Last day of the year. As is my routine, this morning I paged back through the site’s archives for the last 12 months and jotted down some highlights.

In January we kicked off the Worst Winter Ever[1] with nearly 20” of snow in three days, followed by the first Polar Vortex. Of a possible 35 hours of school the first week of January, M. and C. were in class for six.
I also adhered to my stupid sports superstitions and refused to turn the TV back on as the Colts charged back from 145 points down to beat the Chiefs in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs.

In February, we traded in our minivan for a Jeep Cherokee. My street cred went up 27%.
One night while driving home from a high school basketball game, I passed what was either a drug raid or a training exercise for several law enforcement agencies.

March brought an early end (again) to the KU basketball season, and the end of the Wiggs and Jojo Show.
Our spring break destination was Kansas City, where we saw many friends, ate barbecue, and listened to the Royals begin their season in Detroit.

In April, M. began her CYO sports career with her first kickball team.
C. took the training wheels off of her bike.
And I kept score when Yordano Ventura pitched, foreshadowing the fall.

In May it finally warmed up a little.
We kicked off the summer by becoming boaters and with a stomach bug making Memorial Day weekend extra interesting.

The girls began their first season of swim team in June.
And we lost Casey Kasem.

Early July brought our annual family gathering at the LVS.
The rest of the month was a nostalgia trip, as I redesigned the blog (again), and reviewed many of my past writings. I also cleaned out the attic, bringing out toys from my youth for the girls to play with and sending hundreds of CDs to my sister-in-law’s yard sale.

August brought the end of an era, as L. joined her sisters at St. P’s. I still haven’t changed my life much, but no longer am I required at home all day.
She also took off her training wheels just as school was beginning.
I gave up caffeine and the Royals got hot.

September was all about fall sports, with M. on the kickball diamond again and C. and L. on the soccer fields. I kept score for M.’s team and coached C.’s. I only got into two “discussions” with other coaches.

Sal, Alex, Hos, Moose, and LoCain made October the best October ever.

Basketball kicked off in November. I made my first visit to Hinkle Fieldhouse and got to see KU play in Indy. Unfortunately against a historically good opponent.

Our holiday season has been a good wrap-up to the calendar year.

It wasn’t a perfect year. There were many challenges and low points along the way. Like most days over the past 10 years, my limited patience was often tested and sanity put into question because of my parenting responsibilities. There were things I hoped to figure out about my future that are no clearer today than they were on the last day of 2013. And there are family members facing current difficulties that have us worried.

But on balance, there was more good than bad, more love than hate, more happiness than anger.

Hopefully most of you can say the same.

Enjoy the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one.

If what I read this morning is correct, the current cold snap is going to push us up a spot and 2014 will be the third coldest year in the recorded history of Indianapolis. Global warming deniers rejoice!  ↩