It's an interesting phenomenon, Blog Entry = Free Time @ Work b4 work gets in the way.

Where to begin? I have a LOT to catch up on, but there is always the spectre of crap to do lurking.

"But why not update when NOT @ work?"

*Scoffs* *laughs*

I did say I had a LOT to update, ergo, when I'm not at work, I'm actually busier.

What tone shall I begin my update with given my lengthy absence?

At present, I'm not stressed, so I'll go the 'well-intentioned' route. Note: This could easily change in the midst of my updating, but I'm sure you can deal.

The house STILL isn't done, yes, you read that correctly, we are all STILL not living there full time as a family yet. This is because the asshole fucktard known as Sebastian Barbagallo/General Contractor and owner of American Tri-State Construction Mgmt. turned out to be a lying, bottom-feeding selfish bitch-prick of a con man. (Remember, I'm in a good mood.)

The whole story I'm saving up for special interested parties once we are done. Suffice it to say, we have a tight deadline to finish all the cleaning, rearranging and details before July because it will be Ethan's 1st Birthday!

Speaking of Ethan, on a personal level, being his Dad is roller-coaster, but it's been absolutely wonderful and easily one of the best things I could have hoped to do. Even now, before he's even a year, there are thousands of stories I could go on about him (when I see him).

Unfortunately, the little guy has had a share of rough times, on Mother's Day - me, being the ultimate lamebrain, took him to bed to read a story to him. Upon putting him down, I moved a stack of clothing in the middle of the bed to put on the side. The SECOND I turned to put the clothes down, he flipped over three times and BOOM, onto the floor. We were freaked out that he landed on his head, but he was fine. Unfortunately, every other hour at night, he was crying and sleeping. We saw that he wasn't weight-bearing, and realized he hurt himself on his leg - a trip to the doctor, then to the radiologist showed a 'toddler's fracture' of the left tibia (shin). Then it was back to the doctor and off to the 'emergency room' where he got a walking cast. Please be aware that we spent an average of THREE HOURS at each stop. Think you're tough? Try supressing your new baby while he screams and cries in your face out of fear and pain for twenty minutes while the techs manipulate his legs for xrays. Add to that, not having his home done, the guilt of being responsible for not watching the little daredevil and being a dunce about Mother's Day on top of it. It was hard to think of a worse time in my life.

The first week he was a little despondent and annoyed that he had this 'anchor' to keep him from zooming around like he used to, but by the second week, he discoverd that he had this neat weapon to kick Daddy in the ribs and face numerous times while sleeping!

On top of that, I guess his immune system took a shot because he developed a little bronchitis and has been hacking for a while, but again, he's doing fine and recovering slowly but surely. In fact, he should be cast (and cough) free in two-three weeks, and then we'll have to decide what kind of restraint system we'll use to attempt to keep him from running amok.

I don't recall when my last entry was, but I started a new job in Feb. 07, it's been .... interesting to say the least, but for the most part it's been stable with spurts of thrills and foolishness, just as any other job.

Career-wise it's been a little slow this year, because of the house, we've been committing as much time as we can to get it set and everyone moved in. Because Ethan isn't there full time yet, he hasn't been able to go to his auditions (yep, he's represented), and I haven't been free to actively pursue many projects due to time constraints.

However, there have been jobs here and there. On the photography standpoint, one of my companies, Clear Aperture Photography, LLC - just shot the layout and models for the up and coming 'Baby Monkey' Infant Clothing Company, and of course, Ethan was a featured principal.

And, of course, it's that time of year again, so I agreed to participate in: The Fourth Annual AAFilmLab 72 hour shootout contest (www.72hourshootout.com). So there is at least one weekend that I'll have some creative work going on that doesn't involve the house.

In the past 6 months, there have been some personal losses as well - those of you who have followed my blogs for a while know that on Xmas, we have a family tradition of going back to MA. and getting together with other family members. I've been doing it all my life. Unfortunately - Honey, the beloved sister of my mother's godmother, lost a very quick battle with ovarian cancer. Our holiday traditions will never be the same, but there is some joy in the fact that Ethan got to meet her the last time we were back.

The other loss was the neighbor of my parents for over 20 years. Ross had passed away due to complications of pneumonia. We last saw Ross and his wife Auntie over the Xmas holiday as well, even though he was depressed due to severe arthritis and a herniated disc, they were glad to meet Ethan and share a visit with us.

I guess you can see that it hasn't been an easy year, but I'm still here and committed to getting back to a good place in life that I can share with my family and friends. So keep posted and checking in!

If it seems abrupt to end, (read) I just got some work I gotta take care of.

*waves* I'll be back!

It's been awhile, needed a big hiatus. Regardless, I hope you all had a great holiday season!

2006 was ... bizarre. It was simultaneously the best and worst year of my life, not to say that it didn't GO anywhere, but rather that I've learned quite a lot about myself and human nature in general.

The best, of course, was the birth of Ethan. He's amazingly wonderful, and the holiday season spent with him, family (and friends) was infinite gushing of joy and happiness. Parenthood does change your life - undoubtedly he was the harbinger of love that we are greatful and proud to be a part of.

The worst, of course, is the construction on the house, which, of course, is STILL not done. The time away from Ethan as well as the fact that our family hasn't had a true home are unfortunate stressors that I'd been bearing all last year.

If we are lucky, we are slated to actually FINISH (*prays*knocks on wood*crosses fingers*) this month and are aiming to move in and be settled for Chinese New Year. If you can believe it, this project has gone from 2.5 months of actual projected construction work to almost 2 years of hell.

I have some new goals and dreams for 2007, but I will have to keep them under wraps for now - the house comes first.

I'll hope to be back posting more than every 6 months! 8) Happy 2007!