This year my wife and I hosted a party for about 20 of our friends. We usually tend to spend New Year`s Eve with my family – in Russia New Year is the most important family holiday, more important than Christmas or Hanukkah. However, this year neither my wife nor my sister could take enough days off from work to make a trip to Norfolk. As it`s always the case with Russian people, Iryna (my wife) and her friends cooked way to much food and we drank way to much alcohol. We did not go to bad until 5AM, and next day people started coming back around 1PM to finish the leftovers. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

This entry is long overdue, but better late then never. Last week I drove to Norfolk for a few days. This trip kind of served a few purposes – I wanted to visit my family, wish my mom Happy Birthday (she turned 53 on December 28), take a long drive to clear my head, and bring back all the baby stuff that my mom collected for my baby. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that my wife is pregnant and is due in May. Around 7 AM on December 26 I drove my wife to work and hit I-79 South to West Virginia. I wanted to see if I could drive from Pittsburgh to Norfolk without hitting a major highway (at least after I got off I-79). Using a combination of Google Maps and GPS I managed to make it to Williamsburg (about 30 miles from Norfolk) with only 15 minutes on I-81. I loaded my iPod with a ton of audio books, so the 12-hour drive did not seem so bad. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty miserable, so I did not get a chance to take any photos. Every time I visit my grandmother, I try to take as many photographs as I can, even though she hates it. She is 87-years-old, and probably my favorite person in the world. The thought of her passing away scares me; every time I go back to Pittsburgh I am afraid that it`s the last time I`ll see her.