Year in review

Today is my birthday. The FP Gal and I have a pretty tight grouping as far as that goes. It’s nice to have them close together. It makes this ‘birthday time’. We spent Saturday night at my Mom’s and Sunday with her family. Both nights were very nice.
Two years ago I turned 30. That’s one of those milestone birthdates that some people fear. It was liberating for me. I was an actual real adult and able to live as such. My 20’s were basically an extended teenage decade. No longer. Sure, it was all in attitude thing, but sometimes that’s what makes the difference. A few months later I met the FP Gal and my 30^th year was pretty nice.
But nothing like this last year. If you’ve been reading this blog since it last December you’ve read about some pretty big events. My desire to enforce order has led me to rank some of them. With apologies to David Letterman, here’s my top ten:

10. Jan 9^th, Vikings go into Lambeau and beat the Packers 31-17. This was the game that made the last few miserable seasons worthwhile. The Vikes found a late season pulse and won a game outdoors on the road. That it was against their biggest rivals made it all the sweeter.

9. My Oscar movie project. This has been more fun than I thought it would be. I’ve gotten to see some movies I wouldn’t have otherwise bothered with. And introduced the FP Gal to some others. The only downside has been sitting through Thin Red Line again.

8. Back in February, I wad of unlikely money fell in my lap. I’d been agonizing over whether or not to order the baseball package and the FP Gal convinced me to go ahead and get it. Who knew that the White Sox would lead the division wire to wire? Who knew that they’d give me so many improbable comebacks such strong pitching?

7. My sister eloped in February. It wasn’t really a surprise as she’d threatened to do so for quite some time. She then had a reception for family and friends. My family is kind of far flung so we don’t get much of a chance to get together. One of the highlights was having my brother, sister-in-law and very cute nephew stay at our place. (More from this weekend to follow.)

6. Thanksgiving of ’04 was very nice. My sister offered to host us out in Seattle. I invited the FP Gal she graciously accepted. It was our first vacation away and it was a blast. The day after Thanksgiving, we borrowed her car and drove up to Mt Ranier. November is a pretty cloudy month in Washington, but we got very lucky and got a clear sight of the peak. Someday I’ll get her to move out there with me. (Bonus highlight, we found Smartfood.)

5. My all time favorite band is U2. I’d never seen them in concert until this year. It was absolutely amazing. Bono was incredible. They played some of my favorite tunes. And I even love their new stuff. It’s a real testament to this year that this concert ranks this low.

4. Through a strange combination of workplace tradition and product placement, I was able to take the FP Gal on a surprise vacation. We ended up in Mexico, listening to the endless surf. An additional surprise for her was the ring that I brought. She said yes.

3. History buffs love old, important cities. Fortune smiled on me and gave me an all expense paid trip to Paris. I saw as many sights as I could in the five days I was there. Amazing sculpture, beautiful architecture and more gold leaf than you can shake a scepter at. C’est magnifique!

2. I’m a wee bit of a baseball fan (no, really). I adopted the White Sox as my team when I was too young to know any better. Nineteen heartbreaking seasons later they repayed all of my hope and commitment. World Champs. Still brings a smile to my face.

1. What else could it be? On 12 June, 2005 we surprised our families when a brunch became a wedding. We ambushed ‘em good and proper. To this day, her father is leery of the word ‘brunch’. The bride was very, very beautiful and we are very, very happy. Here's her version of the day. With many, many pictures and descriptions.
   

What could possibly top this year?