2008’s over, and it’s the middle of February 2009, but better late than never… 2008 was a rough year. On the 2nd of January my grandfather passed away, then in August my cousin was killed in an accident at work. I know of more people who passed away last year than in any other year I can remember. Maybe it’s part of getting older; the group of people I know is also getting older and some of them are starting to shuffle off, who knows… In that respect, 2009’s already off to a better start. 2008 is also when our current economic crisis was realized (notice how I say realized and not began).

2008 did have some shining momemts, however. It was the year that I started bonsai trees as a hobby, which is far more demanding than I’d ever imagined it to be but rewarding as well. I rekindled my enthusiasm for tennis and racquetball. And I started volunteering for ImageOut, which has been a great outlet for my desire to be involved with the community.

So what will 2009 hold? I’m still involved with ImageOut, and I’m actually on the board this year. The bonsai are in the middle of their first winter (under my care), so we’ll see how they fared when spring arrives. My racquetball and tennis games are both suffering because I keep switching back and forth between the two, refusing to believe that I have to choose one or the other. And hopefully I will meet more of my fitness goals this year than I did last year. Let’s hope that by the end of the year 2009 (or sooner) the economy will have stabilized, or at least have a direction, and we all still have jobs.