Happy New Year

Just a few thoughts this week; nothing very deep and nothing very connected. I didn't want to let the blog flatline while I was on break, but I don't have a whole lot to say, either.

New Year's Eve is my least favorite holiday. I have no idea what all these people are celebrating. Maybe it's because I stay up that late every day, but I don't see the appeal. We made it through another year. Awesome. January 1st is an arbitrary day that we picked hundreds of years ago to be the start of our calendar year. It carries no major significance. I like doing year-end recaps and watching the 10 best plays on SportsCenter and lists of the 10 best movies and songs and all that but the whole getting drunk and counting down and ringing in the new year just makes me angry. It's really not that big a deal. I mean, if someone else has a better understanding of the significance, please let me know what it's really about. As far as I can tell it's just an excuse to get drunk with the next morning off to recover. Grow up and use a sick day already.

This break has been so good for me. I feel well rested and connected with my family. I've had all kinds of time to just be lazy and do whatever I want. Work is going well, although I'd like a few more hours. I can't complain too much about my hours, though, because three days a week is perfect once I start back to school in two weeks.

We had a great Christmas. Xander got spoiled rotten for the second year in a row. He still hasn't caught on to the concept of presents, at least not completely. He opened a rocking horse from his great-grandma and then decided he should climb on top of the box for a while. I think he actually got that the gifts he was opening were for him (a vast improvement over last year, when they unwrapping was the best part), but he lost interest after just a couple. And clothes were not very well received. He opened an adorable polo shirt from my dad, picked it up, and threw it. Not impressed.

It has struck me that I've basically been an adult for a decade. That may be stretching the facts a little (I was a 16-year-old senior in high school ten years ago) but I've certainly been more independent than not since the year 2000. I've held at least one job for all but about six weeks of the last decade. I've lived more than half of each year of this decade outside of my parents' home with the exception of 2000 (I only lived in the dorms from August to December of that year). I think I've been making my own decisions and doing everything I could to take care of myself over the last ten years. Maybe I grew up too early, but that doesn't change the facts. Now I'm fully independent (financially speaking), married, a father, a homeowner... that feels like a significant accomplishment. Maybe it just means I've become a fully brainwashed member of society. I'm OK with that. I feel no strong desire to oppose my dominant culture. Belonging to the system suits me.

I think that's all I have for now. There's something terribly wrong with the Nuggets, and that bums me out. Jay Cutler had two great games this week, now that they don't mean anything to his team. At least it means the Broncos don't get as good a draft pick from the Bears. I have a bad feeling about both of my baseball teams for 2010, too. Maybe it'd be better if I didn't focus on sports for the time being. I think I'm going to start rooting for the Mountain West Conference in college football. They're lovable underdogs. So go TCU tonight. I hope the Horned Frogs win by 50 points. Congratulations to BYU, Utah, Air Force, and Wyoming on their impressive bowl wins.

Thanks for stopping by, and come back next week. I promise to have something better to say.