Hello and greetings to all,

Festive greetings to all, I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season very much and have managed a chance to relax and put your feet up. I am home in Dartmouth for Christmas for the first time in 4 years, and have to admit I am enjoying it a lot. One of the Christmas traditions in our household that is back, alive and well, is the giant Christmas tree. A long time Russell tradition, the 18 foot Christmas tree in the front entrance is back baby. There's really nothing more festive than an over sized tree that crowds the front door and boasts ornaments in jumbo size to match.

Rewinding a few weeks, I also recently had the pleasure of visiting my parents in New Zealand. While there I saw some of the country and partook in a little skydiving, which had to be the highlight of a great trip. I jumped tandem from 10,500 feet, enjoyed lots of free fall and a lengthy descent. It was a little insane, but other than the immense fear on the way up, it was great on the way down. You're hearing this story too, from someone known to shy away from roller coasters. Other highlights included a couple of great concerts (Mellencamp and Sheryl Crow, as well as NAS and Kanye West), a few swims in some glacier water, great hiking, and a little golf.

In training news, I have really enjoyed staying fit and doing lots of work at Banook this fall. We've been doing plenty of interval running as well as weight training and some swimming during the week. I am feeling very strong, but looking forward to working hard during January.

A happy new year to all, cheers and keep it real in 2009. Go Chargers, in Rivers I trust!

Andrew