Here's to 2006

Welcome to 2006! For all of you, the end of 2005 almost surely means two things: 1) you're now through with family gatherings until at least March, and 2) you're determined to lose just a little weight over the next few weeks. See, it's not just you...it's January. The month comes with so much guilt it should officially be renamed to The Recurring Catholic Month of January. In my case, guilt has led me to post here as well, as it's been about four weeks! So off I go.

The exercise will have to start tomorrow.

Joking aside, Christmas was certainly a good one this year. By my count, Kelly and I saw a combined three grandparents, three parents, one stepparent, one sister, eight aunts, six uncles, six cousins, twelve out-of-state friends, and one extremely friendly dog (for those wondering...yes, I actually counted). It's just a trip down Madness Lane when looked at collectively, but each part by itself was a lot of fun. The Reace family was kind enough to host us again this year--they are always far too kind to me, seeing as how I stole their daughter and chopped her hair off. Sometimes the amount of forgiveness in the world just takes you by surprise.

At any rate, things at home are good, with the Christmas season finally bringing peace between our two cats. Kelly and I prayed and prayed for it to happen with no avail...until at long last we saw the light and got Pat Robertson to step in. Only a few days and four million viewers later, our cats were best friends, smiling up at the heavens with a grace that I could only describe as true serenity. (Speaking of which, if you're even a little bit of a sci-fi fan, you absolutely must see Serenity and Firefly). So...now the cats co-exist during the day, eat from the same bowl, lightheartedly debate who the better parent is, and throw litter from the same box. Kelly and I both fear any possible day that they might get along better than she and I do, but thankfully we haven't seen it yet.

On a different note, yes, the Bulldogs were beaten by a team from the mountains. Yes, they were outcoached by a guy who cussed like a sailor every time he was on camera. Yes, the men in West Virginia are extremely fast...I mean, seriously, have you ever seen the women in West Virginia? (Sorry, Emily, you know you're beautiful). Yes, their fans looked frighteningly like ours. And finally, yes, we gave up more points in the first sixteen minutes than we had in any game this year. But what does that mean? Well, it means we didn't finish in the top ten, but it also means that our guys must have been concentrating really hard on finals instead of football. Let's hear it for UGA, finally having the courage to put forth an amazing academic effort! We always knew that they could do it.

So obviously it's the season to be thankful, and I hope each of you are thankful for those blessings you received this holiday season. Looking down the road, I'm sure 2006 will have much to offer.