2001-01-03 - 0:31

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Did ya miss me? Heh. Okay, so I am back in Ottawa after a week and a half in Halifax . . . well, more Lewis Lake than Halifax, to be technical.

As expected, it was a very relaxing, enjoyable trip; although it was not without its snags. For starters, I discovered that two of my N64 games are missing and presumed stolen. It was kind of a drag losing Mario Kart, since that was about the only game that I used to play with both my brother and my old man; and I was planning to get a few races in over Christmas. I'm still somewhat bitter about that one.

The other notable flaw in the trip was illness. I started feeling sick on the 23rd and I was essentially out of it until the 26th, which killed some of the festivities. On Christmas morning, I got up and did the gift thing and then went back to bed for four or five hours. Ah well . . . what better place to be sick than home, with someone to take care of you?

Apart from those problems, the rest of the vacation was great. I got to see the relatives a few times, which was good. A couple of the cousins are very cool; and I enjoyed seeing them and the rest of my mom's family again.

Of course, the highlight was simply being back home with the folks and hooking up with my brother. Having done a little work at the airport back in the day, I felt like I was back in familiar surroundings from the moment I touched Nova Scotia soil; and that comfortable feeling lasted the duration of my visit.

I found some time one day to walk around the lake, snapping quite a few pictures. Oh yeah, I will have some new pictures on the Jambalaya site soon (tomorrow perhaps); but it'll probably be the kind of thing that I do more for my benefit than anything else. I mean, the lake and the house and the dog mean a lot to me; but I don't know if they make for riveting film.

I also hooked up with the crew from school--Stefan, Liam, Richard, and Sheldon--which was great. As always, that mix meant that I was laughing pretty much the whole night, although I also think that we got in more serious conversation than I usually have in a month. In a way, it's too bad that everybody has gone their separate directions; but such is life, I suppose.

Now that I'm back to work, I guess I'll have to settle into a more reasonable schedule. After staying up until 6:00 AM on New Year's Eve (I went to a party with my brother and his girlfriend, who was very nice), I had to wake up at 5:00 AM this morning to catch my plane. "Homer sleep now."

Okay, I could add more; but I won't try to fit two weeks of missed journalling into one entry. By the way, I noticed that almost every journalist that I read also took time off from their journal for the holidays, so I figure that I'm in good company. In any event, I can let some details go and simply say that it was a very comfortable, enjoyable Christmas at home with the family.

Some things are also new in this town. For one, Aaron surprised me again with a free hockey ticket, this time for a corporate box. Sweet! Also, I got to meet the latest new roommate; and he seems like he'll be easy to get along with. It should be a good term . . . now I'm just waiting for Nikolai to arrive and fill the apartment.

So, Christmas was great; and 2001 definitely should be coo'. Life is good.

J.