Happy New Year

Wow, it's New Year's Day 2008 and Regina and I made it to 9:30. Eat that, Williamsburg hipsters! Nora begged to stay up until midnight because she's at that perfect age when midnight seems magical on New Year's Eve. She now has bragging rights of staying awake on the last day of the year and she visited Disney's Magic Kingdom until 1 AM just a few days ago. She was exhausted and exhilerated at her late-night theme park jaunt. My daughter, the night owl.

This was a very good work year. A demanding publisher left to travel the world and I had one less source of stress in my life. I spent a year as special projects editor and kept truly busy on things that made money for the magazine. I am hoping that the news that there are no bonuses is exaggerated. The Waters brand made money, suits, so share the wealth. This isn't a charity. I have bills to pay, people! In brighter writing news, I also have a few ideas for books that I'd like to write and this might be the year of a Phil Albinus novel. Get to work, dude!

My family? The kids had a good, solid year. Nora is becoming a smart and lovely little lady before my eyes. There are moments when I can see the women she is going to become, a perfect copy of her mother. Matthew is learning more words and seems to be in the room a lot more. He is a wonder. Autism is emotionally and physically draining for family members but Matt provides such joy that he makes an often challenging life truly beautiful. Tim is a peach. He is speaking more and more and has the personality of a little devil. If he weren't so cute, Regina says, he'd be a bad headline. He makes me laugh more each and every day.

We had some wonderful trips this year. I hosted a breakfast briefing in Frankfurt. We bought a shiny new minivan. We got one more year out of my wife's Saturn as my station car but a new Toyota Corolla is beckoning. Rex the dog is the best couch potato on four legs. I read a million good books and listened to my new iPod Nano. Sea foam green -- you have a problem with that? My family is healthy and happy so life is very, very good indeed.

If this coming year is as good as the year that past, life will be quite nice. God bless us all.