By GlossGreenAh, vacation. That magic word that makes all the stress disappear - if only for a short time. This time for me was 26 days. 26 days of relaxation, fun, and...cleaning the house. Alright, 2 out of 3 isn't bad, and it very well could have been. I think overall this was a pretty good vacation. I admit, it would have been better if we weren't still unpacking the house, or if we did get away for a while, but we can't have everything. So what did I do during my time off? Lots of stuff.
One of the biggest priorities the family and I had for this month was unpacking the house and setting up my wife's studio in the basement. See, she has a tiny bit of artistic talent and really needs her own space to practice her skills. But only a tiny amount of talent? Actually, she has more creativity in her little finger than I have in my entire body. Luckily for my daughter, she inherited her mother's artistic vision. All she got from me was her interest in gaming. I guess it could have been worse, she didn't get my sense of humor. Back to the story, we have the studio almost done. We just have to buy a couple of bookshelves and move a few boxes around, and generally get the space in order. Almost there.
As far as me, I got really lucky this vacation. Right around the beginning of my time off I received a little gift from good ol' Uncle Sam in the form of my tax return and stimulus money. I, of course, had to be a good American and purchase a good ol' American product. I had my eye on a couple of different things, but I finally decided on what to get. I ended up buying an Xbox 360 Elite with Mass Effect, a good purchase in my mind and one I don't regret making. Since then I've downloaded a few demos and games from Live, got about half the achievements in Mass Effect, and generally enjoyed the 360 experience. I didn't neglect my PS3 during this time though. I also got to experience the whole firmware update 2.40 thing. I do currently have the update on my PS3, and luckily, have had no problems with it. Already, I've managed to get almost as many trophies as I do achievements. Not too bad for just starting out.I've also spend a little bit of time catching up with some of my favorite shows. I love That 70's Show. I've even managed to watch a bit of The Family Guy (although I like American Dad better). But the one show I most enjoy? That would have to be Red Vs Blue, I'm up to the beginning of season 5 now. The humor and dialog in that series is great. When I was watching it I couldn't help but laugh, my daughter would just look at me confused when that happened. I'm so hooked on the show I sometimes catch myself talking as Vic/Vic Jr. or Caboose. My wife just looks at me and tells me I'm strange when that happens.
It's been too long since I'd taken time off. I didn't do a whole lot, but I still managed to have a good time. I got a new game system. I let my daughter have the storage shed and make it into a club house. I helped to set-up the actual house. I even got out of the house once. I went to the lake with my daughter and took a few pictures. Vacations are great, I can't wait for the next one.
