catching up

wow, long time no post. let's see...



spent new year's eve watching "Curb Your Enthusiasm", and then teaching Grace & my dad how to play half-life 2 while Ronni and my mom watched "Princess Diaries 2". Mom, Dad, and Grace left around 11. everyone else in the house turned in early, so when the ball dropped i silently made the rounds, kissing peacefully sleeping Ronni, Colin, & Elle in turn. got a little choked up, i was happy to discover.



Colin & i celebrated our birthdays earlier this month. 4 & 34 respectively. mine fell on a sunday. first time in my life that my birthday wasn't a "day off" for me, i think, as we had church. growing up through college, my birthday was always during christmas (or winter, for those among us with pc sensibilities) break, and for some reason since then it's always happened to be a day off too. it was a lot of fun anyway, as i actually enjoy church quite a bit, plus i picked a topic for the sermon that i mainly needed to preach to myself. Ronni threw a family party for Colin & me sunday evening. we are rich in family, almost embarrasingly rich.



Ronni got me the coolest thing for my birthday. a doo-hickey with a dorky baseball cap that lets me naturally look around the virtual cockpits of my flight simulator airplanes by simply turning my head. most of you who read this blog already know i'm a nerd--but if you didn't know it already, just click the link to the video above and you'll know for sure.



new season of basketball started on saturday. we played well as a team, despite showing signs of rust from the holiday layoff. beat last season's champs by 10.



our home group celebrated Kurt Smith's birthday tonight by playing Cranium and eating cake and ice cream. my cheeks are a little sore from laughing so much. my brightest moment? suggesting that we split into three teams of 4 by dealing cards out and making teams based on the suit of the card we were dealt. naturally, it didn't quite work out and while i'm scratching my head as to why it dawns on me...well you know the rest. further evidence that sleep deprivation causes stupidity. or at least brings it to the surface...