Mom and Dad came down for Thanksgiving, and boy, did I put them to work. While I worked Thursday and Friday, they cooked the holiday dinner and assembled furniture for my early Christmas present, a shiny new HDTV. I’d been using the same old Zenith for 12 years, and it worked fine, so I really couldn’t justify getting a new TV. But then I hung out with Rae and Gilbert in Austin and saw how awesome HD is, and I was converted.

The folks and I made not one but two trips to Ikea (Black Friday actually wasn’t too bad; it was Saturday that was a madhouse, so I consoled myself with a delicious cinnamon bun each time). Among the items purchased were a bookshelf/entertainment center, a chaise longue, a chest of drawers, a coffee table and a bookshelf to hold all my yet-to-be-read books that were piling up in the living room.

We also moved much, much furniture downstairs so a local charity can pick it up. But now I have a whole new living room, and it looks twice as big, and I love it.

Before:

After:

Yay.

Big ups also to MR for helping me get the TV up the stairs last week without harming anything or anyone.

Last night we went to a Georgia-Georgia Tech tailgate to catch up with an old family friend. It was ... interesting. Part of me thinks I should have done more of that kind of thing in college, and the rest of me feels a little morally superior for having not. Oh well.

This coming week is all about my boys: On Tuesday, my college pal Josh is passing through town, so he’s going to crash with me. I’m trying not to think about how long it’s been since we’ve seen each other, and I’m alternately fascinated and scared of how we’ve both changed. Should be interesting. Thursday night is the Islanders-Thrashers game with Kyle, and hopefully next weekend I’ll be hanging out with my co-worker Eliott, a brilliant and hilarious guy with whom I’m cultivating a friendship. New friends are always a good thing, especially when they’re cute boys.