The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

It's amazing how crazy these past six weeks have been, the past couple in particular. I suppose most people's schedules get overloaded around Thanksgiving and Christmas, to the point where, in a panic, they look at the calendar and say, "Wait... I just scheduled a half-hour lunch get together for Tuesday! I don't have a half hour to spare! Where did all my time go? Dammit! Where did I put my eggnog?" However, not only did things get hectic for me around the holidays, my brother, sister-in-law, and niece flew into town for a week and a half just two weeks after Christmas. So, between catching up and spending quality time with them and the rest of my family, looking after my niece at times, and my 2-year-old Siberian Husky always around contemplating about taking a baby toy into the backyard, it has been quite the enjoyable, yet draining week and a half, six weeks overall. For as sad as I was to see them travel back home, however, it will be kind of nice to get back...

Sorry for the temporary layoff, regular readers (and newbies alike). The past week has been anything but a good one for me, and I needed some time away. Between discovering one of my best friends had been using me, before confronting her on matters and being blocked in the end, to at least temporarily breaking up with my girlfriend of close to a year, to my back being all out of whack, to straining the thenar eminence muscle in my right hand, and feeling kind of burnt out, I needed some time away from the computer to relax and have some me-time. But, I'm back, and so long as my back and right hand allow me to do so, I'll be back to writing this week. Thanks for your patience. Alright, here we go...