The First Hour or So

Good morning, everyone -- and thank you, thank you, thank you for all the birthday wishes I saw on my Friends page! You made me feel very special and loved.

I slept in this morning, but still ended up arriving at Suncoast (the movie store) at the moment the gates were going up, and was the first in line at the counter. (And yes, gothic_coop I wore my pajamas! Under a coat, of course.)

It turns out it's a good thing I ordered my copy of the Extended Edition Gift Set (with the extra disc covering the concert series Howard Shore did, and the model of Minas Tirith) as long ago as I did. They stopped taking orders a week ago. It really is a "limited edition". While "Bob" shuffled through all my paperwork (reservation slip, triple bonus points coupon, ten dollar off coupon, my Replay card, my debit card and my ID) I chatted with the young woman behind me in line. It turns out that her birthday is Tuesday and this is her birthday present. She was dismayed when Bob rang up my purchase and she realized that she was a dollar short, so I pulled a bill out of my wallet and gave it to her.

There were ten people in line when Bob walked me out of the store (the security sensor on the gift packs often does not get deactivated).

So now if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to turn off the computer and go spend 4 hours and 10 minutes in Middle Earth.