Howdy, 2007!

What's playing on the iPod right now: "Boston" by Augustana

(I see this opening tag on another blog and I really like it as a feature, so I'm trying it out.)

I can't believe another year is almost finished. It seems like yesterday that I was starting this blog two years ago -- no one I knew was blogging; I was doing it for an assignment, and within six or seven months everyone was blogging. I guess they're all going to be podcasting next....

Anyway, here's to the end of 2006, a mixed bag of a year. I said goodbye to my mother's last house and hello to my oldest sister's new house. I went to Las Vegas and had many adventures; I went to Orlando and had more adventures. I lost part of my tripod; I found it after about six months. Six months! I am a disorganized doofus. I had one bird catastrophe (she's healing fine, thank you), I got an iPod; I learned how to navigate iTunes ... OK, that's a lie. iTunes still eludes me. But I'm figuring it out.

I learned how to drive a manual-transmission vehicle! I got cool martini glasses. I learned what Britney Spears doesn't wear in the undergarment category. (OK, I didn't really need to know that.) I got a new TV and couldn't hook it up; I didn't cook Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner, but the food was good, anyway, and I survived both of those holidays without any new emotional scars.

I saw my best friend in the world three times in 2006 -- in Las Vegas in January, in Tennessee in July, and again in Tennessee in December. Hi, Amy! I miss you already!

I started podcasting! And I met new people as a result and learned all sorts of new things!

I finally found a meatloaf recipe that makes my family happy, and I'm making it for them even though I don't like any meatloaf recipe.

But as always since 1988, when a year is winding down, I find that I look back and just really enjoyed my rotten kids. They're not really rotten. They're really kind of cool, and they make me laugh. I hope they stick around for a good, long time, and I can't wait to see how they make me laugh in 2007!

Have a happy new year, y'all!!!!