2011, year in review...

i try to start each new year with a short-recap of the previous year, at least hit the highlights of what was deemed blog-able. as has been the trend, the blogging frequency has decreased over time, replaced with other, lazier, social media outlets (see twitter, @harvardx, facebook, etc.) what follows is a break down of 2011, as documented or recalled by me. happy 2012!

january

• owen turns 8
• 18 year wedding anniversary
• st charles chargers 8th grade girls win the presentation basketball tournament in maple grove, and defeat the team my company's ceo daughter's plays on - double score!
• daughters quiz bowl team wins local tournament

february

• dude,  i got a dell. replaced previous boat anchor with vostro mini-tower
• st charles girls snap off 13 straight wins, impressive run

march

• st charles girls basketball team finish 2nd in mcyo league, 4th overall all in the mpls\st. paul catholic league
• other daughters dance team (representing fridley) finishes 1st in jazz, and 2nd in kick
• i turn a young 43
• i predict a twins central repeat championship! (fail)

april

• we inherit bailey, probationary period has since expired (she's staying)
• daughters dance team kicks but in regional tournament, in rochester (AA division), 1st in jazz, 3rd in kick.

may

• owen's first communion
• oldest turns 14
• st charles quiz bowl national tournament in chicago, chuckies finish 10th out of 36!
• a tour of target field
• alaina's confirmation

june

• middle child turns 12
• ben and christina's wedding
• mom & dad's 50th anniversary!
• 8th grade graduation
• piano recital
• owen's first twin's game
• alaina's traveling soccer st. anthony huskies team finish 3rd of 10 teams

july

• uswnt fever! women's team wins our hearts and silver medal at world cup in germany
• noelle's softball team dominates, owen's soccer team dominates due to excellent coaching
• twin lakes michigan vacation, plus grandpa, minus me

august

• parent\daughter softball game
• st. louis vacation! (many highlights here)

september

• 1st day of school (and high school)
• INATG golf invitational, al, michael, jeffrey, and me
• noelle playing soccer for 7th grade st charles chargers

october

• coached son's fall soccer team
• cardinals win world series championship!
• noelle nails "thriller"

november

• i re-upload every picture ever stored in my gallery on this website to my google account for storage and use picassa as web viewer
• noelle playing basketball on st charles 7th grade girls team 
• modern warfare 3

december

• snow ball
• wife's birthday
• alaina's choir concert at st. anthony
• noelle's christmas band and choir concert
• owen's st charles christmas program
• enjoy christmas break with family

christmas 2011...

enjoying a great christmas holiday with family this week. looking forward to taking a break from work, getting in some winter related activites, and genrally relaxing with some down-time with the family.

love this...

and on the 7th day, he blogged a recap...

 just completed maybe the busiest week of this year, which included a major project implementation at work and events every single night of the week (and two on monday night). we start monday with my oldest daughter's concert chior at st. anthony highschool, as well as a st. charles basketball game for my other daughter which sadly i was not able to attend (thanks grandpa). tuesday night was the christmas band and choir concert at st. charles school where noelle tooted the flute with elegance and grace in the advanced band portion. wednesday night was dinner out with the family to celebrate my wife's birthday, thursday night was my son's advent program at st. charles school, and friday night was a holiday work party. today i ventured as far as the mailbox which  was a-ok with me. one more crazy work week ahead and then christmas break - bring it on!

22nd annual snowball...

we enjoyed another fine "snowball" at the st. paul hotel last night. i've come to discover i have a pair of dress shoes that i have only ever worn to the snowball. they shall henceforth be known as my "snowshoes". anyway, always fun to catch up with friends and people watch at this holiday glam event.

christmas tunes...

one of the best things about this time of they year is that i get to pull out my rather substantial collection of holiday tunes. i'm picky about my christmas music, usually the older the better, but there are exceptions. i decided to list my top 5 songs if i were ever stranded on an island of misfit toys, and none of these are "new". a good christmas song is classic and can stand the test of time. it sounded good years ago, it sounds good now, and it will sound good for years to come. here they are, in no particular order:

harry connick jr. - sleigh ride
harry made a big splash in the 90's but the dude can flat out bring it. he's silky smooth and sinatra-like without the boozy, adulterous, mafia connotations.

luciano pavarotti - adeste fideles (oh come all ye faithful)
ok, never been an opera guy but you HAVE to appreciate the pipes on this old italian. if this song doesn't move you, sorry, you don't have a pulse.

sufjan stevens - once in royal david's city
the only "new" song of the bunch and by new i mean in the last 5 years. sufjan is cool but you'll never hear this on 24\7 christmas radio. this even passed the wife's christmas music test and she has more stringent standards than mine.

ray charles - rudolph the red nose reindeer
among all the reverent standards you need some christmas funk. ray is here to deliver with his jazzy-soul style and signature chops.

vince guaraldi - christmas time is here
if i had to pick an all-time favorite christmas album, this is it. i think it get's better every year. it stands alone as the ultimate christmas record, but pairing it up with the "charlie brown christmas" special earns it extra points.