All Things Witham: 2006 in the Witham Nation

Good news!

No broken bones.
No unscheduled hospital trips.
No major hurricanes.
No blizzards.
No rationing of Mountain Dew needed.

It's always good to start a year in review blog entry with some good news.

Now for reality. Hee hee.....

I'm not purposely going for chronological order; I'm too old to remember that stuff now. :)


January began with change. No, really, I mean it! We switched around our cubicles in our office (there are four of us, and three switched; one remained stationary), and it ended up being one of the toughest psychological battles of the year, for several reasons. As of now, I'm still not totally comfortable there, but it's much better than 12 months ago.

The New York Giants received a home version of the NFL Playoffs when Carolina promptly ran them off the field. The Colts choked again.

But just when you needed an emotional boost, it was the return of one of the five things I live for:

"24"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More shortly.

Finishing 2006 on the job, it was the first year since 1986 where I only held one job the entire calendar year. Good thing, because work at work is, well, always piling up. One of my employees saw her position eliminated, and we had a late year change in my department; I'm very excited about the person taking over the post. OH!!! I took a full week of vacation without going into the station in six years! I was getting used to that "vacation" stuff, I highly recommend it!!

2006 in sports saw the aforemention Giants dismissal, followed by two teams showing up this fall; one who wins, and one that implodes. They've backed into the playoffs and I'm sure Philadelphia will take care of them once and for all.

The Super Bowl was a bore. Totally. Halftime, too. I cannot stand the Rolling Stones.

NC State had their usual season, at least getting into the NCAA Tournament. After so many years NOT making the tourney in the 90's, I'll take a trip to the Dance anytime! They bowed out after a second round loss. Then Herb went west, several people snubbed the Pack, before they went old school and chose Sidney Lowe to be coach. FINALLY----a connection to the glory days of Jimmy V.

Oh, and two words describe March Madness.........GEORGE MASON??

The win against UConn in the Regional Final was my number two favorite game of all-time in the NCAA Tourney, behind, of course, the '83 Final. "THEY WON IT!! ON THE DUNK!"

Peter Angelos still owns the Orioles, so we'll skip baseball. We made it to one Richmond Braves game; the team's future being a big area story in 2006, when we heard of 4, 377 possible places to build a new stadium to keep the R-Braves, all of which stunk.....until someone finally realized that building/refurbishing at/near the current facility, combined with revitalization of that neighborhood, could end up making the baseball park the centerpiece of a new area of sports, bars, restaurants, parking, et al......so a night at the park could be an "experience".

The BEST sports event of 2006, without a doubt: "The Carolina Hurricanes Have Won The Stanley Cup!!!!!" What a ride; especially the finals against Edmonton. I was livid after they gave away Game 5 at home, and didn't show up for Game 6. But, when I was very shaky about their hopes, their came through in Game 7. The Cup's in Carolina! Whoo hoo!!!

Then it was wait for Football Training Camp, POF and Patrick Henry Football broadcasts! PH finishes 8-2, losing to Hermitage 41-14 in the final game, costing them a playoff berth. The Deep Run game was by far the best game of the year, with it ending the same, yet exactly the mirror image, of their 2005 game. The home team won in the first OT session, when the visiting team was stopped attempting a two-point conversion to win the game.

2005: Patrick Henry 20, Deep Run 19
2006: Deep Run 21, Patrick Henry 20

AND......CURLING at the Winter Olympics! Had it on TV every day at work, and even got a co-worker interested when he realized the women curlers are babes!
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Television played a bigger role in our house in 2006 than maybe in any year since we got married. Wifey became "the easily addicted drama watcher". Dad endured the following:

Lost, Invasion, Greys Anatomy, Numb3rs, Psych and Heroes.

Dad accepted: Monk, Desperate Housewives, The 4400, NCIS, and The Unit.

Then Dad saw Mom get into: CSI and CSI: Miami; Vanished, and Standoff.

Dad enjoyed sharing in: Gilmore Girls, The Dead Zone.

Dad thoroughly enjoyed: The Closer. Easily my second favorite "show" (news and sports not included) on TV behind............

MOM AND DAD'S ONE TV APPOINTMENT: Jack Bauer, Chloe, CTU, and the gang. "24"!!!!

After season four ended with Jack walking away into the sunrise having to shed his very identity, we wondered how in the world the producers would top it. No problem, as we quickly found out.

One complaint: Frank Flynn resumed being Jack Bauer much, much too quickly. Other than that, it's hard to find flaws.

Plus, I will, for once, feed my ego, for suggesting the return of the Chinese, which indeed came to pass at the end of the 24 hours. The last scene of season five was exactly what I thought the last scene of season four was going to be!!

Now, a quick look ahead:

--President Palmer's brother will now be President. He's bad news now. I still say HE was the one who outed Jack; NO ONE ELSE was in the hotel room when he perfectly positioned his brother, David, at the window where he could be assassinated by a sniper.

