Welcome to 2008

Happy New Year to everyone!

Sorry I've not made any updates in so long. My resolve to write continuously in a journal always fades with time. I guess I should just accept that I'm not a consistent blogger and be happy with that! All in all I have a hard time forming habits – which is good and bad depending on what you're considering.

My holidays went really well and it was great to get to spend time with my family and friends. Our trip to Toronto got put on hold (indefinitely – maybe next year?), so I just passed the weekend with Lindsay and Danielle in Toledo. It was still a good time, and most importantly I got to see them and Libby, just fresh from Spain and looking mighty fine. I'm very proud of her. She too found that the Camino can really make you think about life and see that perhaps your immediate future decisions aren't necessarily the best or only options. She'll do just as well I'm sure.

Christmas was a joy. Mom bought me an iPhone which I'd been coveting since returning home, and now all I have to do is pay the $70/month phone bill. No matter – it's well worth having the little device. A Phone, music, e-mail, web access, weather, stocks, text messaging, a camera, and more. That's a lot for something that's not much bigger than a deck of playing cards.

The rest of my family and my friends got me some great and in many cases very useful gifts as well. A huge box of household goods/cleaning supplies from my grandparents – who also have re-stocked my supply of socks and underwear much to my pleasure – an espresso machine, books, bar stuff, fantastic J. Crew boxers from Hannah, and gift cards. I'm very grateful for everything.

I saw Charlie Wilson's War on Monday with Dan and thought it a very good movie. I like Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman even more so. Julia Roberts took on an interesting religiously driven fundraiser from Texas with an up-do. Very interesting indeed.

I really love our neighborhood and the surrounding area. Shaker Square is less than 5 minutes away and they have a cinema, shopping, and food there. In Coventry there's always something going on, but the streets are generally quiet at night. I'm really pleased with the apartment we moved into, and though we'll look for something in the spring before our lease is up, if nothing presents itself I won't mind staying one bit. If feasible I'm going to look at purchasing something.

Politics have also been relatively exciting lately. The Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries are over, and still there is no clear leader in either party. I'm really interested to see how this continues to unfold for everyone, especially people like Gulianni who has taken the approach of winning over larger states rather than the initial more influential ones. Good idea? Bad idea? I suppose we'll see.

That's all I've got for the time being.

R