So, Did Ya Miss Me?

Well, I am finally back home again, and, yes, back to my old bloggish ways. As you can see, I didn't do any updates while I was away... Actually, it was kind of interesting to experience a week or so during which my only medium of communication with my fellow human beings involved the transmission of compression waves through air, usually without the intervention of any electronic devices at all. It was strange, very strange, but it made for kind of a nice change of pace.

Anyway, the trip went very well... We were plagued by some unfortunate health problems, though. I came down with a moderately nasty cold (which I've still got, annoyingly enough). I blame airplane germs, thought I'm sure the damp, chilly Northwestern climate didn't help, especially given that I'm a fully habituated desert dweller these days. That's nothing, though, compared to the plight of my poor stepfather, who's been having major attacks of back pain. It was bad enough that they (meaning my stepdad, my mom, and my grandmother, who all made the trip up from California by car) decided to cut their stay short and head back the day after Christmas. Here's hoping something can be done for him. To say that the experience looked to be No Fun At All would be a massive, massive understatement.

Otherwise, though, things were pretty good. We did the family Christmas thing, with much frenzied shredding of wrapping paper and all the usual attendent chaos. I got to see my little nephew, who has, indeed, metamorphosed into a recognizable (if tiny) human being since I saw him last. Did some shopping. (OK, far too much shopping, as my bank balance can now attest.) Got out for a couple of brief trips into the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest. And I got to hang out with my sister and her husband, which is really cool, because we have a lot of interests in common and generally have no trouble thinking of fun things to do together.

I could go on and on, because I do, after all, have a week's worth of blogging to catch up with. At some point, I'll undoubtedly talk about The Two Towers (which I did catch right before I left), and about what it's like sharing a house with a one-and-a-half-year-old for a week, and about what I bought with the Powell's gift certificate my sister bought me for Christmas. But I'm tired and mildly brain-fried at the moment, so that'll all have to wait.

Meanwhile, some statistics to amuse you: 308 e-mails arrived while I was gone, meaining that I now owe e-mail to approximately half the known universe. And this blog got lots of hits while I was gone, but at least half of them were from people looking for nude pictures of Legolas, with a fairly significant percentage of the remainder looking for nude pictures of Gigi Edgley. I'm almost disappointed by that lack of creativity, but I suppose that's what happens when you don't update.

And that's about it for your resumption-of-normal-blog-service message. Hope everybody's holidays have been happy! Catch ya later!