After going to the gym on Friday afternoon to do an intense cardio workout ... I felt like taking in a movie instead of going home right away. And take in a movie I did ... whoa! Went to see "LOTRs - Return of the King" and it was absolutely amazing. Totally brilliant! I've read the LOTRs trilogy 3 times over last 15 years. Love the books! Tolkiens style with the written word flows like sweet honey. Naturally there are many scenes or storylines from the books that were left out of all three films. Wouldn't be possible to include everything or the films would be a helluva lot longer than 3 hours. [There are "extra" scenes in the Directors Cut DVDs.] In this final film of the trilogy the acting, directing, cinematography and costumes were wonderful. [Wouldn't mind wearing some of Arwen or Eowyn's pretty gowns.] The special effect visuals were on a scale I'd never seen before and mind boggling. I adore Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf, Elrond and Merry. Many scenes from this film are fantastic and too many to mention here. Nope, I won't give the ending away, but this I'll say, from the bottom of my heart I loved it. Wanted to stand up, cheer and applaud. Peter Jackson is a genius! My advice to all is rent the first two films of trilogy and then go see the third in cinema. You'll not regret it for one moment.

Its been two months since my last volunteer visit up to the Yonkers ferret shelter. I do so miss the wee ones. Joanne mentioned that December is always a busy month for her, as it is for me with the holidays. Went up to Yonkers early yesterday afternoon and took taxi to shelter [ie: Joannes home]. I brought up Xmas gifts for Joanne, as well as Aliza and her daughter Briana [whom I saw later that day]. Also brought up some items for the shelter. Joanne and I caught up on news from last two months, while I hugged her pets [ie: dogs & cats], before heading into the ferret shelter. [During those two months Joanne adopted out 7 furkids.] Took care of two playtime shifts of furkids, some of which were very young and hyper. Did my usual chores of filling waterbottles and grooming the furkids. Joanne also showed me how to syringe feed [no needles] one of the furkids who is abit ill & lethargic. Also got to give some loving cuddles to the regulars ... my fav little darlings [ie: fuzzbutt, oliver, willy & emily]. During a brief teatime, which was interrupted by several calls to Joanne about taking care of stray birds, I got to meet the new addition to the house. Joanne, her daughter Liz and granddaughters have adopted a new little puppy, whom they've named Mikey. Such a cute, happy, energetic little pup. Aliza, Briana and Frank [my first time meeting Aliza's hubby] stopped by at 4:30pm. So did a NYC couple with daughter to pick up their ferret. Joanne was ferret-sitting the wee one while these folk had gone away on Xmas vacation. They seemed like a nice family and their ferret was so happy to see them. Sniffing them all and giving kisses. After they left the group of us [Liz and her two daughters joined us] socialized for awhile, exchanged more gifts and then Aliza drove me to #4 subway at Woodlawn. Aliza and I agreed that this would work out better for future visits and save me money. The ride down on subway to midtown Manhattan took about 25 minutes. Sweet deal!