What I learned in 2007

The end of the year is near and I'm sitting here trying to take some inventory and figure out what I've learned in the past 300 plus days. I'm sure I won't be able to list everything and some things I would probably rather not have the entire world know about, but I have come up with a list of things that I learned in 2007. These aren't in order of importance but just how they popped into my head.



1. The IRS is a pain and having to pay them even more money is a bigger pain. Do your taxes right because an extra $100 today could cost you a great deal more later.

2. I have never played guitar more than I have in the last 3 months and I really wish I would have done this when I was 17 and not 38. You actually do have to work at things to have success.

3. Sports are lessening in importance for me. After decades of broken remotes, thrown pillows and weeks of depression, I've come to realize that it may not matter who wins and loses. Once Tyler Hansbrough leaves UNC, I may be done with sports believe it or not.

4. I still enjoy a good Van Halen concert.

5. The Railroad is a good job but I would quit today if option B were available.

6. Good friends only get better the older you get.

7. My kids are growing so fast that I'm getting nervous about the teen years. How will I be as a father in that phase? The fact that we've all survived this far is great and somewhat surprising. :-)

8. I lack spiritual discipline but not opinon. At some point I need to embrace what I do believe and run with it.

9. I worked really hard this last year to be farther in debt.

10. Tigers really should be left alone and not messed with. Turns out that they will eat you and not even think twice about it. You evolutionists sure you want to stick with 'natural selection'?

11. Politics is like eating at McDonalds. You may have many choices, but in the end it's all junk.

12. The more Bush got blamed for everything, the more I grew to like him. Then again, he's far from 'conservative' so I'm glad he'll be heading to Crawford for retirement. But I do think he's made decisions that no one else would have had the guts to make. His quote of 'I don't really sit around and go, 'oh gosh, my poll numbers are down'....' was refreshing.

13. People can be told the truth but only experiencing it will truly change them.

14. My union got into bed so fast with Hillary Clinton that I knew they'd never be mistaken for Bill. Ok, that was my attempt at a joke.

15. I have a great wife and marriage. Even in the tense times, we are better together than we are apart. I would do well to live out life with her.

16. The moment you think life is normal and simple a large tornado can come and remove those silly notions. Appreciate what you have but don't worship it. Ecclesiastes says, 'On a good day, enjoy yourself; on a bad dad, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days so that we won't take anything for granted.' Did you catch that? Sometimes God is ok with you having a bad day.

17. Helping a neighbor is really a pretty good thing.

18. I had another procedure on my throat and I still can't swallow very well. You'd think at some point I'd loose weight.

19. I can't believe that I'm at an age I remember my parents being and thinking then that they were 'old'. I'm stuck at age 24 and I don't want to leave.

20. The 90's are now 'oldies'.

21. God willing I have another year coming in which to learn and progress in life. I wonder if I will list the same things next year?