...Another Year Over, And A New One Just Begun...

First, Happy New Year to one and all.

Second, for the record I could have posted something yesterday, but then again I thought it would be pretty pathetic to be writing a blog on New Years Eve. What would that imply? Well the truth is that I was pretty much on my own between when my oldest daughter went to her grandmothers (my wife went to bed) and when I had to pick up my middle daughter around 12:30am. So I guess that if the implication is that I have "no life" then that's basically correct. Note, however, that I'm happy and proud of my sometimes "no life" existence. A tad bit nerdy there, I know.

Third, as for the new year itself, I do have a number of "resolutions" if you will, although I like to think of them as being more plans than anything else. Here are a few hi-lites:

Personal
- Try to be a better father
- I want to file my taxes by the beginning of February, so that I can get the FAFSA filed for my daughter by the end of the month
- I want to start counting my calories again. It's the only way I can effectively lose weight
- I want to get back into a routine where I get a minimum of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 4 days a week, and supplement the other days with long walks
- I want to make a few upgrades to my office at the house, including a flat screen TV and better storage for DVDs & CDs (maybe also a Sony PS3)
- I have a few other project around the house (re-wiring the basement, for example)

Professional
- Set some meaningful personal development goals, including possibly some industry recognized designations
- Actually plan and use most of my vacation time this year (for 2008 I rolled over 12 days that need to be taken by March 31st)
- Be more aggressive with my schedule...if I'm not free, then I'm not free, and I have to stop playing the game of constantly re-arranging things


Mind you what I wrote above is the simplified version; the complete one is a bit longer, with more guts inside of it.

Well, I have to go get gas so that I can pick various sundry children up.

Here's to 2009!