First off: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. There has been a pile of stuff and I will try and cover most of it in the next few paragrahs. If I forget something, I’m sorry. But its been so long since I’ve updated, I simply don’t remember what all went on.

First off, December 23rd, Shannon, Me, and our group all got together for our annual group dinner. Almost everyone made it out this year. We missed Jeffy and Dan. Hopefully they had a good time with their respective holidays. Was great having Rob back in Canada for Christmas. Always nice when he makes the trip home. And Markus and Tracy even made it out. Nice they the doctors finally figured out why Tracy’s been so sick. Hopefully now they can finally treat them, and we will see them more often!

The next 3 days were somewhat of a blur. Marathon holidays were in full action again this year. 

    Christmas Eve: Shannon and I went to Mary Jane and Dave’s house for dinner. I left to Uncle Shoupies and Aunt Linda’s for our evening of finger food and laughs. Shannon joined us a couple hours later

    Christmas Day: First thing was off to the Shoups to open presents with my Moms side of the family. Once finished up, we flew into Hamilton to her Mom/Dave’s house for presents and ho ho festivities. After that, we headed over to her Dad and Cathy’s house for presents and dinner. After stuffing our selves yet again, we packed up, and headed back up #6 highway back to the Shoups for another turkey dinner. Then SLEEP.

Boxing day, I got up and went to work at ALNC. Was fairly quiet for the most of the part. Shannon went with my parents to Uncle Mike and Aunt Debbie’s for dinner. After work, I joined them in Fisherville. Migraine and all. Then back to the Shoups again for more laughs, leftovers and fun. And then back to sleep.

Sleep was much needed for my next week. With Ian away for the holidays, and Albert refereeing, I offered to work any and all available hours. 60-70 hours or so was the total from Monday – Saturday. Not to bad eh? Pay cheque was nice. 

New Years. Shannon and I had most of the crew over for a small new years feast, drinks, and several hours off a goofy little game called Trivial Pursuit – 90’s Edition.  At the stroke of midnight, I kissed the woman I love and wished her a happy new year.

New Years day, we headed out to Uncle Brett and Aunt Val’s place for a new years/birthday dinner.

Not bad for a week worth of events eh? Before I continue on with any other updates, I would like to say a heart filled thank you to everyone for making this holiday season as great as is was. We had enough fantastic food, and time with family and friends to keep a smile on anyone’s face for a very long time. Thanks again!!

Next on my agenda is car updates. My beetle is still over at its temporary home. Alex and Paul’s place. They have been steadily working on the beetle since December 11, making some decent progress with straightening and metal work. Hopefully in the next month or so the car will finally be painted and back in my garage where it belongs so I can get the thing together and back on the road! HERE is my progress page for the bug. Feel free to check IT out and see how things are coming.

Spent some time this week re-doing the stereo system in my MINI. It sounded OK before, but I wanted some space back and to have the ability to remove the sub box for those days when I need to carry stuff. After some hunting around, I found out there is a large cavity under the passenger seat. That cavity is now the new home for my amplifier. HERE are some pics of the install if you are interested. Also installed and activated is my Sirius Satellite adapter which I got for Christmas from my Parents.  Overall , the sound quality is MUCH better now. No more alternator whine. And lots more space. Very happy.

Lastly, as many of you have noticed, there hasn’t been any updates lately. More importantly, there hasn’t been a website. Well, my router has been a pain in my ass for a month or two now. Dropping connection, etc. I finally gave it the boot and bought a new one. Wireless is much quicker now (went from B -> G) and more importantly: It works. Hopefully no more downtime.

As I’ve been typing for quite a while now, I’m getting a cramp in my arms, so this is the end of todays updates.