Lazy way to ring in the New Year....

So, it's after 10pm here on the east coast of the USA, and I'm using the two major Christmas presents for Mom and Dad this year.

Dad: La-Z-Boy
Mom: Laptop

Notice I didn't put up a fight when Mom wanted to use the desktop this evening, so, ah darn, I have to settle for the comfy chair....

I am still trying to get used to toggling on this thing; it's a pain if you ask me.

So, to the business at hand------2005: A Review

Last New Year's Eve's blog was probably more structured and more packed with facts, events, etc. Tonight, it's a laid-back, informal review, followed by questions regarding the new year about to dawn.

BEST DAY OF THE YEAR: Saturday October 1st....my 20-year high school reunion. Spent all year helping the ladies on the committee plan the event. I spend most of my time working around and with women. I like that---not for the usual "lust-filled" reasons....I have always had more friends that were female than male. It was weird, in that many people who didn't make it to the 10-year reunion in '95 made it to this one, and, vice versa. A few people I saw for the first time in two decades. Wow.

WORST DAY OF THE YEAR: Sunday July 3rd....which should have been a good day, being that the wife turned 39 (let the never-ending teasing begin!), but it all turned around in quick fashion. This was the Sunday morning we discovered our beloved pet, our cat, Katie Pickles, dead at the end of the street, a victim of, for lack of a better term, a "hit and run". A close second in this category would be Tuesday July 5th, the day the kids got home from a holiday weekend at Grandma's and we had to break the news to them.

WE WELCOME......Cody and Zoe! Brother and sister kittens direct from the Hanover pound, two of five in a litter. They're not Katie, very refined---they are just plain ol' cats. So, they and I are having issues, but we're dealing. :) The kids adore them, and that's what really matters.

ARRIVALS: New employee Johni at work. The Bobeau family at church, complete with the most articulate 2/3 year old I've ever met. I'm gonna really miss her. She called me "Pastor Rob" for the first time the night of the Christmas play with a typical conversation with her.

"Pastor Rob, where are you going?" (We were at the front porch of the church, both families leaving)

"I'm going home so I can go to sleep."

"Pastor Rob, where's your coat?"

"It's at home, keeping my coat hanger warm."

Audrey Raines, her Secretary of State father, Erin Driscoll, Habib Marwan. The cast of "Grey's Anatomy" (for Bonnie's sake, and her pitter-patter TV love, Patrick Dempsey...)

WE BID FAREWELL....Johnny Carson, Chuck Thompson, Chris Schenkel, Don Adams (Agent 86), Eddie Guerrero, Dana Jones, Bob Denver (Skipper!!!!), Rosa Parks, Pope John Paul II, Nipsey Russell (my favorite poet), Eddie Albert, Pat Morita (Arnold's!), Richard Pryor, Frank Gorshin, Anne Kincaid, Thomas Cannon, Peter Jennings, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Luther Vandross, Shirley Chisholm, Anne Bancroft, Eugene McCarthy, Johnnie Cochran, Sandra Dee. And, of course, Katie Pickles. Also, Clinton Terrell, Elsie Bresko, and Virginia Tomko.

WE SAID SEE YOU SOON....our church family at Bethlehem Congregational.

WE WATCHED CABLE NEWS FOR....Hurricane Katrina, the horrific aftermath, the blame game, Brownie, Hurricane Rita, the war in Iraq, the Supreme Court, the Vatican watch at the end of one Pope's life, and the naming of another. The typical partisan shouting, etc.

WE AVOIDED: Natalee Holloway after the first couple of weeks of coverage, subsequently, most issues of missing white females. Discussions of sex offenders. The sight of Nancy Peluso and Ted Kennedy.

WE ALSO WATCHED: A Boring Super Bowl....season four of "24", Desperate Housewives, Pardon the Interruption, Wheel and Jeopardy, news, and sports.

SHE WATCHED: NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, The Closer, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Invasion, Alias, 24 (of course), lots of old movies, and "Miss Congeniality" at least 20 times.

