Alive and Reasonably Well

i wrote a nearly eloquent post, explaining my absence from blogging and the results of some interesting emotional ups and downs... but i "navigated away from the page" and blogger has this weird idea that if i open another window i want all the stuff i just spent the last half hour typing, editing, and using a dictionary to make sure i had the right word, to disappear. thus, i will not spend the next half hour trying to remember my witty blurb about this past month, instead i leave you with pictures of the happier moments of my Christmas/New Years break: