first day back to work after… wait for it… 14 straight days off. two full holiday fun-packed weeks! oh dear, it’s making you jealous already, i can tell.

but what did i do in those two weeks? well let’s see. i flew to illinois without incident and was welcomed with cold. i had my first opportunity to throw a snowball at my girlfriend. i had white castle twice, pizza twice (deep dish and thin crispy), italian beef once, and more holiday appetizers at more parties than my waistline would care to admit. i’m fairly sure i had a beer 12 out of 14 of those days, often many many more than one. i did NOT puke this year. i lost games of poker, ‘catch phrase’, simpsons’ pictionary, and bowling (on two different nights), but won games of pool and darts and wii tennis and beer pong — although i lost a couple of those as well — and had a ton of fun regardless. i saw high school friends, college friends (one who counts as both!), cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and the movie walk hard, which wasn’t very good. i introduced jessica to the glories of the godfather, and my sister to the joy of getting ‘drunker than i’ve ever been!’ — her words. i got lots of presents and hugs and eventually came home.

once back, we were greeted with warm weather but not our luggage, a long shuttle ride home, and our couch while the luggage got to travel an extra day. we went to a party (in the hills), bought a new computer (at the apple store), fired pistols, rifles and a shotgun (at a gun range), threw a great new year’s party (at our place), made breakfast and cleaned up a big mess (also at our place), then watched the trojans destroy in the rose bowl (still at our place; we were spent).

overall, i could hardly have asked for a better break. it felt so long, i almost didn’t mind going in to work today — i was starting to feel guilty having so much fun.

now that i’m back at a desk during the day and eager to use the shiny new imac at night, all that new years/end of year list/party and trip photo stuff to come in due time. happy new year internet.