I’m happy with the new theme.  I upgraded WordPress to 2.3 and decided it would be good to find a theme that had been updated to take advantage of the changes made to this new version.  Of course I stumbled on to this gem – and because of my Mac geek heritage I figured that it was the theme for me.  I’ve got a couple of minor changes I plan to make on it over the next few weeks, but overall I’m quite happy with it.

Since getting engaged I’ve actually been trying to think things out more and make a plan of attack in regards to long term projects. At the very least I’m trying to outline the projects I want to get done. I haven’t set any type of deadlines, though it probably would be good to as I work better when I actually have a set time table for getting something done. In that regard I’ve been working out a check list of things I want to do to both the server end of this site, and the actual web presence part. There’s several projects I’ve always wanted to do, but for all sorts of reasons never actually did. I now have much more clear of a goal for what I want to do with this website. Some parts are still vague and unstructured, but I’ve got some basic goals set. I’m even looking in to various types of task based software to help me keep track of these things, and time lines, etc. Self-improvement, what a weird concept, but for a change it actually feels less like I’m just forcing myself to do something, and more like I’m actually trying to declutter and take an active stance in to improving the self a little. No, I’m not going to become some task oriented freak with every daily aspect of their life planned out months in advance. I’m only trying to give myself a basic framework – mostly in regards to long term projects. I still have no clue what I’ll be doing this weekend, and quite frankly I like that.

The big event of this weekend was Friday night. I stopped at Lowe’s on the way home from work to purchase a brand new charcoal grill. I love this thing! 800 square inches of cooking surface for making the yummiest charred meats! Denise and I assembled it Friday night but by the time we were done it was a little late to start cooking. Saturday I grilled some very delicious steaks on it. Sunday we made hamburgers. I forgot how much better meat tastes coming off a charcoal grill rather than propane. Sure, propane can be convenient at times, but flavor-wise it leaves a lot to be desired. Next up will be Wednesday when I grill any kind of meat (and probably some non-meat things too) that I can lay my hands on. A couple of people are coming over for the 4th but I get the feeling I’ll cook enough to feed a small army. I love grilling. Sometime soon I’m going to do some nice smoked BBQ on it – probably pulled pork. Delicious!

For now I’m avoiding the rant about the Sabres and this horrible start to an off season, but I figured I’d wait until I’m not quite frothing at the mouth on this one so I can try to analyze things a bit. Of course if I read anymore of these news stories about it I’m sure the upcoming rant will manage to be extra-frothy.

All of 2006 was spent working at the brewery, and while like any job it has some days where you just want to be anywhere else, it has been a great place to work. It’s the first job I’ve held where my stress levels haven’t shot through the roof, and instead of just thinking about making it through day to day I actually think about what the future holds. I honestly have no idea how long I’ll be here – but if I do leave it would be because I was leaving the state all together, and not because I was pursuing another career interest. I really do feel that no matter where I end up I want to continue working with a brewery. Surprisingly working at one has reduced my alcohol consumption – though I attribute that to far less stress than I’ve had at previous places on employment. Sure, there are some things I miss about working in IT, but I don’t miss the several drinks I’d have to calm my nerves, and then the several bottles of pepto or tums I’d go through a month at work to keep my stomach from eating itself. The pros were few, the cons were many, I wish it hadn’t taken getting laid off to realize such things, or that I’d have to spend a couple years of wandering to fall in to something I enjoyed, but in the end I pulled through. Between being willing to do what it took to get by, having loving parents, and very supporting friends I was able to trudge along.

2006 was a good year. It had moments where I wanted to explode (my truck still doesn’t work), but overall it was filled with good things. Most of the things were just little things that conspired to make me smile, but there were a couple of big events that propelled this to being the best year I’ve had in quite awhile. It was a year that gave me hope, and in this world hope is a scarce thing.

I feel good about myself and where I’m at. I still have occasional moments of wanderlust where I just want to run away to someplace new. However I no longer want to run away because I just can’t take it anymore… it’s more like I want to run to something new. Yes, I still have an obsession with New Mexico and I really want to make it back out there.

So there it is, thoughts about the paths I took in 2006. Maybe next I’ll ramble on about where I see things going. Perhaps I’ll even be so bold as to make a couple of predictions. I’m excited, I’m optimistic, I’m a little scared… but it’s the good kind.

Cheers!