So We're Back...

The back half of our vacation was about as "fun" as the first half...My father-in-law caught the stomach virus since we apparently brought it with us. My nasal passages went crazy from the dry weather because I forgot to bring the humidifier for my CPAP with me. And Malcolm got a bronchial infection. Add to that a 3 hour delay in our return trip red eye (for a dog without a seat and a mechanical problem) and this seems like the vacation from hell. Luckily, we have enough fun with the family when we visit to keep things from being as bad as I make them sound.

A quick kudos to Jet Blue for the way they handled the delay in our taking off. When we had to switch planes, the pilot helped Natasha & I gather Malcolm and all our stuff and carried the car seat off the plane.

Of course, now that we're back (and surprisingly with all the crap we ate, both Tash & I lost weight...me 8 pounds, her 10 pounds...now just gotta keep that rolling into the new year), we're trying to get Malcolm back on East Coast time...which has been HELL...

The first night back he slept at his grandparents house so we could sleep. He didn't get to bed until 10:30 and he slept in their bed. The next night we let him run his course and put him in his crib with loads of screaming and crying (something we haven't done in a few months). Tash went to bed and I was up doing some reading when all of a sudden it sounded like the screaming got louder...but not louder in volume, louder in proximity...and then I heard his doorknob turning...

The little bugger, who has spent months climbing EVERYTHING he can, finally climbed out of his CRIB!!! And he knows how to open the door as well...

Our lives as we knew them are over...but of course, they were over far before this event anyway...and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Of course, he also seems to have picked up on the fact that we had planned to wean him off the bottle upon returning from California as he now yells "Bottle" very loudly and can reach the rack on the counter where we keep them (we're trying to find a new place for them).

Anyway...it's the end of 2006 and I'm glad to see it go. While it wasn't a horrible year (meaning nothing truly horrible happened to us thankfully), it was a stressful and crazy year. We're hoping 2007 will be less so.

My annual list of the Best 25/Worst 5 films of the year is currently being put together, but like last year, you probably won't see it for about a month as I'm trying to fill in gaps where I can (Tash & I have a few date nights to go out and see things and we're working on catching up on important films via Netflix & PPV).

As of today I have seen 29 films that came out in 2006. Putting together my bottom 5 was pretty easy. Putting together a Top 10, let alone a Top 25 was really tough. We missed a lot...but we'll do our best to catch up.

Anyway...hope everyone has had a Happy Holiday season so far.

Have a Happy New Year.

Be seeing you in 2007.