My Personal Year in Review

I did a quick evaluation of the year as it affected me personally. Was it a good year or was it a bad year? It was a little of both.

The year started off with Martin O'Malley taking office as the Governor of Maryland, though he took it to mean a mandate to became a condescending dictator. I became severely depressed and forced write biographies for Republicans on Wikipedia to help overcome my grief. My Nerd hat is in the mail. Hopefully O'Malley won't throw out all of the Maryland laws and we'll get to vote him out of office next time.

At the end of January, my son turned 5 years old. I can hardly believe he's no longer my little boy. He was such a cute little baby. Now he's a sarcastic SOB. I have NO idea where he gets it. Today, I decided to go to the liquor store because I was in the mood for some Kazmir (Vanilla Brandy). As we pulled into the parking lot he asks, "Where are we going?" I told him we were going to the "beer store". "Oh, you mean the liquorish store?" Gotta love him!!! (And by the way - I got a 750 of Drambuie for $24. Woo-hoo!!!)

In March, my mom turned 60. We were all unsure how she would take it. She's a very sensitive woman. She took it well. We were all there to celebrate just another birthday. I think she just enjoyed seeing her grandchildren. Plus, by this time my wife was starting to show. See - she was pregnant with our third child, though everyone found out at Christmas in 2006.

At the beginning of July we took our annual family vacation to Ocean City - just the 12 of us. Actually, if you count my sister, her husband, her daughter and my mom who stayed down the street from us, that would make 16. During the week, we usually end up getting at each other's throats, but this year was nice. Everyone stayed civil.

Right after the vacation I got promoted to Senior Business Systems Analyst. Unfortunately, it was to another department. And my new boss is younger than me. That's a first. But who's going to turn down a 12% raise???

In August, we celebrated the birth of my 2nd daughter - our third child. She's a cutie! Looks like dad. She's looks like her older sister but with lighter red hair. She's now siting up and making lots of noise and demanding whatever we're eating. Her favorite foods are now yams, apple sauce, and my thumb. Hopefully we'll get her to sleep through the night soon.

Unfortunately, my wife ended up back in the hospital 2 weeks after she was discharged. She had severe abdominal pains which required me to call an ambulance to get her out of the house. We spent about 10 hours in the ER before she was admitted, meaning I was awake for 25 straight hours. The next day the doctor informed us that she probably had placental cancer. We spent the next couple of hours contemplating our life battling cancer, only to have him return to say, "Now that I thought about it, I don't think it's cancer." Great, thanks for thinking about it after you scared the shit out of us!!! I should have received the Silver Star for not punching the guy in the mouth. However, we are still dealing with the complications of whatever happened. There is an "undetermined" mass in her abdomen, and though smaller, it is still there.

At the end of August, the kids returned to school (while Mommy was still in the hospital). My daughter started 3rd grade (yikes!!!) and my son started Kindergarten. He returned after the first day of school and when asked how he liked his teacher responded, "Well, she's kind of chubby."

In October we returned to the beach - just the 20 of us. We rented out half of the Comfort Inn on 5th street. In attendance were my family, my wife's sister's family, her mother, her brother and his girlfriend and her son, my wife's cousin's family, and my wife's other cousin and her boyfriend and his son. It was a grand time. We know nothing about the fireworks display that went off on the beach on Saturday.

My daughter turned 8 during that same weekend. It seems like yesterday when she was born. But if you double her age, she'll be 16. Can someone please pour me a glass of that Drambuie?

November was uneventful personally. Thanksgiving was nice. Though O'Malley's Special Session wasn't so special. His government page still tells us that most Marylander's will pay less. What a crock of horse poop. Check it out yourself (see the gray box outlined in green on the center right side)

December was crazy - as it is for everyone. We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve at my sister's house. That was a nice change of pace. I got Magnum PI Season 4 from my parents, in addition to my Legos and Fortress America, both of which were mine as a child and taking up space in their attic. However, I'm not quite sure how that counts as a Christmas present.

On Christmas, I joined the iPod club. It was actually my 3rd MP3 player. I won the first won about 5 years ago. It held 8 songs, and in fact the same 8 songs that I originally downloaded are still on it - all Crosby, Stills, Nash (and sometimes Young). It's good for when I'm mowing the lawn. Nothing like drowning out the noise of the lawnmower with more noise piped directly to my eardrum.

Santa spoiled the kids once again. He brought lots of Star Wars toys (which interestingly are still fun to play with 25 years later!!!) and Nintendo DS's. I didn't spoil my wife with another vacuum or frying pan this year. I went all out and got her an automatic soap dispenser for the kitchen. Nothing says "I Love You" more than Cucumber Mango soap spurting out of a battery-powered brushed aluminum soap dispenser.

And as you may have read from an earlier post, 2 days after Christmas some chick smashed into my truck. Have you ever dealt with an insurance company? Boy, what fun!!! It's almost as much fun as dealing with the cable company. I did learn that if you go through the offender's insurance company, you don't pay your deductible and they give you a loaner. However, being the victim in a car accident is still a crime. I'm out a truck and I KNOW they won't give me enough to get another truck. What's the bigger crime - the accident or the insurance racket???

Wishing you a great 2008!!!