that, honestly). So I now have a pair of Skechers that I got at DSW Warehouse (go, big bargains there, I'm telling you!), a Perry Ellis shirt that I got for $12 and two other pretty nice shirts that were on sale at Marshall Field's. Gina did not escape unscathed, either...I bought her this sweater she wanted...she liked it, and when she went to put back the one that was too big, I stepped up to the register and bought it. So she was happy. She also bought some new boots, nice name-brand boots, at DSW. She was so excited I got the shoes...

We then needed to get something to eat, and her parents happened to mention they were going to Outback Steakhouse. So we, spur of the moment, decided to meet them there. This was the first time I was meeting them, but I don't get nervous about that stuff, ya know? They were nice people...very friendly and cool. They didn't seem nervous around me, either, so that's good. Of course, I guess at this point, really, there's nothing to be all that nervous about. :) So we got there, had a burger, and left pretty quickly, because we had to get back to see one of Gina's former 4th graders in a park district performance of "It's a Wonderful Life." It was cool--Nathan, you'd have loved it, because it was done in old-time radio-show style--they were on stage acting into microphones, and they had the sound effects guy and everything. It was really cool and a good time.

Then we decided we were going to Lincolnwood to see some neighborhood where the Christmas lights are like, infamously good every year. We spent an hour looking for the damn things before we finally found them, but they were pretty. We actually spent more time looking at the houses than the lights. :) Some of those places are just nuts. But there was one house that was a Frank Lloyd Wright-style house that was just BEAUTIFUL. We both liked it a lot...but it wasn't your typical, low-to-the-ground FLW house...it just had some major characteristics--porch, wide eaves, big windows in the front, vent windows under the eaves on the sides of the house. It was very pretty.

We then hung out here and I showed her a bunch of pictures, and we talked and talked and talked. We've been very open and communicative about our relationship and where it might be going, and I love that. We're not boyfriend-girlfriend at this point, but we're "working on it," if you will. There's plenty to hammer out, as many of you know, in relationships. So we're taking our time, since there is no real rush anyway, right?

I'm probably now going to go visit Donna at the hospital and visit PolishBasia and Starbux Princess at, where else, Starbux. :) Then, later, who knows what's going on? :)