Today marks the just-past-halfway-point of my two lovely weeks of freedom and the "Things Corinn Wishes She Was Doing Instead of Her Homework".  This weekend was fairly uneventful (after Friday's surprise), so there isn't much to say.  Ray had to work all weekend so I spent most of it relaxing and doing nothing in particular.  On Saturday I met Jami, Tonya and Danielle for some lunch and a screening of He's Just Not That Into You.  We figured it was a good girls' outing on Valentine's Day and went early to try to avoid the rush of romantic dates.  Boy, were we wrong!  The movie theatre lobby was incredibly crowded, mostly with families, and the line at the Majestic 10 strechted past the escalators.  It moved pretty quickly and we only missed most of the previews.  The movie was good, and we all enjoyed ourselves very much.

After the movie I ventured to Price Chopper, another crowded location, to purchase dinner supplies.  Since Ray was working all day, and since he sent me such a sweet Valentine's Day surprise, I figured the least I could do was make him some dinner.  Not being much of a cook, I wanted to create something that was special, yummy and that I was unlikely to screw up.  I spent some time combing the Weight Watchers recipes, and finally settled on Baked Shrimp in Lemon Butter Sauce.  I decided this would be good over pasta, and that I could just make regular tomato sauce with meatballs for myself.  I also opted for some chocolate mousse for dessert.  In the end the meal turned out well (at least that's what Ray said) and it was nice to spend a relaxing evening at home.

Sunday I was far less productive.  Ray had to work again, so I figured that getting things done around the house was the way to go.  I didn't get much beyond doing the dishes and the laundry.  I had turned the TV on while folding laundry, and became completely absorbed by The Godfather: Part II. I have seen The Godfather, but neither of the sequels, and seeing how it won a few Oscars I figured it was worth checking out.  On TV it took 4 hours to watch.  I watched the entire movie, and I have no real idea what was going on.  If you are a Godfather fan and can explain it to me - I'd appreciate it!

Now back to the topic at hand: Day 8 of "Things Corinn Wishes She Was Doing Instead of Her Homework".  Today was all about The Outlander series. This is a series of books written by Diana Gabaldon which I got hooked on last summer.

I was looking for book recommendations for the very loooong plane rides we had ahead of us on the South Africa trip.  Someone recommended Outlander to me.  At first I was intimidated by the size of the book - that's quite a commitment, espeically if I don't like it.  Fortunately it all worked out.  I started Outlander while we were in South Africa, and had it finished by the end of September.  I did most of the reading of Dragon Fly in Amber over the Christmas break I had from class and work in December.  For my birthday this year I asked for Voyager, which I have just barely scratched the surface of.  I was able to purchase the rest of the published series with a little help from a Barnes & Noble Gift Card Danielle, Kat and Andrew gave me for my birthday (thank you!).  The next three will likely keep me occupied for all of 2009. The best part is the author isn't finished writing the series; there are another two books yet to come, and at the rate I'm going, she may have them both published by the time I get there!

I really enjoy these books, and would highly recommend them to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.  They may be slightly more appealing to a female audience, but if you never know.  When I am in class I have almost no time to read anything other than my textbooks, so when I get a break I am thrilled to get to really dive into these books.