Weekend Update: Friday I took my last exam in databases and met with Professor Xie. Arxan was considerate enough to give me the day off to prepare for and take my exam.

That evening I went out with Cretia. She and Scott had some manner of argument that morning, and she was looking to get away from the situation. So we went to a restaurant out in Deliverance (a.k.a. Battleground Indiana) called TC's. I had some very excellent catfish there and I got to meet several of the teachers that Cretia works with. In the middle of dinner Scott showed up and followed us to Scotty's even though Cretia refused to speak to him. It was kinda creepy. I understand that he was upset, but he just did not seem to understand that Cretia needed a little space.

On Saturday I prepared my house for the oncoming onslaught. Early in the day I did some Christmas shopping. My will broke and I spent a hundred dollars or so on myself. I spent the afternoon shopping for gifts. I got a fair amount done. I managed to clean the house, do laundry, and decorate before the evening was spent.

Sunday was the big day. I spent the morning making final preparations. By 17:00 or so people had begun to appear at my house for John's Christmas gathering. My network stood up to the strain and a great deal of Starcraft was played. At 19:00 my parents arrived at the party (long story). I hopped into my suit and we drove downtown to Sarge Oak for a delightful dinner with Professor Dunsmore and Terry. I strongly recommend the Toad Hollow pino noir. It is very tasty.

It was excellent to have people who supported me through grad school in different ways present at the same dinner. I cannot measure how much I owe each of them for helping to preserve my sanity. After dinner everyone went their separate ways and I returned to the Bacchanal at my home. There was gaming and drinking until the early morning hours.

Today I was very tired, but I got a lot accomplished none the less. Thanks to Dulaney I discovered a lot about checksum and anti-debug guards that I did not know before. This evening I went over to Terry's to help him with the cabling and furniture movement required for his new AV equipment. After everything was set up we opened some wine and began watching Sports Night (which is a fantastic sitcom by Aaron Sorkin of West Wing fame). The wine was very tasty and a good time was had by all.