Happy Thanksgiving 2011

And when the night is falling
Down the sky at midnight
Another year is stalling
Far away a good bye, good night
All that I want., all that I want, all that I want
So small a turning
The world grows older every day
An ache, a yearning
Soften when I hear you say
All that I want, all that I want
The Weepies

I certainly have many wonderful things to be thankful for on this fabulous holiday in 2011. I know I am not writing as often as I have in the past, but it's not due to a lack of love for you guys, it is simply that at times I struggle to find the creativity to be funny and the motivation to do what I should. That being said 2011 has just been a fabulous year with travel, wonderful old friends, amazing new friends, my family, and of course those three things that make me tick.... Sand Volleyball, Live Music, and Sports.

I sometimes stumble across old pictures that really make me smile like this one with Santa and others that make me cringe like that two others. Ugh :-/ I have talked about regrets and I try not to have them but I don't really remember being as fat as I am in some of these pictures. Don't get me wrong I have no memories of ever being not fat, and doubt I will ever not be fat or at least feel fat, but my goodness I look like a house and a house with a whole lot of chin. Good news is I don't think I look like that anymore. Unfortunately I don't have those blond locks like I used to either, or the ability to pull off wearing a jumper like that with a turtle neck.

My parents are moving a little further south in Florida and on my recent trip Mom pulled out the old baby books and it certainly made my day. Hauling them back in my suitcase wasn't as much fun. And while the pictures and notes are really cool I got to admit that having some hair from my first ever haircut is a little creepy. Anyway I am really thankful for all my old pictures, they all remind me of where I came from, even if I don't always like where I have been.

My house is really full of females. 18 legs worth of them :) They are always excited when I come home be it after an hour or after a week. And only three of them make me take them out to go to the bathroom. The other one makes me take her out to dinner :) I am really thankful for the love I feel at home. I am away a lot and it always feels good to come back to Madison and feel appreciated.

Jacky and I celebrated our 14th anniversary this year. We went bowling :) She pretty much kicks my ass on the rare occasions we bowl. I owe her a world of thanks as she has lead the really successful move of Sunshine Daydream into a bigger spot. And her, along with our staff, really have made our store the friendliest place to shop in Madison.

My friends just make me smile and laugh. I have so many different groups of friends. Volleyballers, Ridgers, College, High School, Fitness Northers,Facebookers and Madison. I got to mix a whole bunch of them this summer when a whole bunch came to town to party one weekend. I just want to say thank you to them for putting up with me, and for making me feel special. I'm not all that proud that I am in need of constant amusement but having my friends makes it a whole lot easier. So thanks to these friends I got to spend time with this year: Paul, Allison, Brad, Sara, Libby, Jon, Shannon, Alex, Nicole, Tim,

Tanya, Lisa, Jaime, Darlene, Merinda, Bernadine, Karen, Eric, Renee, John, Annaliese, Billy, Paul, Jay, Jeff,Danny and my twinsie Betsey.

Two of my favorite days of the year took place as far apart from each other as you could imagine. One was in the red rocks where I did something I hadn't done before. And the second was on a hike where I saw a waterfall. Each year brings some amazing life affirming visions, and I will look back on these two days with particular joy because even though they were two places a 1.000 miles apart they showed me I could do things I didn't know I could.

I owe a really big thanks to the staff at Fitness North. Leif, Sheryl. Jay and Kelly welcomed me into their family. They pushed me harder than I have ever been pushed. Made me do things I had never done. And built me back up after they broke me down. Plus they got me to see a very beautiful part of the country that I had never seen before. They really have an outstanding program that produces for everyone who attends. It's young and growing and will only get better. I'm happy I got there when they were so small they could take extra pleasure from kicking my ass.

It has been an amazing year for me music wise, I am so thankful that I got to see just an abundance of great shows. Including a trio of icons I had never seen before. I got to see Sara twice. Both times wonderful. And perhaps the sweetest thing I have ever heard out of my friend Allison's mouth came that night when after seeing Sara for the first time she promised to never mock me again for my obsession. I got to see Paul McCartney. My first Beatle ever in concert. And he did not disappoint at all. I also got to see Stevie Nicks and Gordon Lightfoot, who both sounded a little different and came nowhere near delivering the energy of Sir Paul. I also saw 3 dog night, Jimmy Buffett, Ben Folds, Little Feat, and scores of local acts.

But my favorite concert, which also gave me my favorite picture of the year, was the night Jackson Browne came to town. He played a song for me, it doesn't get any cooler than that. Still running on empty for sure.

I did a few races this year. 4 to be exact, including one today, my first activity ever on thanksgiving that didn't involve the use of either a fork or a remote. I still get nervous, I still worry and I still feel slow but I'm doing it. Thanks to my workout partner for making me does this, because without her push I would have watched the Macy's Day Parade in my pajamas.

Got to spend some time in Florida this past month. So thankful my parents are both around and making me smile. Over 80 everyday, hanging out in the pool, walking on the beach. I have to admit I feel somewhat stupid that I live in Wisconsin when I spend time in the Sunshine state.

Thankful for Happy Hour with my Mom. I know she reads this so I hope she knows that I love her very much and feel like every good quality I have comes from her. As your father would always toast.... Here's looking up your address. :)

I am a pretty big fan of turtles... Never saw the dessert variety in Utah, never saw the beach variety before either. And this trip I walked off the beach and onto the boardwalk heading to the parking lot and there she was. She made her way back out to the sand and was paid a visit by a boy turtle who proceeded to bump shells with her... In case you were wondering how I knew she was a girl. So seeing two was really cool and unexpected. Go Terps :)

There really is nothing in my life I am more thankful for than my volleyball teams. Virtually all my current friends can be traced to my volleyball teams. I played on 3 fall teams including playing on two on Wednesday night. The tie-dye team one the Wednesday night regular season and tournament championship. My Monday night team went undefeated in winning both the regular season and tournament championship. And watching my other team improve and become fabulous at sets made my fall. I love all these guys and miss them when we are not playing.

We dressed up for our end of year tournaments including the tie-dyes above and Captain Planet and the planeteers next to this.

My favorite night of dressing for volleyball was Monday night when I joined Eyeore, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, and Christopher Robin. nothing beats a tubby cubby kicking some butt on the sand.

As always so much to be thankful for, and so much to be excited about going forward. I hope everyone has a great end of the year and may your next year be colorful, festive, fruity and frosty... That's all I want. Peace and Love, Jimmy