Welcome back. I hope the holidays were as kind to you as they were to me. I had a week off and spent all my time with family. I didn't spend any time writing my diary/taking notes, which is unfortunate, because it's all a blur.

My nights were spent watching TV, mornings were spent sleeping in and the days were spent playing video games with my nephews. The game of choice: Halo. It's a first-person shoot 'em up game. I grew up on video games and fancy myself quite the game player but these kids, 7 and 6 (I think), kicked my butt every time. I'm not exaggerating. I was really impressed with their skills.

A few days into the vacation my brother, the nephews and I had a lovely lunch at Benihana. That's the place where you sit in front of a grill and the chef chops a shrimp down your throat. Very good eating, the things that guy did with beef, brought a tear to my eye. Shout out to Brother George for a good experience.

Christmas was really good, it's mostly for the kids now, as I'm 34 and know that Santa really didn't get me squat! That's still a bitter pill.

My Aunt, Uncle and cousin stopped by for a few days. I was relocated from my usual spot but I adapted nicely. I haven't seen my cousin Paul in a few years, always nice to hang with him. He kicked my butt on Game Cube football. I really shouldn't play games anymore; I'm so tired of getting beat!

New Year's Eve it was my Mom, the kids and I. After entertaining them for most of the night I was tired come midnight. Luke and Jake stayed up but they had no idea why. Come to think of it, neither did I. I'm not a New Year's Eve kind of guy. It's 2004, who gives a crap.

One day was spent trying to fix my windshield wiper fluid problem. The problem? You push the button for fluid and get nothing. I put in a new motor and it worked on the driver's side only. After studying the problem for a while, I decided to take the passenger hose off, I mean, who cares if the passenger can't see? A day later I noticed that all of the fluid was on the garage floor. Turns out, the fluid bottle has a slow leak. I sprayed some foam sealant where it was leaking, reinstalled everything and noticed later in the day that it was still leaking. Very frustrating. Reminder to self: You drive a car that was made in 1982. Darn. I worry about this stuff with good reason; When I installed a radio, I thought that was causing my engine not to start, turns out, I just needed a $2400 transmission job. So, Lord only knows what a leak in the washer fluid bottle means!

Mom and I hit the old local casino for some fun. Those nickel slots are very addictive! They have bonus screens when you hit the right combination and when you finally do get a bonus, it's gold. But I really wish they had table games.

My last Saturday in Steubenville I woke up around 7. The car was packed up and I was ready to go. But while I was eating breakfast, I just didn't feel like driving 8 hours. So I stayed another day. I watched Lucas play in a basketball game, they lost, again. But he was pretty good. I'm glad I stayed another day. However, the rainy drive back on Sunday was the worst. Nothing but rain, for 8 hours.

OK, that's it. I leave you today with the last words my niece, Emma, said to me as I walked out the door:

"Goodbye Mr. Pickles."