Well, I couldn't let a month pass without at least one update, no? :-)

It's December 31st and I have a rare quiet moment at work to reflect a bit. Rain is pattering on the window and not a creature (OK, maybe 5 employees) is stirring at the office.

So what'd I do this year? Lots.

I got married, for one. It feels pretty good being married, and I kind of enjoy being on the sidelines while others do the dating thing. As for marriage itself, it's not something I handle easily, being generally happiest with 12 or more hours a day of alone time, but we're doing OK. Right now we're heading into what will likely be the roughest patch we'll have to endure, speaking from experience. That's the reality of having a baby -- no sleep, no money, no time for each other. I have to keep reminding myself that we can get back to being normal adults again in a few years.

And speaking of having a baby, that's the other thing of note that I did. Well, that Poli did, I should say. Littlest gets more and more adorable every day, smiling, laughing and doing her spasmodic arm-waving thing when she's happy or when she sees us walk into a room. The beauty of kids and babies is that you can entertain them by doing the simplest things -- making raspberry sounds, twisting your face into an exaggerated smile, or just giving them a kiss. No need to watch your tongue or grin and bear people that you have to deal with. I lose myself in her eyes every day.

Musically, it's been an uplifting and disappointing year all at the same time. The bad news first: My original project has been stalled for months now. Everything's half-recorded, sitting on a digital deck somewhere in NDG. The good news: The Celtic band did 30+ gigs this year, and we'll probably surpass that in the first half of this year. Now we just need to put together a CD we can hawk at gigs. Oh, and we played at H*rley's Pub, the premier Ir*sh establishment in Montreal, and got asked back. Not bad for three guys with virtually no experience in this kind of thing.

Work-wise, I did a few things that got noticed and was rewarded with a sort-of promotion to a higher level tech writer position, and was given a company shares bonus. That said, you can see that work is listed as my last accomplishment of note. Frankly, lately the only time I've felt "on" is while playing a song onstage at the pub. The rest of the time I feel like I'm a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. But that's pretty par for the course for me.

Evil Ex news: She and her 20ish-year-old boyfriend of less than a year have been living together and have bought a house that they'll be taking ownership of in early January. I know I've got to hope that she's happy because that's good for the kids, but at the same time, why can't she stop this parade of guys coming through her life while she's got two impressionable daughters to take care of? And if she's going to settle down with someone, why must it be a guy 15 years her junior who I know to have spent at least one night in jail (granted, for public drunkenness, which as my sister pointed out, could have happened to almost any of us)? The kids are happy though, and unlike my Ex, we do not ask them to keep any secrets (they weren't supposed to tell us about the jail thing).

My Christmas was good -- I had the girls for 10 days and it was great to hang out with them. They were extremely excited xmas eve, even though they're now 8 and 11. They helped me make fudge and brownies during the holidays; we went to a museum and to see The Incr-dibles, which, was great. (BTW, am I bad person for having a crush on Elastig*rl -- Mrs. Incr-dible? :-)

Happy new year to all. Hope to write more in 2005.

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