My family and I spent the week before Christmas pub hopping all across Ireland. That was fun I guess. Though I don't think I will want to travel to a foreign country with my family again. They are so dysfunctional together.

Also I can't go looking for women with them around. But then again, in Ireland EVERY women that is moderately attractive is married already. Here is my internal dialogue when I see a girl in Ireland "Damn! She has a nice..........stroller." It was quite disheartening. All in all the people are nice though.

The Irish people not my family.

The ****ty thing was, it was my birthday on the plane ride back home. I got to watch Collateral 8 times and the first 10 minutes of Catwoman.

We left JFK Airport and stopped at my sister's dorm room (she goes to college near the city) to pick up her snowboard. While we were repacking the car, my mother slipped on a bag and broke her damn ankle. We spent 3 hours in a hospital in Poughkepsie. We were jet lagged and tired were barely able to make it home that night.

This was ALL on my birthday.

That sucks, but this literally happened yesterday, christmas evening. I had knocked on my aunt's door and one of her relatives opened it and greeted us...... The lady told me that my aunt was doin' something on the computer and just make ourselves comfortable, my aunt and uncle finally came out to the dinner table and my aunt appeared to have been crying(I just thought she took a nap or maybe she was just having allergies) anyhow me and my friend proceeded to eat as we were the last ones to show up much of her guests had left. So my aunt was asking the usual, when she broke the news to me that my grand - uncle, her dad's younger brother had gotten shot while getting out of his car to visit a friend in the same area where he used to teach at..... What was puzzling everybody as this crime had just taken place maybe 45min. before I had arrived was why would anybody shoot a 60 + year old man 4 times.... Alot of questions are still unanswered at this time, as I left my aunt's place last night my uncle's condition had not been verified..... I hope he gets out fine, witnesses if any come forward and the authorities do their job!