2011 - A Retrospecitve

It's 9:30 on New Years Eve 2011 and the good people of Orlando have been celebrating with fireworks and/or gunfire for the last 12 hours.  I'm not partying like it's 1999, because I was a senior in high school that year, and I did, in fact, party.  I'm full of Twisty Treat, bored with Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve, and in a contemplative mood so sit back, relax, and get ready for a really long year-end recap post.

There were a number of "firsts" in 2011.

My first time walking across a frozen lake.   

First Badger basketball game (in a blizzard!)

First hockey game

 

First protest  

and recall petition

 

It was kind of a weird year for running.  I was able to run through most of the winter

and ran two pretty decent races (but no PRs at any distance :( ) but it often took a backseat to life and other athletic pursuits. 

I finished reading the Bible, attended several shape note singing conventions, returned to the motherland to see J graduate, had a "hot topic" poster at a conference, and jumped head first into the hipster class by signing up for both a meat and a fruit and vegetable CSA.  As always, the weather came up as a topic of conversation.    

All things considered, it was a pretty busy, pretty good year.  I'd like to sit here and lay out grand plans for the year to come, but one way or another, 2012 is going to be a year of transition for me, and I'm hesitant to try to force some kind of idea of what will happen.  This year I want to try to be a little more Zen about life, the universe, and everything, and look forward to things as they come- not as I think they should be.  Easier said than done for sure, but Dec 31 is the time for great aspirations and big dreams.

Happy New Year, All!