So if I were going to give a review to 2008, the analytical part of me would want to devise some sort of scoring system assigining a point value plus or negative to different events throughout the year based on significance, impact, time period, relevance, involvement of pie, and other important factors.  Then normalize against some standard scale say 1 to 10 and posting such score with the supporting analysis and regressions and such.  However, the lazy part of me on this Saturday afternoon – especially being about three weeks late for such an entry – is going to prevail and I’m going to somewhat randomly generalize such a scoring to this:  6.2

That’s right.  6.2 / 10.  That’s my score for 2008.  Given most academic scoring, with the exception of CS 282 which has such a curve that a score of 3/100 would be considered above average, that’s right a 6.2 out of 10 would be considered failing, or a very low passing.  Quite frankly, 2008 wasn’t all that great to me.  Lets review…

I’m not one to gripe too much (hah), so I’m not going to go into all of the things that made 2008 below average but there is one particular stand out.

The passing of my grandmother in May hit me hard.  I was close with her and I miss her ever day.  She was an amazing woman and I have many fond memories including her sitting on my cousin’s motorcycle, the look on her face when she got excited by something,  and her wacky stories of mischief from when she was a kid.  But missing her – that’s somewhere around negative one million points give or take.

Some friends of mine went through some sad times.  Minus a bunch of points.

Stocks.  Bow.  Minus the net percentage loss of my 401k excluding prior gains factoring for the comparitave loss of the market whole and whatever.  Whatever.  Bow.

Didn’t really stick to plans to stay healthy and keep my weight at least even.  Bow.  Minus the net gains in my lbs.  Bow.

I decided to take a new job this fall.  I was getting frustrated with what I was doing before, not for any particular reason but maybe staleness and the need to move on.  So I took a new position in the same company on a startup program.  Let’s call that program “Project Bob Evans.”  If you get it, you get it – if not, don’t think about it too much it’s not worth it.  Suffice it to say – even more frustration with this job.  I mean, it put me three weeks behind on this blog entry – that alone is like minus half a point.  The full venting about Project Bob Evans will have to be for another blog post, but suffice it to say – minus approximately 12 points.

There were some good things in 2008 too.

• Two of my close friends got married and they had the kick-assest party of a wedding ever – plus 17 points.
• Got to do some sight seeing and visit a friend in Denver over the summer – plus 8 points.
• And again to Denver in November with sight seeing and friend visiting  – plus another 8 points.
• A good friend of mine from work had a baby – plus 4 points. Though I still haven’t seen this beautiful little girl (minus 0.5 points) and it meant she couldn’t make PBJ (minus 0.6 points).
• Oh yeah – helped with the MS 150 Lunch Stop again, helping to make THOUSANDS of PBJ sandwiches for the bike riders – plus 2 points.
• Made a switch on my job – ok yeah, the new job itself is a pain but I still made a change that I wanted to and in the long run it’s probably a good move – plus 3 points (netting the new job thing to only minus 9, on the metric scale of course).
• Friends of mine announced they are expecting a baby in 2009 – plus another 4 points.

So how does that math add up to 6.2 – who cares.  Stop thinking, it’s better that way.

I do however have a positive outlook to 2009.  I’ve got a list of resolutions that I am really hoping to stick to this year.  And though it will make it even later on my schedule of anticipated blog posts, I’m gonna have to make that for another post for now cause I’m tired of typing.  Until next time (which will be sooner than 3 weeks this time).

Updated additions:

• Phillies won the world series – plus 18 points (yeah, you’d think some of the other things would be higher positives, but scale is irrelevant)

Had a Christmas Party at my house last week for my friends, including the Second Annual All-Booze White Elephant.  Rules this year were a bit simpler and straight forward – helps when someone sensible and less out of it is MCing such an event.

I fried a turkey for it too – after a successful run on Thanksgiving I figured I’d have to encore such a masterpeice.  Another great success.  Also baked a pumpkin pie – first time I’ve done a pumpkin one.  More goodness, more calories – woo!

Bowling of the Santa’s last week.  Other friend’s Christmas Parties.  More Christmas parties to come – not to mention family stuff.  We do Christmas Day at my Aunt and Uncle’s with one side of the family, then the day after Christmas at my parent’s with the other half of the family.  Not that the two sides of the family don’t get along, it’s just what we do and it’s great.

Wanted to post some of my favorite holiday pics from the last two weeks – enjoy!

Thanksgiving was GREAT!  I hosted 15 family members at my house.  For the 3rd or 4th time, I FRIED the turkey.  Let me tell you – frying the turkey is great.  It’s a time saver, it opens the oven for other cooking needs, and it is the best tasting turkey you’ll ever taste.  And it’s safe – sure you have to be careful, but after doing this a few times now I’ve figured out what I consider a (nearly) fool proof and safe method of frying the turkey.  But that’s for another post.  My other culinary claim to fame again this year was my home made ice cream.  Oh so good.

Work is… well, it’s work. Traveled last week to Maryland for a few nights.  This job I took just back in September, suffice it to say I’m not all that happy with it.  Again, I could go on about it for quite some time but that will also have to be for another post, because it really deserves it’s own time.

The Club – Ok, I don’t think I’ve yet mentioned The Club Diner in this blog which is a real shame.  The Club is possibly the greatest place on earth.  Been there twice since my last posting.  When you go to a place and while gathering in the parking lot your usual waitress (oh Patti!!:)) has your usual drinks waiting for you at your usual table and usual seats – that’s how you know you’ve probably been there too much but have no intention of stopping.

In recent month’s visits to The Club I’ve been getting a usual of Pork Roll & Egg & Cheese on a Bagel – always good.  This latest visit, I decided to switch it up a bit.  Scrapple & Egg & Cheese on a Bagel.  I suggested this sandwich be added to the menu as “The Josh.” In review – it was good.  Quite tasty, but I find the generally soft texture of the scrapple doesn’t lend itself well to a sandwich.  You know how when you put too much ketchup on a sandwich it will ooze out the other side when you take a bite – that’s what happened here.

Christmas season is upon us, and I started decorating my house for my 2nd Annual Wacky Christmas Party!  One of my favorite decorations is my 4′ artificial pre-lit tree.  Why is this my favorite – because I elevate it up in front of my living room’s picture window so that it looks more like an 8′ tree.  Something I picked up from my grammy whom I miss dearly, especially with this being our first Christmas without her.  I’m probably going to keep adding lights in and perhaps outside of myhouse up until the day of the party.  And I’m gonna break out the fryer for some great ol fried turkey for the party.  Mmmm…

So in closing, Perhaps I should aim to have a new year’s resolution next month to blog more.  Maybe if I stop blogging all together between now and then, it’ll be easier to meet the resolution then.  Funny, I seem to have the same attitude about dieting – obviously overall counter productive…