--I hope it takes at least three or four hours for Jack to get back on American soil; as well as find a Gillette.

--And I STILL SAY, at whatever season they decide to wrap it up.....Jack and Chloe must get together. Period.

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Robbie's 2006: He finishes middle school (already??!!?), enjoys another choral field trip to Busch Gardens, starts playing at the weekly Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments at Books-A-Million, and starts high school. (High School??!!??) He turns 14, has some lady friends, and got maybe his favorite Christmas present ever when he and I went to the WWE Armageddon pay-per-view LIVE here in Richmond earlier this month.

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Rachel's 2006: Finished third grade (her hardest year yet); started fourth grade (she likes!.....except for some classmates who don't like her/it's more like they're jealous), had the flu at the same time as Mom, was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder in April after having MAJOR separation issues from Mom after returning to school. Spends mucho time with her cousins, has one spend the night almost every Friday night. Is in love with Howie Mandel.

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2006 will be remembered for:

---The Go-Go's Concert, May 15th; Rachel and I went and I had no voice!! Couldn't holla! What a great show!
---Mom's Caribbean Cruise, November 9th thru 18th. Me and the kids experiencing lots of "missing Mom". VERY happy to see her at the airport terminal late that Friday night, home safe.
---Getting a sneak peak of "Happy Feet" while Mom was gone.
---The Match Game Hour, 11 to midnight on GSN.
---Letterman, Rupert G, and, of course, "Will It Float?" Best hometown newspaper blooper, in a supermarket ad......."Boneless Bananas, 10 lbs for $1.00".
---Play-mania debuting on GSN (I LOVE MEL!!!)
---Waking up to Fox and Friends, not the radio, for the 2nd year in a row.
---Mom's Ob-Gyn procedure in November, followed by Lap-Band Surgery in December.
---Dad? Who's Dad? He works or sleeps!
---The "heat" of the summer, discovering our HVAC is too small to cool the house on a 95 degree day. Two window unit air conditioners, anyone?
---Summer #7 of the backyard pool.
---Getting to know the first shift workers at Ukrops.
---Getting to know the second shift workers at McDonalds.
---Surviving "Eliott Yamin" mania, when, not only do my co-workers in the office go ga-ga for him, HE COMES TO THE RADIO STATION one day and we're given specific instructions where we can and cannot be while he's there. I just went in the back room, went to my office, and hoped it was okay to run 10 feet down the hall to the kitchenette to get a plastic fork.
---The second time he came, this past fall, nobody noticed. But I did see him.
---Learning how to communicate via email/phone messages when work prevents you from getting to talk with your friend.
---Yes.....lots of weekend sleeping.
---A trip to Busch Gardens to meet Seka and friends.
---Dad shocks the world and takes the kids to Busch Gardens one nice August day without Mom, and without Mom even knowing it!!!
---Rachel has a piano recital and begins her second year of lessons. Watch out Van Cliburn!!!
---Our summer trip to Monticello.
---The kitties are definitely full-grown cats.
---Listening to CD's in the car rather than Richmond radio.
---Goodbye to my Cougar. My last drive: March 9, 2006, coming home from work on a cold night with the broken drivers-side window all the way down.
---Hello, Ford Windstar! I acquire it when Mom buys a conversion van, since she may have up to five kids with her on any given day.
---The Brick Oven Bistro.
---They go in the Ashland Wal-Mart, I sit in the van. :)
---Watching the entire Indy 500 for the first time in ages! See what Danica Patrick does to me?
---A car crashing into the Wonder Bread store on Staples Mill. Front windows and door destroyed; first row of bread still perfectly stacked.
---Tropical Storm Ernesto. Lots of rain, no repeat of Gaston, but Battery Park got nailed. A sad scene for so many residents.
---No snow. The only significant snow of last winter was in December of '05.
---Mom and the kids' holiday weekend trip to see Mom's best friend Stephanie outside of Greensboro, NC.
---Low key Thanksgiving and Christmas!
---Thank you, Dr. Buxton!
---Goodbye to Crown Gas Stations.
---Citgo equals Hugo Chavez. No more stops at Citgo.
---$3 per gallon for awhile. Currently $2.17. $1.49? Never again.
---Katie Couric took my job as anchor of the CBS Evening News.
---Church family reunions at a couples' dinner, the "24" finale party, and church on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
---Mom's annual "if at first you don't like the way you rearrange the great room, rearrange it again!"
---Glenn Beck's new TV show.

