Day 76

Happy New Year 2006. I have several thoughts this morning as I rise for the new year. First off, we had a great time last night with the Rafal's. We went to this Seafood and Steak restaurant in Cave Creek called Cartwright's. It had a very cool southwestern feel to it. They had a fire pit in the center of the restaurant - solid ambiance. We had an teaser that qualifies as technical. It was ahi tuna nachos with crab meat. nice. Had a solid piece of Sea Bass for dinner. Great food, great drinks, and great company. Overall the kind of new years that suits us perfectly. We were the last four people at the restaurant and left around 11:30. Got home, watched about 15 minutes of TV in bed, saw the ball drop (taped for Arizona time) and went to bed. I know, we are such wild and crazy people. I'll say this - we watched ABC's coverage with Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest. It was so sad. Dick Clark looked and sounded terrible after his stroke. I'm sure he wanted to do this one last time, but it was sad to see him this way. You almost couldn't understand what he was saying and they barely let him talk when he was talking. He was seated in the studio, not outside like he used to be.

Today is the birthday of one of the great men and role models in my life. Uncle Kenny Dery. KD has been an amazing supporter of Matt and me over the past year and a half. It was so tough to lose my dad, but Uncle Kenny has done an incredible job filling that father figure role to us when we needed him. Through all of the ordeal, everyone always looks to myself, my mother, and my brother to see how we are doing, but for some reason, people always forget that he lost his younger brother. That was never lost on me. He has been through a lot in his life, and losing his brother was another struggle he had to face. But as always, he has come through with the class and dignity he has always shown. The man deserves credit and recognition that my blog words cannot do justice. I will forever be grateful for all he has done for me. Stay tight in 06 KD!

We saw Munich yesterday afternoon with my in laws. I liked it, didn't necessarily love it. I can't deal with almost 3 hour movies anymore unless its The Godfather. That being said, it was a good history lesson (even though the events were "based on real life events."). I had read the book "One Day in September" about 5 years ago about the actual Munich kidnappings and killing of the Israeli athletes at the 72 Olympics. That was a great read and very interesting. This movie centered around the Israeli response to the massacre. The questioned was posed to me by Mark P that if this movie didn't have such a large Israel tie-in, did I think that it would be getting so much hype in our little Jewish bubble? I'm guessing no. I would definitely advise seeing it, but it is long.

We are going back home this afternoon. Back to reality (boo!). This was a great and relaxing vacation. My in laws as always were the perfect hosts, we were well fed, well relaxed, and they take great care of Casey the dog. Everyone should be lucky enough to have their in laws living in Scottsdale, its such a great place to visit and so relaxing.

Song of the Day: "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder