i tried to be a good boyfriend and give erica a special date night tonight, but im pretty sure i failed miserably.
first we went to a quaint little tea room for dinner in romantic main street bethlehem. when we got there, it took about 10 minutes for the waitress to take care of us, even though she was only taking care of one other table. first, she told us we couldnt use the coupon we had, because it wasnt valid on holidays, and their holiday lasts from thanksgiving to new years. oh, gee, thanks. next she tells erica the sandwhich she wants isnt available. so we order the same sandwhich - swiss cheese, turkey, mustard, and tomato on a french baguette. 25 minutes later, our sandwhiches come out. they are long baguettes with big chunks of turkey, no mustard, cheese on the side for whatever reason, and the only tomatoes are on the salad. we put our salad dressing on our sandwhiches to spice it up a little. the sandwhiches were 10 dollars each.
next we went a romantic horse and carriage ride through the town. it was romantic except for the fact that there were a total of 6 people squeezed into the carriage - 2 mothers and their daughters were sitting squished beside us and facing us - practically sitting zipper legged - and they talked the entire time. and the ride lasted about a grand total of 10 minutes or so.
then for fun we went to the moravian christmas putz. erica didnt exactly enjoy that because she was having an asthma attack from the horses.
then we took our free movie tickets to see stuck on you. incredibly dull movie, extremely too long, not very funny at all, and i fell asleep on several occasions.
what a night.
tomorrow we are venturing into the unknown and trying our luck at skating at rockefeller center. holy moly lord help us.

in 10th grade my english teacher had us collect letters from our friends and from ourselves and she saved them and promised to mail them in 5 years. i got mine today and geez what a shocker. it was fun to read the letters but im a little nervous about what i wrote to other people. from the letter erica wrote me and from what other people said, i thought erica and i were dating for a year or two...then i read my letter that said "i've been dating erica for 3 months." that was kinda funny. anyway, it was cool. ummm. yeah. bye.

ps, i woke up at 6:30 in the morning just to post on my blog. SO ENJOY IT.

the day after
another christmas has come and gone. they always seem to sneak up and fly by.
christmas eve was nice. we had a good service at church...it was some unique perspectives that were effectively done and it was enjoyable. some good music. good to see friends. after the service we had our shorb-family-christmas-eve-traditional meal consisting of fondue and shrimp. this year we also were blessed to have 7 dozen hot wings which is what most of my meal consisted. my brother weighed himself in before and after the meal, and gained 5 pounds. it was a very merry christmas eve. we also played a rousing game of apples to apples. have you played it yet? see what the craze is about.
christmas was pleasant. it was one of the first years where i wasnt the first one up having to sit on the couch staring at the presents waiting for the rest of the family to finally roll out of bed at 7:30 in the morning. i must admit im still a little kid when it comes to that.
i got a polaroid camera which im very excited about, and a tascam 4-track recording system which i am excited yet intimidated about. perhaps my little recording of hymns will be a reality in the near future. and i will release it and sell it along with an original polaroid photograph. but that polaroid will jack up the price cuz film is expensive.
i also go the dark days dvd and lots of kids books. erica spoiled me this year and got me a ton of cds. between her and a few others, i received damien jurado's ghost of david and holding his breath, denison witmer's safe away, appleseed cast's low level owl 1, death cab for cutie's transatlanticism, coldplay's parachutes, and godspeed's yanqui u.x.o. wowzers.
but now that i say all this i must admit i am beginning to get a little disconnected (poor word choice, i know) from the whole christmas thing. it was making me a little sick this year...everything it's turned into...how it has been so warped and twisted over the years...and now it is turning into a holiday that cant be properly celebrated because of being politically incorrect. when i was listening to christmas music on the radio, i was kinda weirded out when i took the time to think that all of these songs are about christmastime...does it strike anyone else as odd that we commit whole cd's to the time of the year and everything that comes along with it? not the christmas carols and stuff...but the "its christmastime im so excited lots of gifts and goodies if you're good christmastime is so merry ho ho ho" kinda songs that are actually and only about christmastime. i dont know. and the whole pop stars making money off of christmas carols where they probably dont have the slightest idea of what they are singing, and the wasted money, and the obligation, etc etc etc. call me ebenezer...but...its pretty sad what it has all become. and us christians are quick to throw out the cliches to make ourselves feel better...jesus is the reason for the season, wise men still seek him, blah blah blah...trying to convince ourselves that we arent forgetting christ in all this. but lets be honest, who is really caring when it comes down to it? very few of us. its more about making sure everyone's happy and everyone likes what they got and if this fits or if i like this or if so and so got me something i better hurry out and get something for them and hopefully our house has more lights and looks prettier than theirs next door and dont let the little ones know that daddy actually ate the cookies and not santa and and and and and.......
dont get me wrong. there are few things i like more than the christmas season. particularly just being with family and having fun. but you must admit...it's pretty sick in the end.
sorry for being such a downer. yikes. but think about it, i suppose. enjoy the rest of your break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i forgot to mention i went to see mona lisa smile the other night. it was pretty good.
i was excited to see julia roberts in a movie that wasnt a chick-flick cheesy romance...but then she has this little fling which was disappointing...not only that, but it was a little fling with a complete scumbag. not only was he a scumbag, but girls (ie: erica) cant see that he's a scumbag and think he's the biggest hunk of sweetness around. then his scumbagness is exposed a little later, which helped my case and i was able to say "i told you so"...but for some reason girls are still on his side. i just dont get it.

hi.
im home.
not much to talk about.
it's christmas time which is very exciting.
my cousin is visiting for the break. we'll just say it's interesting and leave it at that.
i've been discovering recently that i have incredibly poor fashion sense, and it's really discouraging. it'd be nice to have good fashion sense.
whatever.
merry christmas.

if you know how to post pictures in blog posts, please let me know how. that would make things a little more fun around here, dont you think?

so, have i mentioned it feels great to be done?? im pretty pleased with my finals week. i worked hard but didnt stress out and it look like i may have nailed straight A's this semester. and although my finals schedule was packed and rigorous, it worked out to the best possible schedule i think. get them all done as quickly as possible in a spaced out manner.
it was good to say goodbye to transitional mathematics, especially, but i must admit that when it comes down to it, that will be one of my favorite classes of my college career. which, after reading the posts here, here, and here, you may find it surprising. but in my mind there are 3 types of college classes. the kind you enjoy because it is laid back and discussion orientented: it's not hard but you learn a lot from discussing and get an A for putting your time in. then there is the kind that you hate because it's a lot of work and really rigorous, but you end up enjoying it because it's worth your time: it's what a college course is meant to be and you learn a lot. and then there's the kind you hate because it's lacking either one of those. trans was definitely a class that i hated because of all the work and because of how challenging it was...but to look back, knowing i got an A or B, i tried my hardest, and learned a lot, it gives you a pretty great sense of satisfaction. dr. case has it going on...he knows how to teach college kids. he expects a lot and has high standards...and in the end it feels good. will i use any of the stuff i learned in there? probably not...but im smarter for it and that's never a bad thing.
this is what im going for.
the treat of the week: 1 mug of coffee, 1 pack of hot chocolate mix, and a candy cane.
im packing up for home and packing up for ft. wayne and we are leaving around 1:00 or 1:30. hopefully the trip wont take too long. we shall see. i cant wait to get home, that's for sure.
have a super day and a great christmas break. things are good. rejoice.

imagine the following being said in small, high-pitched, squeaky, twangy voices, complete with a deep indiana-hick-drawl:

linda: (to me) will you help me beat up on her?
gracie: (tattletale-like) she's manhandling me!...er...whatever...you call...it.

merry christmas from me to you.