I'm back!

Wow! Its been a week since I last posted and I didn't even realize it. Things have been quite busy since then, but I'll try to catch you up a bit.

As I mentioned last Tuesday, it was my Birthday and it turned out to be a very good one. Shari made me dinner (see the recipes on her blog here) and gave me the TV series Undeclared on DVD and The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden (see Shari's post here). In addition to Shari's gifts, I got a bunch more pop culture stuff from Robyn and Jason - A Homer and Plopper Simpsons figure, a Kate (from Lost) action figure, and a gift card that I used towards Seasons 2 and 3 (Part 1) of Entourage. My parents totally shocked with with a very nice, brand new digital camera which I'll have to post the details of later when it is in front of me. In collusion with my parents, my brother, Jim, ordered a camera case for me, but it hadn't come yet, so he'll have to send it to me. I'm excited about spending some more time with all of these gifts now that things are slowing down again, and I'll share more in this blog as I do so. Overall, it was a very good Birthday - Thanks to everyone who was a part of it!

Moving on from Tuesday, Shari and I spent from Wednesday to Sunday with my parents and brother in northern New York (Ogdensburg). Shari did a great job of posting about the details of this trip, so rather than restating everything, I'm going to again direct you to her post. Overall, I would say that we had a great time while we were there, but the 7 hour car trips on either end are always a bit much.

Since returning on Sunday, Shari and I have done a bit more picking up around the house, but a majority of my time (including 2 very late nights) was spent finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will say that the book was very good. In my opinion, it was a fitting conclusion to the series. I may post more on this topic later, but for now, that will have to do.

Ok, I think that catches you up on the main points of the last week. I'll fill in more details as this week progresses.