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(Note for all...there is no war on christmas outside of the one created by fundamentalist christians. The rest of us say what we like, and everyone knows we aren't being offensive because there's no intent.)

So 2006 was an interesting year, but in a shocking show of not business as usual, interesting in a good way. Every time it tried to veer off into the suck, something brought it back. I just think the universe was so busy with other things, that it was too stressed to mess with my head. For that I say "thanks".

It was also a year with a rare thing, an obvious High Point. Specifically, Melissa said "yes". The sequel to that will be 7 Oct. 2007. I'm rather looking forward to it.

But there were other high points too. Shawn and Lesa getting married. Then they move to Connecticut to start a new life there. That will make their lives interesting across the board for some time to come, but I think it will end up being one of those "very scary things you just have to take a chance on" things. My good friend, Paul Kent finally got the recognition he's busted his ass to earn, and is now grand poobah of Macworld Conference and Expo. (Yeah, I know TECHNICALLY, it happened in way late 2005, but this is Macworld time.) That's another scary thing. I've been in charge, and while it's really cool to realize "I can finally do it MY way", it's scary as hell, because it's all your fault if it screws up. Having known Paul for...lord, this will be something like 8 years in Jan., I'm not worried. I watched a friend who long ago transitioned into family go away to play with B-52s in the Indian Ocean. Okay, Diego's not a combat zone, but you never quite feel right until people come back home. He came back home just fine. Jenny's year started out kinda crappy with her mom's death, but at the same time, due to her mom making smart decisions over the years, Jen's now in a place a lot of us would love to be, and that is being able to decide what she wants to do with her life, and having pretty much any option open. Folks, if you got kids, think about the insurance and the annuities. No, it doesn't make up for you, but it does help things be a lot easier after you're gone. In one of those displays of generosity that you can't say thanks enough for, Jen gave me her old Saturn, and is letting me use her Camry as "my" car. Yeah, so what if they're both old, that's not the point. The point is, she did something really amazingly nice for me, and I wish i had better words than just "thanks" for her.

I talked Melissa into going to her first Macworld Conference and Expo, for three reasons. 1) I currently don't get to see her enough, and this is an extra week. I'm greedy that way. 2) For a lot of reasons, Macworld is a rather important part of my life, and I want her to have at least some idea of why. 3) Pretty much everyone on my side of the wedding is going to be there, so it's her best chance to meet them in a more sane situation. (for a bride, a wedding is FAR more insane than Macworld will ever be.)

I got to meet some fun new people too, like Sheridan and Nadyne from the MS Mac BU. After the Apple "Campus" Bash, I can tell you, Nadyne rocks. She'll do just fine in the Mac BU, which is not the easiest place in the Mac market to work. I got to "meet", i.e. virtually, Scoble's better half, and Maryam is one of the most charming people you'll ever talk to. Given enough time, she may even work miracles with Robert. Say, forty years or so :-P

My son grew in a lot of ways this year, but mostly up. Something like three inches. Maybe four. He's not even halfway to fourteen yet. Yeesh.

For some reason, people started reading this site a lot. I had my first bandwidth overages ever. I'm not silly enough to think it means much of anything, but I do appreciate it. Speaking of online, some online pubs from Jupiter Media and CMP took a chance on me, and that's worked out rather well I think. I am fully aware that due to my...acerbic nature, I tend to come with some baggage, so I appreciate the folks who look past that. I'm not planning on changing, the acerbic's part of my "charm". (Yeah, that's it...CHARM). But it's nice to see people not getting bogged down by such things.

So, I'm sitting here on xmas day, the only one in the house. Nikki's finally gotten enough petting to not be wrapped around one arm, I slept for 11 or so hours, and the year hasn't sucked. It's not even come close to sucking. The people I care about are all doing well, or working real hard at getting there and making progress. I've got some over-strong coffee and a freshly-destroyed bowl of Rice Krispies. Alex is having a great xmas at Adrian's, and in two days, I'll be in Orlando, and then S.F. for Macworld. 2006 has been pretty damned good to me, and 2007 looks to be at least as good, maybe even better.

But that's all in the future. Right now, I'm going to have more coffee.

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