Saturday, December 31, 2005
2K5: The Year in Review
Every TV channel, radio station and blog take a look at the previous year around New Year's Eve, so I thought that I would do the same. After all, this has easily been the most incredible year of my entire life, so I'd be remiss if I didn't take a few minutes to look back at it, month by month.
January
This was a month of ups and downs for me personally. On the down note, I got the worst annual review from my boss that I have ever had in my entire life. As a result, my annual bonus was cut in half, and my give-a-damn was surely broken for a while. On the upside, I had to fly from snowy New England to sunny Tampa to get the review in person. It was only supposed to be for two days, but through a series of unfortunate company events, I stayed for a week. Bonus that I got to stay with The Jewish Elvis and his wife.
February
Love was in the air as we took a much needed mini-vacation to Lake George for Valentine's Day and Mrs. Flounder's birthday. On the downside, the NHL officially cancelled the 2004-2005 season. Short month, so I'll keep it short.
March
For about the 10th year in a row, I was unable to get Jimmy Buffett tickets through the last remaining monopoly, Ticketbastards. In their infinite wisdom, they put tickets for Buffett in Boston on sale at the same time that they put tickets on sale for U2 in Hartford. The line at Filene's was about 50 deep, and I was ninth. I was sitting pretty, or so I thought. The first two people in line asked for U2 tickets, which Ticketmaster changed the sale time to 10:15 without informing their merchants. Once the smoke settled and the merchant got a clue, only one person got Buffett tickets, and no one got U2 tickets. Uggh!
April
Redemption was in the air as Buffett announced a show at Mohegan Sun, just 30 minutes from my house. I called them and found out that they were not going to allow tailgating, so I decided to pass. A Buffett concert without tailgating is like pizza without cheese; Good, but missing the best part.
May
Softball season begins! This was my first year as a non-playing coach for my church team in the CSA. We were 2-1 after three games, our first time over .500 in team history. But the schedule got rougher and we went on a four game losing streak. Also, the Big Boned Barbecue team began NEBS competition at the RI State BBQ Championship. We competed in all four categories pork shoulder, chicken, pork ribs and brisket, taking home a 9th place ribbon for the brisket. Not bad for a rookie team, eh?
JuneThe Big Boned team was at it again, this time at the New Hampshire State BBQ Championships in Merrimack. This time we took fifth place in grilled fish and third place in brisket. The following week, Mrs. Flounder and I took a cruise to Bermuda on the Norwegian Majesty out of Boston. The cruise over and back was very calm, and the weather was absolutely perfect! We even brought home a souvenir that didn't need to clear customs!
July
On July 7th, we got the most incredible news of our lives; We're expecting! After five years of trying, fertility testing, failed fertility treatments and countless ovulation and pregnancy tests, it finally happened. Those in Bermuda will swear it was either the fish chowder or the moongate wishes, but we know that it was simply God's perfect timing! We figured the conception date was Father's Day. Tres ironic, eh? Amazingly, I even scored Buffet tickets for his show in Philly at face value!
This was possibly the busiest month of my entire life. It started with my the merciful end to our softball season, losing the first two games in the playoff tournament. Then on to my father's Lion's Club annual fund raiser at the Log Cabin in Margate, NJ. The next day, I was on a plane to Baton Rouge for work, but managed to sneak in an afternoon of drinking hurricanes at Pat O'brien's and eating beignets in New Orleans, just ten days before Katrina hit. I flew back into Philly for one last night with the boyz at Maloney's Tavern. Two days later, I was back on a plane to Tulsa for work, but flew back to Philly for the Buffett show on 8/27. Whew, I'm tired just remembering that month!
September
We celebrated our 8th anniversary at The Capital Grille, where my pregnant wife was just miserable because she could not get her steak the way she normally eats it, bloody as hell. All was forgiven when they brought out the Creme Brulee', though. We refinanced our house too, paving the way for Mrs. Flounder to be a stay-at-home mom.
October
Big Boned BBQ hits paydirt! We took first place at the Cape Cod Classic for pork shoulder. It was one of the coldest nights I have ever spent outdoors, but it was worth it. In the biggest news of the month, we found out that our baby is a boy! From the ultrasound, I could tell that he will be a left-handed quarterback when he grows up. And finally, much to my delight, the NHL returned to the ice with the new look Philadelphia Flyers!
November
This month started out with an announcement that my company had been sold to one of our competitors. Fear and anxiety quickly followed. At this point, my job status is still uncertain, but I am confident that God will continue to provide. In any case, I am sure that I will be mentioning this again in the blog.
December
The month that this blog was born. It could be an historic occasion, or not. We traveled down to Ventnor for a short visit to the Flounder family for Christmas. I had Wawa coffee and White House subs, but my favorite restaurant, Angelo's Fairmount Tavern, was closed. As Meatloaf said, "Two out of three ain't bad"!
Well, that's it. A year in my life, and it took me three days to write it all up. Here's looking forward to 2006. May it blow 2005 away! Cheers!
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