I’ve broken every rule about what web pages should look like in the last few days. I’ve changed my design daily and have animated images. But, you know, I’m having fun with it, so I don’t see any point in pretending to be sophisticated about it.

I am who I am, and I can’t see any point in trying to be a sophisticate that I’m not. I like to play with design and graphics and it reminds me of rubber stamping. It’s fun. I need fun.

If I was trying to sell something it might be a different story, but for myself, at this time in my life, it’s a way to play.

I don’t play enough.

I forgot to mention that I got my beautiful new diamond and sapphire ring. It really is gorgeous.

And very distracting. I keep watching how the light catches the stones. Not too bad a thing to do if I’m typing, but a bit dangerous to do when driving.

It is the loveliest thing I’ve ever owned.

I picked it up at the jewelers on Tuesday and dropped it off at my parents-or at least tried to-my mother told me I should keep it and wear it.

I didn’t see any point in arguing.

The only problem was that my nails look awful. They are uneven and some are broken about as far down as a nail can break. You know what I mean, the point that makes it hurt.

Clearly I can’t have a fabulous ring and skanky fingernails. So I bought fake ones and trimmed, filed, glued and sparkled them up. I used purple and silver metallic polish. Quite festive and millennium like. The problem here seems to be that the glue does not want to stick to my nails, particularly my thumb, so I keep having to re-glue.

I kept the glue in my pocket all day as a precautionary measure.

Today was "loot for the teachers" day at school. The kids give us presents, often expensive ones. I got gift certificates for Barnes and Nobel, Blockbuster, a local restaurant; Christmas ornaments and plates; and huge boxes of chocolates. It always amazes me. I taught the upper grades for years and we rarely got presents, so I didn’t expect this when I transferred to elementary school.

An unexpected perk. And awfully nice.

Tonight was Girl’s Night Out. Six of us went to a very expensive seafood restaurant called "The Sole Proprietor" (clever name, huh?), then to see a musical called "The Paisley Sister’s Christmas Special". The restaurant was too crowded and the woman who had invited us made reservations in the smoking section.

I thought that that was incredibly rude and two of us have really severe allergies and have a difficult time tolerating smoke. It made the dinner less pleasant, coupled with the fact that the section was practically in the bar and was so loud that we couldn’t hold a group conversation through dinner.

I had baked stuffed fish, which was delicious. I also tried a drink called a "Cosmopolitan". I ordered it because I liked the glass it came in. It was basically tasteless and too expensive. It was disappointing.

The play was a hoot. It was about four sisters who were a singing group (think King Sisters or Lennon Sisters) in 1964 and having a live television special. Their sponsor was a plastic company that made items such as asbestos dresses and girdles that rearranged your inner organs so you could be thinner and stop wanting to eat.

There were some very clever songs, my favorite being one that one of the sisters sang to her son who was celebrating Hanukkah with his father. It contained lyrics like "Baruch na toi, and fa-la-la-la-la" and "it’s not just Santa, it’s the Fiddler on the Roof". I howled.

It was a good night in general.

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