Happy new year, everybody!

So, it's now 2008. Took long enough for it to roll around. To me, on many fronts, 2007 is going to be chalked up as a "lost year", one that I'll be happier to forget than to remember. Starting off with the death of my grandmother in January, and coupled with more deaths in our family and the families of friends, a frustrating job hunt that only recently bore fruit, and the slow recovery of my arm from a shoulder spasm last December (I've only been able to start doing push-ups again in the past month or so), I'm thrilled for 2007 to be in the books.

Don't get me wrong, there was good in the past year also. Watching Gabriel grow up from a 10-month old squirming baby to a 22-month old running, kinda-talking bundle of energy has been incredible, and living with Jen and Gabe in Wisconsin is wonderful.

But it's time for 2008 to start, and I swear to god, if it's anything like 2007 I'll be severely cheesed off.

So, on to other stuff.

Last night Jen and I just relaxed around the house while we let our new crock pot do all the cooking for us (bratwurst and sauerkraut - yum!). We watched the "To Catch a Predator" marathon on MSNBC, then finally got Gabe to go to sleep just after midnight. Not the most exciting Eve, but it was fun.

Tomorrow, I start my new job at Kohl's corporate headquarters. I'm a little nervous about this - it's been over a year since I've actually worked (I was doing consultant work since May, but working from home is way different than going somewhere to work). Not only do I have to train myself on a new computer program I've never used before, but I've also got to get myself back into the routine of waking up at 6:00 and getting out the door by 7:30 or so. And here I was, starting to get used to Gabriel waking me up in the mornings. Back to the old alarm clock for me. Bleh.

Right now, Gabriel's counting his blocks.

"Wuh, tuh, free, fo, fiy, sih, bobby, et, niy, teh."

We have no clue how "seven" became "bobby".

Yay, 2008!