GO BUCKS!!!!!

(Oh man ... I feel sick.)

Woo. It's 2009.

I hope this is the start of a good one for you.

The Year in Review

I'll give 2008 this; it wasn't boring.

There will be no lasting impact from my leg surgery (*knock on wood*) but since it has marred the last three months of '08, its the first to get a comment. I'm taking my crutches into the new year with me and hoping they won't be a big part of 2009. I'm grateful my doctors were able to take care of things so quickly, and glad I had the surgery (not like I had any choice) but I truly had no idea recovery would affect my life this much or for this long.

I also became a home owner in 2008, . The dust is just beginning to settle on that one financially. I was able to make some home improvements in the first half of the year, leading up to the housewarming party in July, though not much else has been done in the second half of the year. I'm looking forward to digging my heels in (sans crutches) and doing more around here in the new year.

I was reunited with the UK this year, and got to experience oft-discussed locations with B for the first time. Being there with B was almost surreal. And I already miss it. And with the accumulation of more American Express Rewards points, I'll be back again someday.

The impact of the Presidential election cannot be understated. I was euphoric on the night of November 4. The emotional release from the end of the abusive relationship with Bush's administration was powerful. There's so much possibility with the election of Obama, but the passage of Prop 8 was hugely disappointing. (We still don't know if that's going to hold up.) I'm going to try to hold onto my hope as long as possible.

The biggest changes this year revolved around my family (which is a surprise to say after saying for so many years that my family will never change.) It was a rough start. We lost Grandma at the end of February, and that's all I have to say about that. My uncle found out he had cancer about a month later, and he continues to battle it as the year closes. And that's all I have to say about that, too.

But news wasn't all bad. In April, I gained a sister-in-law and three nieces. And in August, the fourth niece arrived (named in part for Grandma.) I'm still figuring out this whole ming (aunt) thing, which I imagine will be even harder to do since I'm not present. But I suppose that will give me something else to do in '09.

I have to say ...

I rather like the office when few others are in it.

I'm as busy as ever, but appreciate the quiet where I can get it.

Happy Holidays

(Thought this cartoon was appropriate.)

I am done with the carts.

Nevermind that I hate going anywhere to buy anything because of the crutches. The motorized carts were fun maybe the first two times. Now they are just annoying.

I had to go to the store today and 1) had the crap scared out of me and 2) realized that people weren't as helpful as I'd been thinking they were.

Those carts do not have brakes, so they tend to roll. This is particularly problematic when you are going out into the parking lot to your car. I kept creeping out into traffic in the slow-ass cart, scared that I was going to get hit by a car as I headed to my vehicle to unload my purchases. And then, as it continued to rain and I was heading back to the store to drop the cart off, the cart wouldn't go back up onto the sidewalk. I tried 4 different times, with the cart rolling backwards every time, backwards into traffic, as people walked past me. Finally, I said to someone as they passed, "Do you think you can help push this thing from behind?" And finally, someone did.

It freaked me out for a bit. But I was laughing about it 5 minutes later, hoping someone caught it on video.

Not to be outdone by their football counterparts ...

... the OSU men's basketball team is off to a 9-0 start.

Go Bucks, indeed.