2008 has been one hell of a year. Personally: my son turned two, my sister had a baby, we went on a great trip to Disney World in the summer, I ended my golf season with my best round all year. Business: I had some great opportunities to work with some great clients and really develop my skills more than I have since I started doing web development.

There were some less than happy times in 2008 as well. I lost my beautiful girl Triscuit in October to a bone tumor and her first friend Wish to lymphoma. Fortunately we were able to adopt Triscuit’s brother Colby who has been amazing and Wish’s parents adopted a spunky new girl Ada.

In 2009 I am going to focus on simplicity more than ever. Time to tune out the noise and focus on what is really important. Time to get healthier, to work less and to enjoy not working more.

With that said - time to do some Wii Fit!

It is that time of year again - the Bondathon has begun. Call/come over at your own risk.

I thought this was great: The Decline of Civilization. Enjoy!

Last night we got hit with 4 inches or so of snow. Thankfully either the new gas or my dad cleaning the spark plug over the weekend worked…and the snowblower started up like a champ. As I finished up my driveway I noticed the neighbor that left the small strip of snow next to me the last snowfall - was out shoveling.

I glanced over at him and turned the snowblower the opposite way and did the other neighbor’s entire sidewalk. When I finished with that, I looked at Amy and asked her if she thought I should do the neighbor’s sidewalk on the other side (the one I have issues with) and she nodded yes and we then cleared his sidewalk as well. We got a “thank you” after it was finished, but I will not hold my breath for him to clear the foot or so of my sidewalk next time. Not everyone can sink to the levels of others - thank goodness!

Sometimes I just do not get people’s effort. Some people make an effort to help out the elderly, smile, say hello, or donate to charities - all of these take little effort but go along way. Then - there are the people who seem to go out of their way not to look you in the eye, not acknowledge you, and are generally miserable. Both types of people make some sort of effort - but in opposite ways. While I may not be an optimist all the time - I will say hello to anyone and when given the chance - will help my friends/colleagues, and others when and if they need anything.

This brings me to mention my neighbor…which is driving me crazy. In Chicago we get a decent amount of snow and after growing up with a snowblower as means to clear the snow from the driveway - as soon as we bought our house - I went out and got a snowblower. When I was younger I used to always clear not only my parents’ driveway but also the neighbor’s sidewalks and sometimes driveways as well. It was a courteous thing to do - especially when they only had shovels. So back to my neighbor…in between our houses is about 15 feet of property…12 feet of that is his and three feet (one sidewalk block) is ours. Every time it has snowed in the last 3 years I have cleared our driveway and the sidewalk in front of my house to the neighbor’s driveways on both sides. The neighbors on both sides have shovels and the one neighbor I am annoyed with is older so I make sure he does not have to shovel too much. He also has a fire hydrant in front of his house so I make sure that is always clear of snow. The time it takes me to do this is very small compared to what it would take with a shovel.

]A few days ago we got 4 inches or so of snow so I went out to clear the driveways and sidewalks and noticed that he had already been out there earlier because the entire sidewalk was clear except for a tiny strip on my property. (See picture with Amy’s size 7 sneaker in there to give you some idea of the stopped short shoveling. Yeah that is right Amy…I used your shoe. I would have used one of mine, but mine were all away in the closet and not sitting out ;)). To me - it took him more effort to stop, take a look at the property line, and then make the decision to stop there than it would have if he would have just did one more shovel scoop. I was/am completely appalled that someone that I have always been nice to and helped out over the last 3 years would make the effort to stop literally 2-3 feet short of clearing a little snow from our sidewalk. Wow. I just do not get people at all. Serenity now!

Here is a picture of Colby from this morning while he was stretching. You can see how big he is - and how much longer he is compared to Triscuit. We are working on getting some weight on him so he will be a bit more filled out but overall he is a very happy boy. He has shown a little stubbornness with moving, going down stairs, etc - but he is great around Evan and is extremely laid back. Last weekend some of our friends came over with their two greyhounds and all of them had a good time running around in the back yard and getting to know each other. We plan on getting some of his races on DVD so in the near future - if you want to see him run (as well as Triscuit - we are going to try and get some of her videos too) let me know.

I have not been a very good poster lately - and I apologize. I have had a lot going on. We got our new dog Colby last weekend, been busy with all the WordPress 2.7 update/compatibility issues, preparing for Evan’s 2nd birthday, re-organizing my office space and development environment, getting ready for holiday travel, and just trying to take a break. I also have started the process of updating my web site Jappler.com from the ground up. I am not sure when you will see the new version - but it is in the works.

Colby is doing good. Triscuit was my first dog ever so there are a lot of things I thought all dogs did - but I can definitely see a lot more of Triscuit’s personality vs. generic dog vs. Colby and that has been pretty cool. Colby hangs out with me in my office for most of the day and like his sister Triscuit - is not a fan of the dog crate. I have been working with him on that as well as teaching him how to go up and down the stairs, how to walk on a leash, that the window is glass and not a hole for him to jump out of (windows really confuse him), and how to take treats from my hand. It has been both rewarding and sad to see him in action. Rewarding because he is such a good dog that is so curious about everything…and he loves just being around you. Sad because he is four and does not understand treats, toys, or a treats/peanut butter in a kong. I will be sure to work on that.

I have not seen him run yet in a sprint, but I am sure in the next few days I will be able to get him to do a sprint in the yard (he was an excellent runner and I want to see him in action).

Other than that - life has been pretty crazy/hectic. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be able to take some time off and really enjoy just being.