Looking back, Looking ahead

Hope everyone had a Happy New Year's celebration.

We spent New Year's Eve in the oddest of places - Gainesville, Florida. We spent the past week around Florida - two in Pensacola, then two in Tampa, then three at a conference in Temple Terrace (north Tampa), and New Year's Eve in Clearwater on the beach before returning home. All stops went pretty well, and we all enjoyed going around Tampa. It's definitely a city I could be comfortable living in - aside from the hurricanes.

We decided to get off the road before all the amateur drinkers started hitting the road. That meant either stopping in Gainesville, or trying to get to Valdosta before midnight. If I were younger, I might have kept going, but with the kids in tow we decided to stop. Of course, it didn't stop me from doing a dog bark as we walked out of the Whataburger in Gainesville. Nothing got thrown at me, from what I could tell.

Now, we are back home, and I get to type this as I watch Georgia whup Hawaii, 38-3 in the 3rd quarter. It's probably best to type this up now and get it out of the way.

Looking back.....

Getting in shape - This didn't happen. I started during the summer, but radically fell off. I'm in better shape, but not significantly better. I probably lost 10 pounds, which is about 40 less than I needed to lose.
Job - Well, that didn't work out very well. But their stock is down 20% in 2007.
Sleep more - Mixed returns there. I only stay up extremely late every other night.
Take a bunch of classes - I got to 21 credits, after taking the Spring off, with nothing lower than a B. Not too shabby.
Triple My Poker Cashes - Online play sucked this year, but I had very good returns on live casino play and home games. I didn't go to Tunica, and didn't go to Atlantic City, but I did get to Vegas and Tampa casinos. I really need to step up my live play, because I cashed EVERY. SINGLE. TIME I made a trip to a live casino.
Enjoy Vacation Time - Mixed, considering I've changed to a full-time student. The one work vacation I took (New Orleans) was ruined by finding out about getting blocked for jobs within the bank, and tilted me for the rest of the trip.
Reduce Debt - Definitely didn't happen, considering what happened after June. It's worthwhile debt, though, and investing in my future. Aside from school, there was nothing else added.
Win a fantasy League - Well, this goal was met - in Opposite World, because I finished last in FFL. I hate Vince Young and Frank Gore.

OK, that wraps up 2007. I never have a good odd-numbered year, but I always have good even years. Let's hope this is the same.

But ya gotta have goals. So I've come up with a few:

• Cash in a WSOP Event. It doesn't matter if it's a Circuit event or in Vegas itself. It's time to set this as a real goal for 2008.
• Win a large-field MTT (1000+). The largest field I've hit is 400, but that was in 2006. I need to hit up another win, not minor cashes.
• Finish the drill - graduate if I stay full-time all year. I've got 36 credits to go. I'm taking between 12 and 18 in the Spring. I can do this, unless I reach the next goal.
• Find a job in IT and/or management. The search is on, and I have my first two CIS classes this Spring, but I need to re-enter the workforce, for many reasons (including my own sanity) as soon as possible, either juggling it with classes and tax work or immediately after tax work ends near the end of the semester. Should traditional searches not yield what I'm looking for, franchising may be available as a possibility in the fall.
• Study harder. I found myself falling back into some old bad habits - procrastination, lack of focus - and my final grades, while very good, reflected this from various points in the semester. I've really got to achieve a better focus if I want to get what I want out of this experience.
• Continue quality family time. One good side effect of the last six months has been to spend a lot more time with the kids. I've been able to take them places and do things with them that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to do, and I want to keep doing that, regardless of what the rest of the year brings me. Whether it means hiking up Stone Mountain, or seeing a wild dolphin right outside a playground (which happened in Thursday), I definitely feel like I'm spending more quality time with them.
• Volunteer more. I don't mean APO stuff only, but other stuff around the city. I did a lot less in 2007 than in 2006, and that's something I need to remedy, whether it's directly with organizations or through church. I've toyed for a while with the idea of joining K of C, and might go ahead and do just that.
• Travel more, and ENJOY it more. The past week was pretty fun. It was about 85% fun and 15% AAARRGGHH!!!! As the kids get older, I think trips will get easier and easier. At least, driving trips. I don't know about flights - that might be asking too much. But, perhaps driving to New York, Boston, and/or North Carolina might be a little more feasible.

Well, that's enough for now. I'll probably come up with more, but this is enough to focus on for now.