My humblest apologies. I realize I haven't updated in 3 months. I think about it every day. Not that anyone really cares, except perhaps my subconscious. 
I essentially took an extended and richly deserved break from a host of projects in order to recompose my mental facilities as well as enjoy the holidays. And I must say I really enjoyed it.
The projects in question are primarily the bathroom, a handful of smaller house improvements, the 'Rag, organizing and correctly tagging my music collection, and cleaning up the basement. All t hings that permanently reside on my 'Thing s I Have to Get Done" list. But after 5 long years of constant house renovations, going to night school, devoting 
attention to and raising kids, and all the other things like spending time with my wife and working a day job, I took the opportunity offered by the holidays to take a hiatus. And I thoroughly took advantage of the respite. I took the bull by the horns, jumped on for a ride, and didn't look back the china shop tasks that layed in his wake. Playing with my kids on a normal basis is a real treat. It certainly tops my "Things I Enjoyed Doing While Not Thinking About My Things I Have to Get Done" list. While of course draining, exhausting, and time-consuming, it made for a better choice over telling Larisa to leave the house with kids so I could focus on some kind of unending task. My brain needed a healthly dose of belly-hurting laughter, sophmoric antics, and general silliness.
In
addition, it gave me time to focus energies on the holidays and give support to my wife while she transitioned to a new job and and also lend moral support to her mother as she got a much needed knee replacement. And through all that, we endured the scheduling and monetary hardships of 3 birthdays, Christmas (and hosting Christmas dinner to Larisa's Dad and my sister), a couple of show-stopping snow storms, and a 2 week bout with a nasty cold/fever double whammy. Ellie and Lyla got the brunt of the latter, back to back, a week each. I was forced to use the remainder of my vacation time which I 
had hoped to finally take the week off between Christmas and New Year's for the first time since I started working my most recent job. While staying at home from work is nice, taking care of sick kids ain't no vacation I ever heard of, if I can paraphrase Jules from Pulp Fiction. And for 
historical record, Elora is the best sick kid ever, laid back, calm, and no complaining. Lyla, on the other hand, was a nightmare.
But during this time I traded in my personal obligations for more enojyable pasttimes besides just rabble-rousing with my progeny. I played TONS of video games, mostly Team Fortress 2, while also finally catching up on games, now considered old-school, I never got around to playing, such as Psychonauts, Metroid Echos, and Shadow of the Colossus. It was bliss. I loafed, I lounged, I surfed and browsed, and ultimately relished in my ointment.
I closed out this 2 month period of bitter-sweet misery, sloth, gluttony and amusement with my birthday week. I started with a bang by going on an epic snowshoeing trek with my friend Mike in the Catskills. The entire trip rocked as we traded listening to music on our phones on the road, camped the first night in a campground and warmed our bones with a roaring fire and good beer, and hiked the next 2 days into the Catskills wilderness, ending up at one of the most awesome campsites I have ever had the pleasure of 
pitching a tent on, where we spent the coldest night I have ever encountered on my trail travels (somewhere around -15 deg F). After that, I took 2 days off from work to play with my kids and rounded off the whole whirlwind tour with a really fun lunch out with my parents and some of their friends. It was a most enjoyable birthcation overall and a fantastic way to end the 3 month sabbatical.
"Well, I'm back."
As Always...a much anticipated reading of the Justin blog and I was not disapointed! I love your writing! Crafted carefully and very readable..nice to see the beautiful scene at the end as well! I'm jealous cause I couldn't have been there..
I'm glad to see that your priorities of kids/family are first and foremost with you..after all, your best friends are and always will be your family...Larry's Mom always said to me..
And thank you for letting Larisa be with Larry while I was off in some other world! I know how supportive you are and do appreciate it!
Posted by: Sue Stewart | February 06, 2011 at 08:03 PM
Loved all the pics included!
Posted by: Sue Stewart | February 06, 2011 at 08:05 PM