ROBBIE AND RACHEL WATCHED: Cartoon Network, Toon Disney, Disney Channel, Nick.

Robbie listened to whatever movie was on in his room at the moment. Rachel listened to Vacation Bible School music, Hilary Duff, and Jesse McCartney.

AND THEN THESE THINGS WE REMEMBER.......

--Dan Rather's last "courage"
--Jeanne Meserve's incredible report the night after Katrina in New Orleans
--Shepherd Smith on a bridge in New Orleans, a dead body covered on the side of the road behind him.
--very little on wrestling, what a boring, boring year!
--Rachel's second and third boyfriends
--Robbie's girlfriend who sang in the same choir as he
--Field trip to Busch Gardens with Robbie's choral group as they won, lots of awards, at the choral competition there.
--Officiating a wedding at a wayside on the Skyline Drive overlooking the mountains.
--The I-Book stampede.
--Overheating at Kings Dominion.
--Enjoying Busch Gardens.
--Watching the house get new carpet, hardwood flooring, and vinyl siding.
--The fact that my Cougar made it through another year!! YES!!!!
--My high school reunion.
--An undefeated regular season for Patrick Henry.
--Less is More.
--"Are you lonely?"
--My favorite lady on NCIS killed off on the last episode of season two.
--More neighbors move out of the neighborhood.
--More and more frustration with the kids' schools.
--Another nice, quiet birthday. Emphasis on "quiet".
--Continued trend of buying 80s CDs instead of football cards.
--Live 365 at work, especially nights listening to the 80s Hit Machine.
--The Double Whopper knocks Wendy's double off the perch to claim top burger honors.
--The happiness of knowing my son is old enough to mow the yard.
--Too many Saturdays in bed (including this one)
--The New York Giants (Tiki, Eli, Plaxico, and the comeback against Denver.)
--Robbie's first "character" for radio commercials; the school bully in two ads for "Scotty Z Karate".
--Unusually early snow event, early December.
--DOWNPOUR of rain Christmas morning.
--Running over a LOG on I-95 headed to the funeral home.
--The WalMart in Ashland, usually not by choice.
--Rachel's final year leading praise songs during church.
--NC State beating UConn and getting to the Sweet 16.
--Finally seeing Letterman regularly for the first time in YEARS....
--Rupert G's Hello Deli
--"Will It Float?"
--My creative team's trip to New York and Rodney's first night (ask him, not me.)
--The arrival of a really, really big TV.
--The monthly winning numbers.
--My second sleep study.
--and, of course, Star Wars Episode III.

Well, and then there's 2006......

--Hopefully a better year physically, now that we're down to one job for the first time in forever. Can we ditch some these pills we take daily? Can we stop sleeping Saturdays away?

--Enjoying friends: I love the people who work around me; they are such a great team. I pray I have another year to enjoy their company.

--Making new friends: We're on the search for a new home church! As it unfolds, we'll forge new friendships as we find where God wants to plant us.

--Leadership Break: I've had a "leadership" position, either of a Christian radio station, or a church, since 1988. In 2006, wherever we end up worshipping, we will not be volunteering. I desperately need to fill a pew and get fed for awhile.

--The wife hits 4-0. Get those black balloons ready!!

--Robbie begins high school come September.

--Thinking of people in times past, both recent and many years ago, that I miss and would love to see. Especially a few I'd kill to see, but I'm sure I won't.


And so, the clock creeps past 11:30, Rachel's already asleep and I think Robbie's still hanging with us. I'm gonna go to Times Square, virtually as usual, and see how this new year begins.

Looking forward to another year of blogging, laughter, tears, deep thought, and, of course....

.....trying to figure out how Jack Bauer saves the day one more time. :)


PS: Great to see Dick Clark back at Times Square; his story, and about a minute, becomes one of the most inspiring stories of 2005....and only 24 minutes left, too.