Farewell, 2011

It's time to say goodbye to you, 2011. As always, I need to thank you for some things before you go.

First of all, thank you for giving me an action-packed first year as as a department manager.  You gave me many different kinds of situations and issues to deal with at work, all of which I learned from.  And you also gave me three great guys to work with as part of my work family.  We had our moments, as all families do, but all in all, it was a great first year in this new chapter of my life. 

Thank you for your timing.  The first four months of 2011 were almost problem-free for me at work, church, and at home, giving me the time I needed to devote to my Master's thesis project.

Thank you for leaving your mark on my second Master's Degree dimploma.  It will always be a reminder of you whenever I look up at it hanging on the wall and see the "2011" date on there.

Thank you bigtime for doing what I asked last year on New Year's Eve -- taking it easy on my parents.  They had a great, happy, healthy year. Although you were a bit hard on them this summer during our record-breaking heat wave, but they're pretty tough. And you were a bit hard on all of us in Louisville thie year with all of the rain, just saying.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be more involved in activities and things at church. You taught me patience and diligence, and I was very excited, honored and humbled when I was appointed as head of security at church. 

Thank you for giving me the guts to do something that most people just dream about:  starting their own business.  The saying goes that "timing is everything" and this year you sure showed me that was true.  Early this year when I made the decision to start my own church security consulting business, the whole process came together almost effortlessly. Well, not really effortlessly; there was work involved, and a time or two things were moving almost too fast.  But everything fell into place, and I could not have asked for an easier pathway to entrepreneurship.

Last but not least, thank you for allowing me to be part of a Christmas miracle.  You gave me the chance to literally become God's hands and God's feet, making Chrismas 2011 THE best Christmas that my family and I have ever experienced.

Thanks again for everything you taught me this year, and for making it a very happy year for me.  I pray that 2012 will give me much of the same -- twelve months of happiness, health, and opportunity.

Flashback Friday

I had to work today (yes, on a company holiday) for year-end inventory, and on my way to work very early this a.m. I wanted to stop and mail my Netflix DVDs back so I could get more coming from my queue.  That having been said, we don't really trust leaving mail in our mailbox out on the street across from the house because thugs come and steal the mail, so I either take our mail to work or stop at the post office up the street and mail it.  Well, this morning I was running a few minutes late for my early a.m. arrival at work, and as I was driving it dawned on me that there are no longer any mailboxes on the street corners like there used to be. It only makes sense; they want to get rid of the Saturday mail delivery, so they want to get rid of the corner mailbox, too.

Back in the day, you couldn't walk down a street without passing by an official USPS blue metal mailbox.  Now you can hardly find them in the entire city.  I thought and thought and the only blue metal mailboxes I could recall were ones at the post offices.   

If any of you, faithful readers, know of an old school blue metal mailbox in your area, please let me know. 

Happy New Year's Resolution

New Year's Eve is just a couple of days away, and for a week now we've all been hearing about New Year's resolutions.  I did some quick research and found some awesome synonyms for "resolution" -- dedication, purposefulness, perseverance, and my favorite, immovability.

I've never been one to make official resolutions at the beginning of the New Year; I kinda make them all year long in the form of goals.  But this year, I am going to make an actual New Year's resolution: in the new year, I am going to be dedicated in calling and visiting old friends that I haven't seen in a long time.  I already started, by persevering and visiting a dear old friend from work tonight.  It felt great, and tomorrow I'm going to call another old friend and set up a time to get together.  So, Essie, if by chance you're reading TWIT, I'll be calling you in a day or two. 

New Product Review

First of all, I apologize for being a slacker and not taking a picture of this burger.  That having been said, tonight was our weekly Wendy's night; I stop and normally pick up three Baja salads on my way home from work.  Only tonight, Mom wanted to try the new Cheesy Cheddar Burger.  I was only happy to oblige.

To cut to the chase, Mom said it was very good and she would definitely order one again next week on my weekly visit to Wendy's.  

It's a small burger, on their "Value Menu" and is plain (which I would love).  It's just a bun, a burger patty,  a slice of cheddar cheese and a plop of the squirty cheese like they put on their broccoli and cheddar baked potato.  Mom said it had a lot of flavor, and that you could really taste the beefy burger. 

Based on my Mother's expert opinion, TWIT is happy to give Wendy's Cheesy Cheddar Burger a thumb's and the Official TWIT Seal Of Approval. 

Snow Alert: Not

As always in typical fashion, the weatherazzi had us all worked up today over a forecasted 1" of snow here in the Ohio Valley.  At work today I believe I saw it snow for all of two minutes.  So much for that.

My Top Ten Food Memories From Christmas Past

It seemed that every person I talked with over the past two days all mentioned at least a couple of different foods they were going to have for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Now, before you start to chastise me, I'm the first to say that food is a major huge part of the Christmas celebration for us all -- cookies, jam cakes, the ham, egg nog, and everyone's favorite, Chex Mix.  I did some thinking last night and here are my Top Ten Food Memories From Christmas Past (in no particular order):

1. Christmas Eve 1999 -- my aunt and uncle were still here in KY, and each of us had our favorite fast food for Christmas Eve supper (Taco Bell, Arby's, and McD's)


2. Christmas Eve 1995 -- Dad and I made egg nog, and had enough for most of Jefferson County to have at least one cup

3. Christmas Day 2010 -- we deviated at The Compound and instead of the traditional Christmas dinner of ham or turkey or whatever is considered traditional, we had ribs cooked outside on the grill and awesome hot potato salad

4. Every Christmas Day that I can remember -- we always had homemade fruit salad.

5. Every Christmas Eve or Christmas Eve Eve since 2000 -- we've always had White Castles for lunch

6. Every Christmas season that I can remember -- we always have homemade oatmeal raisin cookies

7. Every Christmas that Grandma was living with us -- she always made fudge, bourbon balls and potato candy

8. Santa always leaves a Lifesavers candy book in my stocking

9. Every Christmas Eve since 1995 -- we've always had peel-and-eat shrimp for our Christmas Eve supper

10. Every Christmas Eve until 1972 -- we would always leave a Benedictine sandwich for Santa Clause. In 1972, I started to develop my reasoning and deductive skills, and realized that my Grandpa (who lived with us) was the only person I knew that liked Benedictine, well, except Santa.

Merry Christmas!!

I would like to wish all of you, faithful readers, a very Merry Christmas. May your day be filled with love and laughter.  In between the eating and drinking and presents, please take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas -- the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.