New year updates

I apologize to my readers - I've not been a faithful blogger of late!

It's been a fantastic Holiday season, and wonderful start to the new year. Hosting Christmas Eve for my family went great - we all had a good time together catching up and celebrating Christmas. As usual, our traditional Evil Thievin' Game provided many laughs. A good time was had by all :) If you're on Facebook, look me up; I've put a few pics there from the evening.

Christmas weekend, I met up with my brother Shaun & his family for some skiing & snowboarding. We met up in Duluth, and then caravaned to The Porkies in Michigan's U.P. Again, a grand time had by all - I snowboarded all day Saturday, and then returned to The Cities on Sunday, but the conditions on Saturday were awesome. Nice temps (high 20s, no wind) and the snow was in great shape. I think I'll start making The Porkies an annual trip - I really enjoy it there!

New Year's Eve was a quiet one - I was still behind on sleep from the previous week/weekend. I fell asleep on my couch well before 10 pm. Pretty lame, I know, but it's all good.

The new job is working out very well - I'm getting settled in, and I'm very much enjoying it so far! A nice bonus is that I've been issued a work laptop and full capability to work remotely, so I'll be able to take advantage of that a couple days a week once I'm fully up & running. The extra pay isn't bad either ;)

I've been reuniting with more & more old friends (grade school, high school, USAF, others) via Facebook - that's a true blessing. I'm a happy camper! We had a grade school mini-reunion just prior to Christmas, and it was a hoot! It's been a lot of fun to catch up with folks. Hit me up if you are on it.

The new house is still working out just fine - the squirrel makes an occasional appearance when it's warmer out, but he's been otherwise quiet.

I broke down and bought a treadmill recently for wintertime running. I am a complete & utter wimp with cold-weather running, and I just couldn't take it any more. The treadmill is allowing me to get back on my desired training regimen, so I'm excited about that.

I'm reading C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity now, and I'm finding it very engaging. I'm a born & raised Catholic, and still consider myself that, but I've long struggled with the dogma of the Catholic Church as an institution. There's much about it that I have issues with. In my recovery, I've rediscovered a wonderful new spirituality and have (what I consider to be) a genuine & personal relationship with God, but I haven't yet tied that back into my Catholic faith, which has been a bit frustrating. I don't let that frustration take away from my relationship with God, but I'd eventually like to tie my spirituality back in with religion. I'm not there yet, but Mere Christianity is helping me to start bridging some of those gaps - a back-to-basics approach, if you will. So far, so good. Just as with my recovery, the keys to my ongoing spiritual development are Honesty, Open-Mindedness, and Willingness.

Life is good these days - really good. I have much to be thankful for! I hope your new year is also off to a great start!
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Now playing: massive attack - what your soul sings