2008 goals: Snowboard, Golf, Triathlon, a Book a month, Writing, and American Gladiator.
Hey, I’ve been writing for Tribune USA for a year now! I’m pretty faithful only missing those vacation weeks off and most of December due to it being the ‘busy time’ of year. Or is it supposed to be the ‘happiest time’ of the year? Hmmm… Both I guess.
I’ll be writing these weekly articles every week in 2008 and I also have several scripts I need to start, finish and sell. This year is going to be filled with more writing and more stories! It’s going to be awesome!
2007 was pretty damn good. I accomplished some new goals, left some old ones on the wayside, and made some more new ones for 2008. There just doesn’t seem to be enough days in the week and 2008 really needs a calendar adjustment. We actually get one more day this year – and I plan on making that day significant!
So what’s on tap for 2008? Okay, I’m back on the book of the month kick. I’ve been reading again but it slows down around April. That’s when I start a book, put it aside, start another, put it aside, and so on and so forth. This year I have to pick up those same books and finish them and finish a ton of new ones begging to be read.
Oh, and the family just got into Snowboarding and Skiing. We went to Mountain High on Christmas Eve and are now hooked. Jake used his Christmas money to buy himself a little snowboard and Donna convinced me to buy a Snowboard package instead of skis so there you have it. I’m now a snowboarder – and I’m addicted. If I could go every day I would! I have till March to get in a couple of trips to the mountain and hope to take advantage of it as much as possible. Donna and Bella took Ski lessons as it was their very first time and for first timers they did great! Bella was in a kids class for three hours and, as the teacher said as she leaned over to Donna, ‘was the best one in the class’. And Bella was not too hesitant to brag, “My daddy taught me how to pizza!” I’m a proud daddy!
Yeah, the 15 minutes I spent getting her on skis, walking down about 15 yards, and having her ski and ‘pizza’ down to me made her the top of the class. Funny huh?
It took Jake a couple of runs down the bunny slope to finally get the whole concept of snowboarding. Kids learn fast don’t they? By days end it was natural to him. Jessica tore down the mountain, ‘shredding,’ as they say, and stopping in a crash that would cause heads to turn… every time! It cracked me up. I skied on that day, but two weeks later I was snowboarding down with Jacob and loving it! 2008 will be the year for snowboarding! Donna is getting into it and once Bella reaches 40 pounds, she’ll have her own snowboard! Right now she’s a little skier and as cute as can be!
Oh, and there’s golf. Chip and I scheduled a tee time during what was supposed to be a storm. We were going to brave the
weather and do 18! We had our rain gear on, rain gloves, extra towels, warm jackets and walked into a tee time at Griffith Park’s Harding course. And did it rain like it did all day and the night before? Nope! We had a perfect day of golf with the sun breaking through the clouds a couple of times! From 1:30 to 5:00 we had an open course and no rain. Wow. Two hours after we wrapped it up, the rain came down in buckets. 2008 will be filled with more tee times, lower scores and fewer putts!
News flash! I have a month to prepare for the first Triathlon of the season. Yikes. I can’t miss this one. It’s the Redlands Triathlon. It was the first one I ever did, I ran it last year, and I can’t miss it this year. Last year I did it in the pouring rain. It was tough to ride my bike for 10 miles in the pouring, cold rain. There were a couple of crashes but I was fortunate to stay on the saddle despite the fact it was hard to see. Breathing was like putting your face up against the spray of a showerhead and taking deep breaths for thirty plus minutes! Try seeing through that too and that’s what the rain was like. My goal was to beat my 2006 time and I barely did that (by six minutes). I would have killed it but the rain was my downfall. This year I’m going to rock!
Did you watch the new American Gladiator? If you haven’t, give it a try. There’s nothing else to watch during the writer’s strike anyway. And don’t be surprised if someday in the future you see a 5 foot 5 inch, 150 pounder making his way through the Gladiators! Yeah, that would be me. Is it a new goal? Lets just say, don’t put it past me.
That being said, have a great New Year everybody!
