--125 days.

--So, it's 2006. Big deal. I resolve to get this cold out of my system in the New Year. I also resolved to get married to a beautiful woman, maybe sometime in the Spring. Other than that, hey, I can't complain. Besides, I don't typically do New Year's Resolutions. They're just big disappointment creators.

--Gina and I booked our honeymoon this past week, with the help of her family's preferred travel agent. We'll be headed to Australia (Sydney, Ayers Rock, Alice Springs and Cairns) for 12 days (two wasted getting there and back though) in late June, early July. How unpatriotic of us to miss the Fourth of July, huh? Terrible. :) Let me say, of course, it's costing quite a pretty penny, but we're both really excited to be able to go and do what we wanted to do to begin with. We're especially glad we'll get to see the touristy part of the Outback, because it was looking like we wouldn't have been able to see that part of Australia. But, we found a sweet deal, well, relatively speaking, of course. So we're psyched, because we probably wouldn't get to do that again in our lives, and I, of course, have done NO international travel in my life other than recent Canada trips. So it should be sweet...really sweet. And we were able to fit it in between everything going on with other weddings and all that.

--Also, guys, clear your schedule on April 22nd. That's bachelor party day. We're starting out (and for some, finishing...weak sauce) at beautiful U.S. Cellular Field, home of the World Champion Chicago White Sox (feels good to be able to add that!), with a Patio Party and half-price seats...for those who don't know, the Patio Party is like, two hours all you can eat, all you can drink or something like that, starting 1.5 hours prior to the first pitch. Then, 30 minutes into the game, you go to your seats and start paying for drinks and food (if you need it). All this for a decent price...Obviously, more on this later...but keep April 22nd open if you're in. They're playing the hated Twinkies, I believe, also.

--I actually recorded every single White Sox postseason game that Comcast replayed over the holidays. So, if you want any of the games, let me know, and you can borrow and copy the tape. :) Unless you're a Cub fan. :)

--Let's see...Christmas was great...got some cool presents. Plenty of clothes, of course. Got The Sims 2 and Civilization IV for my CPU, but I'll probably have to upgrade my video card, which my bro is all over right now. I can't run Civ IV at the moment, and Sims 2 is choppy. So, hopefully we'll get that hooked up soon. Also, let's see...finally got "A Christmas Story" on DVD after years of asking for it for Christmas. :) And, plenty of White Sox stuff was received, including an official Rockford rock painted with the White Sox logo by Eddie's girlfriend, who did an awesome job at it (if you don't understand, that's OK...it's an inside joke anyway).

--I was really happy with the gift I gave my Dad. I mentioned it here before, but not specifically, just in case. I finally, after years of searching, found a 1932 Ford Coupe 5-window plastic model for sale. So I bought it, built it and painted it up like his '32, but the way it was when he bought it back in the '60s. It was an ugly turquoise and white paint scheme, but he's well on his way to getting to the stage where the body will be stripped and repainted, so I wanted him to have more than a faded picture of the way it used to look. He seemed really happy with the gift, so that's all that matters. But, the entire time I was building it, I was cursing AMT (the manufacturer) for how crappy it was. I knew that AMT models weren't very good (i.e., hard to build easily, poor directions, etc.) from previous attempts, but this one really, really took the cake as far as difficulty. It was so, so fragile, it was ridiculous. But, it survived.

--That foray back into model-building has taken me into my newest venture...unimpressed with the offerings and attempts at recreating the Chicago-style brick bungalows that have graced the model railroading landscape, I'm in the midst of kitbashing (industry "lingo" for "building from scratch" more or less) at least one, probably two, bungalows. The one I'm currently working on is based on the city's Bungalow Initiative design models, and once I get the hang of it, I'll probably work on reproducing my grandparents' bungalow from photos and memories (and, if I can find anything at the library on it, though I don't know when I'd actually go to the library). The bungalows at the Museum of Science and Industry's HO layout are nice, but upon further inspection, they really don't look geometrically just right to me. Maybe I'm being nitpicky, but that's to be expected by now. There's a company out of Wisconsin that sells two of the bungalows that are featured on the MSI layout, and, honestly, those two models are close, but they are also really kind of an insult to the bungalow. Even they don't look geometrically correct, and they lack a lot of the important details that make the Chicago bungalow what it is. So, basically, though I have no layout of my own right now, I'm making my own. I'm even modeling the interiors, to an extent. On the model of my grandparents' bungalow, I will design the interiors in full and make the roof removable to see inside. It'll be damned cool, but probably won't be something I'll finish anytime soon. :)

--But, anyway, that's enough for now...my nose is starting to run again, which means it's time to go...so, have a Happy New Year, everyone, and good health and good luck to all of you in 2006! Thanks for continuing to read, even with my often-sporadic postings nowadays!