Draggin'

So yesterday was my first day back from California. Crazy time. My wife's father was in the hospital and we wanted to see him and help her half-sister with a HUGE storage unit he had filled there. Lots of work. A little sad.

But because I'm determined to be more positive this year, here are the good things about the trip:

* We were able to get away one day to take the kids to Disneyland for the first time. Disneyland is like Mecca for my family and I was so excited to share it with my sons that I barely slept the night before. January is a great time to go because it's not nearly so crowded (although there were still a lot of people and it made me actually fear going there when it was busy). We were there when the park opened and stayed until it closed. 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. HOLY COW! Lots of fun. Andy proved himself to be the crazy one. He went on every ride (he even stretched himself to meet the 46-inch requirement to go on Indiana Jones). He loved it. He ended each ride with a scream, "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" Alex was not such a big fan. It was really my mistake. The second ride we went on was the newly redone Space Mountain and it scared him silly. The next one was the Matterhorn and he actually really liked it except at the very end as we we getting ready to get out, he was resting his chin near the front bar and our bobsled bopped into the one ahead and he hit his nose on the bar. But the place is still magical. I loved it.

* We got a new van. We are buying it from my father-in-law. Which meant, of course, that I had to drive it back from L.A. which meant ...

* I got to go to Vegas. Of course, I had no money and no energy which limited my craziness, but it was refreshing just to be on the Strip for one night and to play a little Blackjack.

So, I'm back and work. Sore, tired and brain-dead. TGIF!!!