Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone and 2013 is here. The last few months of 2012 were quite hectic, with school plays and concerts, holidays, and the “project from hell” that seemed like it would never end. However, all those things, along with a lot of family time and happiness, are behind us now. Oh, and the world did not end in December.

I was surprised to see that I hadn’t posted to “8 of Nine” since the beginning of November. I guess I just needed a break. So, after a short hiatus, I plan to get back to “8 of Nine” in 2013. I hope that you will come back and read my posts over the coming year. I enjoy writing them and I hope you will enjoy reading them just as much.

Here’s to 2013 – May it be a great year for all of us.

Happy 2012

It’s hard to believe that 2011 is almost over. It seems that just yesterday we were ringing in the New Year and here we are about to do the same for 2012. As I recently mentioned, it seems that time is going faster and faster each year. You blink your eyes and a day is gone; take a little snooze and a week is gone; go about your business and a month is gone; pause for a moment and look at where you are and the year is over. Sometimes I feel like, stop this merry-go-round of life, I want to get off. Not for good, just for a quick breather so that I can enjoy things a little longer and a little more.

I’m really not big on New Year’s resolutions, but an area I definitely want to change in 2012 is just enjoying things more than I do now. I can get caught up in what needs to be done, all the little details and preparation, and not enjoy an event as much as I could. Sometimes I have a hard time just sitting and doing nothing with the people I love and instead feel like I should be doing something. Only after I miss out on a great time do I realize that something that “just had to be done” most certainly could have waited.

In 2012 I want to spend more time with more people, be they family or friends, and just enjoy that time together, whether we’re having dinner, playing games, watching a game, just hanging out and talking, or even doing nothing together. During that time I want to forget the stuff that doesn’t need to be done right then and things that don’t need my attention, and just enjoy the time and the company. Maybe then it won’t seem that the merry-go-round is spinning so fast.

                                                                                                          

As 2011 slips away, I hope that you can say that it was a good year for you. I know it was for me and my family in many ways. Whatever your goals, dreams or resolutions, let’s make 2012 a great year, even better than 2011. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

The year 2010 is behind us, with 2011 stretched out before us, its actions and decisions as yet unwritten and memories not yet made. What will 2011 bring for me and for us? I have no clue, I’m not psychic. However, I do know this: someone I know will have a baby in 2011 and someone I know will die in 2011; someone I know will overcome a major issue in their life in 2011 and someone I know will have a major issue in their life in 2011; I will hurt someone I know in some way in 2011 and someone I know will hurt me in some way in 2011. You don’t need to be clairvoyant to know stuff like that will happen in any given year.

My 2010, like most of yours, had its ups and downs. However, as I look back over the year I feel the good far outweighs the bad. Sure, there were challenges, but I can honestly say that those challenges helped me to grow in some way. One area that I think I really grew in this year was in being more grateful and thankful. For everything and everybody in my life. So as 2010 ends and 2011 begins, I just want to say, “Thank you.”

To my wife, my daughter and my son, thank you for loving me just as I am and for encouraging me to write and to start this blog, which has brought back many good memories of growing up. A special thanks to my son, who created the picture and logo for the blog.

To my family, thanks for your support and encouragement regarding “8 of Nine”. I hope that some of the things I wrote about brought back pleasant memories for you, too.

To my friends, thank you for reading at least one of my postings and even becoming an actual follower. That is truly encouraging to me.

I’m not big on making New Year’s resolutions, even joking when I was younger that my resolution was to not make any New Year’s resolutions. If nothing else, I kept my resolution longer than two days. But how about this: we all just try to get along better with less arguing and fighting, we listen better so we can understand each other more and we treat others as we’d like to be treated. As Elvis Costello used to sing, “What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?”

So, Happy New Year! Let’s make 2011 a great year. Thanks.