It is hard to believe that the year is over already.  It seems like it just started.  In case you have not been keeping track here is a quick review:

• Started the year by celebrating the New Year twice.  Once in Australia and once on the flight back.  Very rarely do you get a second chance to start over so that was kind of cool.
• The marathon in March that I had been training for along with JR and Todd did not happen.  JR’s knee gave out and my will to keep running gave out on a 17 mile training run.  We did all finish an official half marathon though so the training was not a total loss.  I am planning to try the marathon thing again this fall.
• In March I set a PR of 24:55 at a 5k.  I spent the rest of the year trying to beat that and was not able to.  I also qualified for, and ran, the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th.  Along the way I reconnected with a college friend, David Huey, who is also a runner here in the Atlanta area.  Now that David has gotten married I’ll bet he will slow down a little bit and I will be able to keep up with him.
• Heather, Chad, Chase, and I have found a great church that we love being involved in.  We have been at Freedom Church for nearly 2 years and it seems like yesterday when we walked in for the first time.  I get to serve backstage on the production team and Heather serves with the Kids ministry.
• Work has gone well this year.  We have done some big things and have some big things in the works.  Sometimes it is still hard to not be the person that steers the ship when that is what your personality wants you to do.  It may be even harder when you started the company, have so much invested in it, and you would do things differently at times if you could.
• We held the 2nd annual Practice Thanksgiving this year.  Next year we are planning a Facebook Fan Page to try and expand Practice Thanksgiving into more homes.  It will change your life!!
• I started doing more reading.  I have learned a lot and I hope it is making me a smarter/better person.  My favorite book this year has been Mavericks at Work.  I read it twice and bought a copy for everyone at InternetSafety.com to read.
• Chase is now 4 and Chad is now 9.  I won’t tell you how old Heather is.  Everyone is doing well.  Chase ended up with his first stitches this year… courtesy of his older brother.  Chad got a couple of stitches as well… playing dodge ball with a traffic cone is not advisable.  (”If you can dodge a cone you can dodge a ball!”)
• Oh yeah, the huge news from 2009.  I finally replaced my 1996 Ford Explorer with a 2007 Subaru Tribeca.  Very few people thought I would actually do it.  I even doubted myself at times.

It has been a good year overall and I am making a goals list for 2010.  Not a resolution list, but rather a list of things I would like to accomplish in 2010.  I will publish the list as soon as it is done.  Happy New Year!!

I bought a new turkey fryer since fried turkey is the only way to properly cook a turkey.  (Don’t bother posting comments arguing this point because you will just be wrong!)  Anyway, like a good, responsible turkey fryer owner I decided to glance over the instructions inside the box.  The top of page 1 read:

Last Thursday Heather and I took Chad to the annual concert put on by Star 94 here in Atlanta.  It is a good chance to get to hear several bands at one time.  This year they had Owl City, Cobra Starship, Leona Lewis, Jordan Sparks, Justin Bieber, and The Fray.  Here are my thoughts from the evening:

1. The Fray, Leona Lewis, and Jordan Sparks were by far the best acts.
2. Justin Bieber sounded horrible.  Not sure if it was the sound system or if he is just not all that great live.  All of the 10 to 16 year old girls in the Gwinnett Center would disagree with me though.  One group even had a sign that said, “Call a doctor, we have Justin Bieber fever”.
3. The concert started at 7:00 and at 11:00 we left 4 songs into the last act… The Fray.  Chad just couldn’t take it any longer.  The problem is the 25+ minutes to change the stage out between acts.  Star 94 needs to come up with a way to smoothly move from act to act with little down time.  Either a stage that rotates so they can set up one band while one is performing or two stages would do the trick.
4. The Gwinnett Center does a great job with traffic.  We arrived at about 6:30 and got right in and parked.  We left early but so did a lot of other people.  We got out and onto 85 pretty quickly.
5. For some reason Cindy, one of the morning show hosts was not there.  Seems like this is a pretty big event on the station’s yearly calendar to have one of your main hosts out.

Overall the concert was good and worth the ticket price (but not the crazy Ticketmaster fees).  Next year is the 10 year anniversary.  At this point I am not sure if I will plan to attend again next year.  It all depends on the lineup I guess.

We need to test the “bulk waste” claims of the new office toilets.

Yes, I have finally replaced the 1996 Ford Explorer that I have been driving for the past 12 years.  It was time.  Here is a list of what was broken on the Explorer:

1. Odometer was stuck at 152,313 miles
2. The driver’s side seat buckle stuck open when you unlatch the seat belt
3. The driver’s side seat didn ot latch back
4. The radio did not turn off
5. There was a vibration when traveling over 60 mph in the front end
6. The rear doors did not open from the inside
7. The power door locks did not work on the driver’s side
8. Passenger door could not be unlocked from the outside
9. The a/c did not work (air does not cool)

Beside these few items it was a great car and had served me well for 12 years.  Now I am driving a 2007 Subaru Tribeca with about 37,000 miles on it and everything works.  The funny part of the whole story is that I paid $100 more for my Explorer when I bought it all those years ago.  Hopefully the Subaru will last as long (or longer) than the Explorer.