On the 12th Day of Xmas

...i.e., today, we start thinking about taking down all the decorations and putting away our presents.

This holiday season was somewhat bittersweet; we got to spend time with many new and old friends, but we also lost Bayla. We still miss her, and we'll never replace her, but we have started the process of adopting a new cat so Jasper will have a friend to keep him company when DeeAnn and I are out of the house.

2009 was our first full year of living in our new home, and while we've been able to cut back on almost every other expenditure, we've found that we really like to travel. So we'll probably be tweaking our budget to accommodate that in the future.

I'm not as down on 2009 as some people--I didn't have a job to lose, and didn't succumb to any major illnesses (knock on wood) or experience any major personal crises--but I'm still looking forward to 2010. I'm going to keep writing, keep getting better, and with a little bit of luck, start making a real living of it. Here's to a Happy New Year.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTabjtDtJ7M

(Yeah, I know that video is in Spanish, but it's the most concise black-and-white version of that clip I could find on YouTube. And the dubbing on Zuzu's last line, at 0:54, is hilarious.)