In my 2007 reflections post, I was off kilter. I felt certain that big changes were coming in my life and that they were just around the corner. I don’t know why I felt that way, but the changes never materialized. At least not that I could see. 2008 was a lot like most other recent years in my life. I worked hard, I played hard, I stayed in touch with close friends, and the year simply flew by. I’m wondering if I should start writing a summary of each month as it passes—just for personal reasons—so I can see where I’ve been and where I’m going. Thankfully I have the Little Nuances archives to help remind me about some of the events.
Professionally speaking, I was quite busy. I compiled a small book of facts for Barbour Publishing called Fun Facts for Sports Lovers. It is set for release in July 2009. I also compiled two perpetual desk flip calendars for Barbour: 365 Inspiring Moments from the Great Outdoors (due out in February 2009) and 365 Days of Inspiration for Football Fans (due out in July 2009). I continued to write for Baptist Press Sports (you can find links to many of the articles on my Christian sports blog). And I wrote a number of articles for other publications. I also did quite a bit of editing for a Christian publishing house. And I co-founded a new writing business called A Write Start that is designed to help people who want to be published but aren’t sure how to make it happen.
Personally speaking, I was a bit disappointed in myself. I didn’t read as many books this year as I have in years past. And I didn’t do a good job of keeping track of what I did read. In fact, in general, I did a poor job of keeping track of my life. I didn’t journal as much as I would have liked to. I didn’t take as many photos as I would have liked to. I didn’t blog as much as I would have liked to. And I didn’t spend as much time in reflection as I would have liked to. When you own your own business, it tends to bleed over into your personal live and that was definitely the case for me in 2008. I’m thinking through steps I can take in 2009 to avoid that from happening as much as possible.
Way back in January, I bowled a 297 game. I have no idea how. My first game of the series was a 128 and my third game was a 165. What happened in the second game is still a mystery but for the first eleven frames, every ball I threw found the pocket and all the pins went down. On my final ball, I thought it was going to be a good shot when I let it go, but it just didn’t make it back to the pocket quickly enough. Of course, I blogged about the event. Here’s a link.
In February, William F. Buckley Jr. died. That really bummed me out because so many of those in the old guard are passing away. I had a great deal of respect for Buckley, and as you’ve probably guessed by now, I blogged about him here.
In April, I put Little Nuances on hiatus, thinking I probably wouldn’t return. But I couldn’t help it. I missed it, and you, too much.
Around August, I started feeling a little off. It was hard to describe, but when I tried, I told people that I felt like someone turned my awareness down a notch or two. One Saturday morning I woke up feeling that way and once I felt a little better that day, I drove to an emergency room and told the nurse that I was pretty sure I had diabetes. Many people in my family have it and I have always thought I would get it one day. Turns out I was right. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. That took some adjustment, including a meeting with a nutritionist, but I’m happy to report that my blood sugar is completely under control and I’m feeling better.
I immersed myself into more technology in 2008 than ever before. I switched from a Blackberry 8703e to a Treo 755p for various reasons—one of which is, I got used to the Palm OS when I used the old fashioned Palm Pilots of the early 2000s, so I wanted to go back to the familiar. Those who know me won’t be surprised to hear me say that. I bought a new digital camera in 2008—a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H10. It takes stunning photos. This is the third digital camera I have owned and it takes the best photos by far. So, as you can imagine, I was inspired to take lots of photos at Thanksgiving and Christmas to make up for my lack of picture taking for the rest of the year. I continued to overwork my iPod in 2008. I have it loaded with every song I own as well as television shows and many podcasts. It’s one of the most practical pieces of technology I’ve ever owned. It’s already many generations old (in iPod years), but it’s holding up just fine.
I engaged in more social networking in 2008 than in previous years—primarily through Twitter, which I’m really enjoying. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but it’s an easy way to stay in touch with people you share common interests with. I even added a Twitter section in the sidebar of Little Nuances.
This is probably more information than you’ve ever wanted to know about me, so I’ll stop. I’m looking forward to 2009 and to continuing our conversation here at Little Nuances. Thank you for visiting. Here are links to my previous yearly reflection posts:
