Holiday week wrap-up

• I’m back at work today. I put off requesting my vacation time at the end of the year and as a result I had to take what I could get. I was off Monday, worked from home Tuesday and then was off Wednesday. Now I’m working today and again tomorrow, but I’ll have next Monday off.
  
  
• We took the kids to a screening of “The Polar Express” at the Colonie Town Library last night. Nolan and I saw it last year, but it was the first time for Kris and Thomas. They both loved it.
  
  
• I got together with Aaron and his wife Chris last night and we went to visit our friends Marc and Lynn, who were in town staying with his parents. It was great to meet their baby daughter Mara.
  
  
• Besides Thomas the Tank Engine and the Dukes of Hazzard, Star Wars was also big at our house this Christmas. I got episodes III-VI on DVD (well, technically, the original trilogy was a birthday present) and Nolan got a Star Wars coloring book and the very cool “LEGO Star Wars” video game for his new GameCube. The game is pretty simple for young gamers, but still loads of fun for grown ups too. Kris and I even spent an hour playing it after the kids went to bed one night.
  
  
• I really enjoyed the special Doctor Who episode “The Christmas Invasion.” That had it all going on—humor, drama, action, suspense and some pretty decent FX. The dialogue was also very good, with about three episodes worth of memorable lines packed into one story. I also like the new Doctor, David Tennant. I thought Christopher Eccelston would be big shoes to fill, but after one episode Tennant has me hooked. Can’t wait for the new season to start in the spring.
  
  
• Just before Christmas I finished reading “The Tender Bar.” That was a fantastic book! What was really cool was that after finishing it I went to the computer and googled the author. I quickly found a recent podcast made of a discussion he led about the book during an appearance at a Denver book store. I also found an e-mail address to write to him and tell him how much I liked his book. Gotta love the Internet!