...and on to 2006

Well another new year is upon us.

With a fresh new year and a clean slate, I figured we could use a fresh new look and a new name. Since we almost have the whole family registered, I thought the "King's of Cyberspace, unite" battle-cry could be retired in favour of something more in the way of a statement rather than a request. And who doesn't like a nice shade of blue?

And if you happen to see Aunt Cathy around, tell her to get her butt in gear and accept the invitiation to join the Blog, I know she'd contribute great posts. And someone needs to help Aund Judy get registered too. She's keep us all glued to the computer with great stories and musings, I'm sure.

Theresa, how did you enjoy your Holidays?? Glad to make it back to SJ?? How was Regina upon your return?

So it was back to reality today for me. First class of the new semester. Thankfully it wasn't until late this afternoon. I caught a wicked cold, I think from Mrs. DiBartolo, and I've been feeling misserable for a few days. I flew in from Ottawa yesterday at noon and after watching the second NFL playoff game, doing some unpacking and chugging Robitussin I was ready for bed at just after 6pm. Slept through until 6:30 this morning. But would I then get up and make use of such an early start? Hell, no! I went back to sleep until 9. Off to class and now relaxing a bit before what may be another early night.

Apparently while we were all freezing our butts off in our nations capital, Calgary was enjoying early spring. No snow and temps in the 10-12 range all through the holidays!! I could have almost gone to school with no coat today.

Wedding plans are shapping up. At Thanksgiving, we booked the church and the reception hall. This trip, we landed the photographer and ordered invitations. Marielena is still in Ottawa for another week, and is hunting down a DJ for the dance and picking her flowers. Flower girl dresses were ordered yesterday, too, plus Marielena's dress came in early so she got to do an unexpected preliminary fitting.

Last Friday we also got to meet the priest who'll perform the ceremony and went over the results of our little test we had to do. For those of you who haven't heard, at Thanksgiving we had to go to the church and complete what is called a Focus. We were seperated in different rooms and given a question booklet and a bubble answer sheet. Just like taking an exam! There were almost 175 statements that we had to answer with either agree, disagree or uncertain. And, let me tell you, they weren't afraid to ask the tough questions!! It was well put together and I can see how it is a very valuable tool for uncovering some potentialy bad outcomes. There were many questions that were essentially repeats but worded differently. Consistency in the answers shows an understanding of the real issue at hand. There were a number of questions that could draw out hints of abuse in a relationship or suggest that one person or the other was being forced into marriage. I think Theresa would find it very interesting to read through it!

So this trip we met with the priest and he did a brief overview of the results. He was happy to report that we did very well, and it was clear we had excellent communication and were the best of friends. It's official, we're going to get married!!

The pics of Christmas back home are great! Thanks, Dad for posting those and e-mailing them to me. Olivia looks like she thouroughly enjoyed her first real Christmas and is already a pro at tearing open wrapping paper! The celebration at Cathy's looked great. Chris looks amazing; what a happy gathering it must have made this year. I still say she looks a bit like Annie Lennox now. Rock on, Chris!! Wish we could have been there. Thanks again for the Christmas Eve phone call. It was so nice to hear everyone's voices and have a bit of home injected into my Holiday Season. I hope some of you had a chance to see my thank you post here on the blog a few days later. I must admit I was a bit misty while typing that one!

What else is new...hey, the Leafs are 8 pts out of first in their division and a whopping 8 pts ahead of Montreal! That's good news. And doing it all without Lindros and Sundin! Ottawa is still cruising. Went to a local sports bar one night in Ottawa and watched a Sens game on the big screen. That city is pretty pumped about their Sens this year. Calgary has finally caught their stride and is leading their division.

Ok, four words...INDIANAPOLIS COLTS, SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS!!! I've needed another team to follow since the 49ers have brought me nothing but heartache, shoulder slouching sighs and a lot of head scratching for the past five or six seasons. So I decided to become a Colts fan when they drafted Manning in 1998. In the past two seasons, the mighty Colts have had their hopes dashed by that insufferable Tom Brady and his overachieving New England Patriots. Ok, maybe that's harsh, they do have a lot of talent. But regardless. Well not this year, baby!!! The Pats have to contend with a hostile Mile High Stadium in Denver this weekend, and if, and that's a big IF, they make it out of there alive, they have to go to Indy where they'll recieve an even more hostile welcome. And the Colt's finally have the defense to go with that prolific offense. It's Colts all the way in Superbowl 40!!!

So does anyone else in the family watch Formula One?? It's an addictive sport to watch. Alonso to McLaren in 2007?? Does that mean the rumours are true of Kimi going to Ferrari??? One can only shudder at the thought!! How about Alonso AND Kimi in McLaren cars next year?? That would be sweet.

Well, the fact that the purple elephants are no longer flying around the room and singing "Always look on the brightside of life" must mean it's time to take some more medication. Colds suck, plain and simple.

Hope your 2006 is starting off great. Lots to look forward to this year. So, from all of us here, to all of you there...bon nuit.

My you be in Heaven a half our before the Devil knows you're dead, and may you never see the bottom of your glass.

Cheers,
Michael Sean