Jaysus, it's almost February!

I'm back in Dublin now after taking a month off of work to visit a few people and do a little traveling. Here's a quick update on what happened over the holidays...

First stop was Phoenix, Arizona to surprise my parents for Christmas. It had been a year since I last saw them and that was just too damn long! I arrived late at night so the folks were already in bed. After my Uncle Don (who was also visiting and in on my plan) let me into the house, I knocked on my parents bedroom door. Surprise success! We spent our time catching up, playing a few rounds of golf and enjoying the desert heat. Merry Christmas!

I flew back to Dublin, did a load of laundry and then got back on a plane to ring in the New Year in Austria with Sophie. We spent a good portion of our time in the Alps snowboarding where I experienced a "first" that I could have done without - falling off a chairlift. I was trying to sit down and as I reached back to grab the seat, the seat flipped up exposing the metal frame. As I was cursing I lost my balance and the chair pushed me over, all the while Sophie was getting dragged along the ground until the lifty finally hit the kill switch. I always used to wonder how the hell anyone could fall off the chairlift while trying to get on. Now I know.

Sophie headed back to work so I jumped on a train to Budapest. Spent a week there taking in the sights. It's a beautiful city full of truly kind people. If you visit, be sure and hit the baths for a good, long soak. Before heading home to Dublin, I stopped into London for a few days. Pictures and words to come!

One of my resolutions for 2011 is to take a picture every day for the next year. Check them out here - sunflowerfarmer.blogspot.com

Uncle Don (ee-i-ee-i-o), Me, Mom and Dad