Recently in Family Category

Wow, it's already mid-September! What happened to Summer? It was a good summer and a tough summer in different ways. For the good part, I am having a great time at work in the new position. I think that is a big reason why this summer flew by. I actually look forward to going to work and feel like I am contributing something important to the business.

For the difficult part, my family has been getting frequent flier mileage at the local hospitals. 5 members of my family have spent significant time in the hospital or battling tough illnesses. It has been tough keeping up with everyone, but they are all fighters and are powering through. As I get older and older, it seems that more and more people are needing medical care. I thank my fortune that the most I have been worrying about is random moles and getting to the eye doctor. (I really need to get new glasses!)

Even though it is not technically Fall, the season is upon us. Kids are back in school and Jeff Probst is back on my television. I'm always excited for the new season of Survivor and Amazing Race! My other favorite, Doctor Who is winding down its current season, and it has been an amazing one. Can't wait to see how it all wraps up in a few weeks.

Speaking of a few weeks, it's time to visit the AZ family soon in their native habitat. Hoping the thermometer shows mercy on me since the last time it was well over 110 degrees. From there, I will be making a return trip to the Florida Project for the 40th Anniversary of the Magic Kingdom and the Walt Disney World Resort. It's been 4(!!) years since I have been there, and it will be nice to visit. Being a nerd, I am excited to stay in two new Resort Hotels (despite being denied, yet again, to getting a night at the Contemporary Resort - one day my childhood dream will come true).

I will be taking the iPad for it's first trip (outside of the state - it did go on the trip to Sequoia and Yosemite at the beginning of summer) so I am beginning to get some media transferred to it so I can test the battery. I don't usually do a travel diary for WDW, but depending on what inspires me we shall see.

Now that I have broken my summer log jam, I am going to try and pick up the pace around here for the 5 people that might actually still be reading my site.

Oh - quick site news, I actually made good process on the new Trip Diaries! Just need some long nights to get through it all and then finally it will be done.

I have been super negligent in updating this website over the past few months. OK, stop giggling, I know it has been drifting along for years now..

December is a month that is always dominated by holidays, and in case of where I work, the Holiday Season. Because of the timing of my recent promotion, I was not able to figure out a way to return to Australia to participate as a staff member at the Endovascular Summit that I participated in Argentina in 2009. Next year, the team will be in Slovenia and Puerto Rico so hopefully I will have a better shot of traveling.

I did manage to visit the relatives in Phoenix with Daniel in tow. It has been two years since I drove to Phoenix (last time was overnight with my Dad to visit my brother) and ever since the great Fireball incident in 2006, I always get a bit nervous heading up the grade to Chiriaco Summit. What struck me about the drive was how much the Phoenix Metro area has expanded to the west. It makes the drive a bit less boring since there is less desert, but I do get a bit nostalgic for the less built up days.

Another exciting thing is that I managed to see a movie! In the Theaters! I am actually 2 for 2 since I saw Tangled in November and in December I saw Tron: Legacy. Not going to lie, but I liked Tangled better between the two. However, I really enjoyed the Tron: Legacy visuals and soundtrack and I do hope they make another one. Hopefully the CGI rendering of young Jeff Bridges will be less creepy than it was in this movie. I really hope they get it worked out so they can do a proper 11 Doctors special for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.

Looking back at 2010 altogether, it has been a year full of big changes: New apartment and a new job (although same employer). I'm glad I went to visit Pennsylvania and environs and hope that 2011 will be full of more adventures and opportunities.

It's almost the end of December and I am finally back on track after my whirlwind South America trip. One of the disadvantages of going on vacation in December is that when you get back, you are thrown in the chaos of the holidays with no holds barred. When I returned from Argentina on the 12th, it was raining and cold here in Southern California. Combined with my Buenos Aires allergies and I am sure the long plane flights from BsAs and Miami, I ended up with a cold. I imagine I must have slipped in my Emergen-C intake while on vacation.

At any rate, the first week back was pretty much wasted as I recovered from my head cold. It wasn't that bad of a cold, just enough to make you not want to do anything. I did manage to do laundry, but that is about it. I also managed to make it to the Family Christmas dinner in Carlsbad. It was great to see the gang, even if only 13 out of 28 people showed up. Before too long, it was back to work, and that is always time consuming as the long shifts really make me not want to do much when I am not there. All of this combined to put me behind!

Last week, I finally got off my rear and put together some Christmas presents via iPhoto on the Mac and they came out great! Of course, just like in my UCD days, it only took me a few seconds to discover a tiny mistake, but I am sure the rest of the gift will more than make up for it. More details on the gift after Christmas when people open it.

Tonight, I finally got around to getting the Gorn photos posted from the Argentina trip, and as a result spent a few hours fixing the Gorn Page, since there was no category for South America photos. I checked the archives and its the first re-do of the home page since 2001. Nothing too major just the addition of new categories. I am actually surprised how well the design has lasted. (Of course it could just be me..)

Christmas is almost here and I am looking forward to the next few weeks and am waiting to see what 2010 has in store. I am sure many will agree 2009 was a tough year, so I join the many that hope 2010 will be better than ever!!