Well its that time of year again.  Goodbye 2011 hello 2012.

2011 Was not a bad year by any stretch of the imagination.  We certainly did our fair share of traveling.  Trips to Florida, Arizona and the Bahamas.

But the older I get the quicker time seems to be passing.  Maybe its my perception, my memory or some mystery of time.  Things come and go quicker and after they pass seem almost like they happened years ago not only months.

With the passing of time comes the inevitable, things come to an end.  Whether the timing is right or wrong.

 One of those things being my (and our family's first dog), Bailey.  15 years of the big guy and it was hard to see him go, he will always have a place in my memory.

Loss of pets are expected, not that we have to like that anymore, but we know this going in.  Harder is when you see a person die, when by all means should be in the prime of their life.  Just a few weeks ago long time friend and classmate Mark LaFond died after a long 10 year struggle with brain cancer.  Seeing this known inevitability was real tough for me.  He was 43, had two kids, his son, Matt is the same age as Joel.  (they even met when they were around 10). So to me it was a little of a parallel of my life, not a mirror, because no one but Mark and his family knows the roller-coaster his last 10 years was.  A parallel that eventually took a turn in a different direction.  Who know where life's next detour is.

Good things:

We did all that traveling. Some 4000 total miles. And we had a good time as a family.  That right there is a good year.  Some yelling, fighting but everyone came back alive and we made some nice memories.

Not really sure how else to break this down, so we will go by family member.

Joel is 18 and a senior.  Already been accepted to ASU, Uof AZ, Purdue, Cincinnati and U Of SC.  The two AZ schools have offered up to $60,000 in scholarship money already.That's what good grades and 32 on your ACT will do for you.  More and more I think that kid was swapped at birth. He's still playing tennis (which he loves) but much to my inside disappointment he did not play baseball.  I understand and I can only live my dreams through him so far.  Watching from T ball to High School its hard to break 9 years of that.  I missed watching him play that's for sure.  He also has left the varsity basketball team midway through his senior year. For reasons of his own and was a very tough decision for him.  Again, 9 years of watching him play hoops and I miss it already. I miss the camaraderie with parents and the boys I have watch grow up.   Not to continuously drop cliches, but life goes on.  One last thing, He finally got off the sidelines and has a girlfriend.  I say it not in a mean way, but by little buddy has always been a bit on the social shy side.  So nice to see him metamorphasize into a fine young man.

Mackenzie, Mackenzie, what a little fireplug.  She is a Disney movie waiting to happen.  A day does not go by that I don't get to see 3 mood swings and 8 different emotional states.  Middle school.  Near teen.  Drama at every turn.  Cheers and tears.

She played fast-pitch softball this year, and even though she is one of the smallest girls out there, she doesn't play like it and that makes me all warm and fuzzy.  Back in basketball this fall and somehow I was duped into coaching the team.  Wow, take 10 6th grade girls and try to coach them, when basketball is really not the main thing on their minds.  Talk about herding cats.

Another wonderful thing about her is the effort she has put into her school work.  It's as if she see's what Joel has done and says "hey I can do it too" and maybe even better. Good for her!

19 years of wedded bliss.  What can I say, Tracy is the rock of the household.  The one voice of reason when it gets crazy here.  It sure isn't me.  The Nurse, the Maid, the Chauffeur, the designated driver more often then not.  The sane to my crazy.  The kids (and I) take her for granted way too often and that's not fair.  Something we need to work on this year.  Although, I will blame her for Oakley, the newest member of the household.  Sending me puppy pictures, then me going to look at them, to getting one.  I must be getting soft.

Speaking of me going soft.  That would be the theme for my health this year.  After all the injections over the last 2 plus years, I finally re-injured my neck to the point I had the surgery.  Level one spinal fusion.  Sounds painful, but honestly I feel so much better now.  4 months later and I am ready to rock.    I even joined a gym to start rebuilding some muscle and lose that 30 pounds I added to my middle.  This should eventually help me with my activities (softball, yardwork, biking, golf, snowboarding, etc), making my clothes fit better and me feel better overall.  Physically and mentally.  Hey it sure won't hurt when I take to the track this spring to defend my 2011 Milwaukee Region SCCA Solo Sport Touring Unlimited title.  That's right I am an award winning driver!  Rookie season and win my class.  Ok, so my class was small and I also ran the most events so I gave myself the best chance to take my top scores, but a win is still a win.  These things come far and few between for me so I will enjoy them while I can.

And that is the lesson I am learning.  Enjoy life while you can,  you may never know what's around the corner.

Cheers and Happy 2012 to everyone!

-Jeff