Happy New Year!

Currently. Last time I wrote, I was sitting in the truck in Hermiston, Oregon, because of weather. This New Year's Day, I'm sitting in the truck again, but this time it's in Scranton, Pennsylvania. We are sitting this time because we are waiting on Schneider to send us our next load. We could be here 10 minutes or we could be here a day. No way to know what the freight situation is like, even though I sent a message to our dispatcher earlier asking what it was like.

At least here in Scranton the sun is shining, and the roads are in good shape. The time since I last wrote was pretty much a continuation of the previous couple of weeks. Non-stop delays because of weather or truck problems. Terry and I both are so fatigued on so many levels, it's almost hard to describe.

But, even with that said, things are not so bad. We are both safe and we have learned some things the past few weeks that will help us in similar experiences in the future when dealing with winter conditions or truck problems.

Happy New Year! My main motivation for writing today is to wish you a Happy 2009. At the end of the year, my thoughts always turn reflective to examine the year just past, and to sort of chart some goals and intentions for the coming year.

So – what was 2008 like for you? What kind of year was it? What would you like to repeat in 2009, and what would you hope to never go through again? Did the election or the economic problems impact you very much? Did you grow personally, accomplish some things you wanted to accomplish? Are there mistakes that you hope to avoid in 2009?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the last year and the one coming up. E-mail me or post a comment. I always enjoy hearing from you.

2008: A Good Year. Looking back over the past year, I'd have to say it was a very good year for me, personally. I spent the year doing what I love doing, living the kind of life that I've chosen to live. The first eight months of the year, I enjoyed driving solo, valued my solitude, and experienced a lot of growth during that time. And, since August, I've enjoyed very much teaming with my best friend of 25 years (wow! We are getting to be old men, like Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau! And sometimes we remind me of the two old guys sitting up in the balcony of the Muppet Show.), Terry.

I read more this year (either physical books, electronic books on my Palm, or audio books on tape or XM radio) than I have in many years; you can read about some of what I read in blog entries from the past year. Perhaps my favorite of all was the Life of [Samuel L.] Johnson by John Boswell.

I was able to make substantial progress with my debt, so that now, I'm looking at being able to pay off my car early, and that will enable me to do some nice things I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.

I've done more writing this past year than I've done in a few years, including working on a collection of short stories and writing my first song. Some of the best writing I did this year was in this blog (my opinion, of course), especially the entries for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day.

I think some things have become settled for me about who I am and how I view and live in the world this year that have been in some kind of process since I got sick in 2001. I have grown over the past year in ways that I've been hoping to do for several years now.

I am about as content and my life is about as simple as it's ever been.

Not bad for 2008. I'm hoping 2009 continues the same way.

Until next time . . . keep the wheels rollin' . . . making choices and taking responsibility . . .

Allan