Today is my niece Laura's birthday. It's hard to believe it's already been four years since her birth.

Let me tell you, Laura is sharp. I'm constantly amazed at how quick she is, and her verbal skills never fail to impress. If there's a four-year-old sensible drama queen running around on the face of the earth, she's probably learning a lot from Laura. Andy and Emma couldn't ask for a better older sister. I'm looking forward to the birthday party this weekend.

In other news, I bought The Return of the King on DVD yesterday and immediately watched it (with a quick break to attend the PFLAG meeting). It's a good movie, and I felt a little weepy near the end... again.

I also loved the Lord of the Rings "supertrailer" they added. I'm a big fan of movie trailers, so seeing one for the entire trilogy was a bonus. Now I just have to count down the days to the release of the expanded edition on DVD. I'm not going to be happy until I see Saruman's staff broken.