the look-back


christ.

is it really december 31st? i guess it is, although it's snuck up and bit me this year like no other before it. i am sure there are any number of contributing factors to that, but those factors don't make it any less a fact that tomorrow brings a new year. as i mentioned a couple of weeks ago, this has been the busiest of years as it concerns HACAM and i thank you, once more, to the folks that make this place tick. even if you hate blogs or hate what this one and i stand for, you are part of it now, whether you like it or not. that, in and of itself, gives me reason to smile. there were too many subjects and posts to count left on the cutting room floor due to the always poor excuse of constrained time, but that will just make me work harder for my girls and you to not let those thoughts lose themself into the ether without being properly documented. 2009 promises to be the most interesting of years, highlighted by my first served as lay leader of the church whose name we will dare not speak (i kid, of course) as well as the year that my oldest little girl makes her transition to big school. holy. shit. that second one is unbelievable. the first one kind of is too. it should be a blast to say the least! as far as what i hope comes of it, that'll be for a post sometime next week. tonight, we'll take a look back at 2008 through the eyes of my 2008 resolutions and proceed to score the year. let's get whacking!

1) start getting right with god... - nothing puts you in the mood to dance with the Big Fella like fighting it out with fellow christians, right? i don't know if i've ever felt more in tune with where i am headed, spiritually, as i do right now, but this year and this subject will always be remembered by me for "blog-gate". the events of those couple of months can be summed up with any number of words that call to mind "the act of being retarded". today, we'll go with inane. on my very public blog, i state(d) very honest opinions in a manner that strikes/struck some as inappropriate. rather than coordinating the reaction that those opinions stirred in others into something healthy and helpful, we put peanut butter into each other's hair, called people names best served in an elementary school lunchroom and chose not to act on anything other than the means used by some, including myself, to express their massive frustration with something they love very much. the lesson learned? if you can't be critical without being "constructive" as defined by someone other than yourself and stroking the "body" in question's ego at the same time, you might as well hold that shit inside and just own the indigestion. yaaaaaayyyy, church! right?

2) don't give up on huffman (the community, not necessarily my church) ... - done. 2008 saw more retail and restaurant closings throughout huffman. costa's bbq? later. guthrie's? drive somewhere else for your chicken fingers. steve and barry's? wow. that didn't last long. pet supplies "plus"? we're still here. for now. i hope for the long haul. as far as those prospects go, i'll just say that we're still here. for now. i hope for the long haul. there is something charming about our aged and transitioned community. it's the picture of some romantic place that you might read about that has seen it's better days, still holding on like mad to the past in ways, owning the realities of the poor to really poor current economy in others. but there is no reason to give up on huffman, because people still live here. and until they move away, there will remain hope.

3) don't get fat ... - woohoo! another victory. no one will confuse me with anyone that spends way too much time in a gym, but i held my own this year. maybe even lost a couple pounds that i didn't need to lose. maybe even shifted a few more due to the new and improved rocky-esque training montage (big thanks to kiker and his perfect push-up) to other places on my body. fact remains that i can still hit a softball pretty hard. i can still get up and down a basketball court. and i still carry a chip on my shoulder that says i can kick your ass. probably not the greatest barometer of health or not-fat-ness, but it's just the god's honest truth. here's to wearing the same jeans for going on three years now, and still not "growing into them".

4) drive fast and safe to the emergency room when it's time ... - won't spend much time here, because i was wrong and i am glad i was wrong. no trips to the emergency room this year. and i only wanted to chance it by throwing hannah through a window two to three times. ok, that's a lie. i probably wanted to do that close to ten times. but i didn't. and i won't. and that's a good thing for us all.

5) eat more ribs ... - what a horrific failure this was. i think i had dreamland four times this year. freaking four!!! who's to blame? me, ultimately, but i am putting this one on andy because that's what kind of friend i am. a shitty one. just kidding. i hope that's not the kind of friend i am. but, yeah, back to andy...his changing jobs left little to no time for fraternizing over the most beloved of meat. his same job promises more freedom and opportunity in 2009. i am going to hold him to that.

6) don't throw up ... - i said it couldn't happen, and it didn't. dateline: spring children's musical at humc. here i am, supposed to play (poorly) a fake superhero and for hours leading up to the big production, i am either throwing up all over myself or curled into the fetal position hoping for heaven or hell, whichever the Big Fella judges i deserve. i make it through the musical without losing myself on any children, and i even nailed the solo as best i could. could've been worse. i will take only one vomit-ous episode like that every year.

7) go to the iron bowl ... - failed. one fiscally tangible downside to alabama's football season that was included tickets to this game being super-freaking expensive. and here's what i would say to that disappointing turn of events. if alabama going undefeated in the regular season prices me out of ever seeing them play in person again...i'll take it.

8) don't start smoking ... - as much of a gimme this one was intended to be back in january, "blog-gate" almost ruined it for me. alas, i could not find my crack-pipe, and all remained well. don't start smoking? check.

9) make christmas less "busy" ... - if, by this idea, i meant losing unnecessary "traditions"/routines in favor of doing things that tended to make our family happy and not overly stressed, this one happened too. i am not sure if the end result and product of it is exactly what i wanted to happen, but whatareyougonnado?

10) see brian again ... - check. not in florida, but check. christmas wasn't the same without you, though, brother. it didn't take much to spoil us last year. peek forward to my resolutions for 2009 and you'll see the previous sentence as what some people may call foreshadowing.

11) close this chapter as it relates to my father ... - file this one under "be careful what you wish for". fuck. me.

and to the tale of the tape... i score myself a rather shoddy 7 out of 11, good for 64%. in some uncertain terms, i passed the year but left plenty of room to grow on for the next 365 days.

i've thought long and hard about whether the setting of goals and naming of resolutions is worth my time. some people poo-poo the idea, but i would counter by saying that if it isn't in you to do so, you are only setting yourself up to be apathetic and boring. whether serious or tongue in cheek, i will continue to set my new year's bar just high enough that i think i can get over it. i probably won't. in fact, i'll probably fail miserably. but, you'll get to read about it and feel better about yourself. if nothing else, i can give that to you.

and if something else, i can carry you along with me.