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In 2006, we said goodbye to :

Gerald Ford (38th President of the United States)
Paul Lindblad (1970s pitcher--Kansas City Royals)
Lou Rawls (You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine)
Don Stewart (Guiding Light's Mike Bauer)
Jack Snow (LA Rams wide receiver, then broadcaster)
Ron Jessie (NFL wide receiver)
Marc Potvin (NHL player)
Shelley Winters (The Poseidon Adventure)
Wilson Pickett (singer)
Gene McFadden (Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now)
Coretta Scott King (widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Darren McGavin (Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Don Knotts (Barney Fife)
Dennis Weaver (McCloud)
Anthony Burger (Southern Gospel pianist, toured with Bill Gaither)
Curt Gowdy (what sport did he not call??)
Johnny Grunge (WCW's Public Enemy)
Al Lewis (Grandpa Munster)
Caspar Weinberger (Secretary of Defense under Reagan)
Lyn Nofziger (Press Secretary under Reagan)
Buck Owens (Hee Haw, Saturdays at 7pm on Channel 6)
Ray Meyer (DePaul Basketball Coach)
Maureen Stapleton (actress)
Peter Tomarken (No Whammies, Big Bucks, STOP!!)
Boom Boom Geoffrion (Montreal Canadiens star, Lite Beer ad fame)
Kirby Puckett (and we'll see you tomorrow night!)
Dana Reeve (husband of the late Christopher Reeve)
Steve Howe (LA Dodger pitcher)
Zola Levitt (Messianic Jewish broadcaster)
June Pointer (The Pointer Sisters)
Steve Mizerak (pool champion, Lite Beer ad alumnus)
Craig "Ironhead" Heyward (NFL Fullback)
Lloyd Bentsen (Senator, Dukakis running-mate in 1988)
Dan Ross (Cincinnati Bengals tight end; scored in Super Bowl XVI)
Johnnie Wilder, Jr. (founder of Heatwave..."Boogie Nights", "Grooveline")
Floyd Patterson (world heavyweight boxing champion)
Earl Woods (Tiger's dad and mentor)
Aaron Spelling (Ladies? Hi, Charlie!)
Billy Preston (Nothing From Nothing.....)
Red Buttons (The Poseidon Adventure)
June Allyson (The Glenn Miller Story; Depends commercials)
Jan Murray (game shows)
Glenn Ford (actor)
Bruce Gary (drummer for The Knack)
Mike Douglas (talk show host)
Bob Thaves (Frank and Ernest)
Craig Kusick (Minnesota Twins 1st Baseman)
Byron Nelson (PGA Golfing legend)
Ann Richards (thorn in George Bush's silver foot)
Steve Irwin (Crocodile Hunter)
Bob Mathias (Olympic Decathlon Gold Medalist)
Red Auerbach (THE Boston Celtics)
Marijohn Wilkin (wrote "One Day at a Time")
Joe Niekro (pitcher, Phil's brother)
Sandy West (The Runaways)
Jane Wyatt (Father Knows Best)
Don Christensen (cartoonist)
Christopher Glenn (CBS Radio and "In The News")
Freddy Fender (Tex-Mex singer)
Johnny Callison (Philadelphia Phillies)
Cory Lidle (Yankees pitcher, NYC plane crash)
Ivan Murrell (MLB Outfielder with Padres, Astros, Braves)
Buck O'Neil (Negro League star; ambassador)
Pat Dobson (Orioles 20-win pitcher)
Bo Schembechler (Michigan Football Coach)
Tiger Conway (Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling)
Gerald Levert (R&B Singer)
Jack Palance (Oscar-winning actor)
Ed Bradley (CBS News; 60 Minutes)
Johnny Sain (Spahn and Sain and pray for rain!)
Paul Mauriat (Love Is Blue musician)
Saddam Hussein (evil)
Chris Brown (MLB player 1980's)
Jose Uribe (MLB player 1980's; teammate of Brown)
James Brown (Get in the hot tub!)
Joe Barbera (Hanna-Barbera)
Larry Sherry (LA Dodger pitcher)

---------------------------we interrupt at 11:59pm.........

The ball is dropping, Cody is joining me, Robbie's in his room, Uncle Frank's out, and it's 2007!!!

The Year of "40" has arrived. Where's the Metamucil? Where's the Depends? Somebody run to Wal-Mart! I need Geritol!!

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We continue......

Don Jardine (Destroyer/Super Destroyer, Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling)
Mike Evans (Lionel Jefferson)
Lamar Hunt (owned KC Chiefs, began AFL, named Super Bowl "Super Bowl")
Peter Boyle (puttin' on the ritz!---Young Frankenstein)
Jeane Kirkpatrick (former UN Ambassador)
Andra Franklin (NFL Running Back--Miami Dolphins)
Lloyd Wright
Roger Hedgepeth

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And, in closing, the five top events of 2006:

5) WWE Armageddon----Dad and Robbie's first-ever live wrestling show.

4) Season Five of "24"----provided great fun w/wifey, and a great email discussion group every Tuesday morning!

3) Mom's 40th birthday; featuring surprise party and surprise from Dad. :)

2) The Go-Go's; Live at Innsbrook on May 15th. Rachel and I go "Head Over Heals" for the fab five!

1) Mommy's LapBand Surgery, setting up a healthy future for her, and radical life changes in the Witham Nation.

Happy 2007 everybody!

The year of "40".

WHY ISN'T THE GERITOL HERE YET?????