Here we are the last day of the year, and what a year it has been.  I just spent a day going back over the earlier posts from this year.  Here are some of the items that have appeared here on Secondary Rds.

1. Hand & Wrist Pain

I had to take time off from the blog early in the year.  In April, I visited an orthopedist and X-Rays and tests revealed that I was not suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome.  It is arthritis.  I have a prescription topical gel that gives some relief, but I am still limited.  As the year ends, I’m still having problems with this.

2. WordPress, Internet Hosting and Blogs

In January, I began to explore WordPress blogging software.  By March, I had registered this domain and had moved this blog from Blogger to self-hosted WordPress.  I fired my former hosting company and moved to HostGator.  The HG staff was very helpful and the move went smoothly.  I’m still exploring the possibilities that WordPress and plugins offer.  While it’s not for everyone, it works great for me.

3. NASCAR

I only posted three times (I think) about NASCAR this year.  (However, I didn’t miss a single race in the three top touring series.)  I know that most of you don’t care.  The Daytona 500 in February was twice postponed and finally ran on a Monday night.  Brad Keselowski, my favorite driver, made a big splash by tweeting from the seat of his car a photo of a spectacular fire.  Brad also retweeted this quote, “Being popular in the blogosphere is like always sitting at the very best table in the cafeteria at the state mental hospital.”  You don’t have to agree.  Brad won the championship this year, which was a first for his boss and car owner, Roger Penske.  As one reporter described him, Brad is “an overnight sensation 28 years in the making.”

4. Midnight

In May, my little buddy an orphaned feral cat that we brought into the house came down ill.  After a couple of days of him refusing food, we called the vet.  She was in surgery and would call us back, which she did.  It was too late . . .  Kitty had crossed over the rainbow bridge.

5. The Garden

We lost count of all the wonderful produce that we gathered from this years garden.  We had moved to a better location and done our preparation work.  Sylvia and will remember 2012 as the year of the garden.

6. Blogger Bash 2012

In August, we hosted a gathering of blogger friends.  It wasn’t much, mostly a time to meet each other face-to-face for the first time.

Vanilla, Shark, Lin & Chuck

Lin was the irresistible force that brought us together.  We invited a few others but Vanilla and Shark were the only others that were able to come.

It was the highlight of the year for Sylvia and me.  These folks that we known for a few years and felt so connected with and then we together.  As we had come together someone opined that it was great to see one another.  Another observed that it might be our first meeting, but we knew what each others toes looked like.  It’s true!  We had posted pictures of our feet.

A Very Good Year

As I looked over my posts from this year, there is one phrase that kept repeating.  It was a deeply felt phrase that expresses my outlook and reaction to what ever happens.  That phrase is this: “I am blessed.”  Thank you for being one of my many-many blessings.  May you be blessed.

Last week I wrote these lines: “I had not looked forward to the job.  In no way had I wanted to go through all the bother.  But the Christmas spirit finally kicked in, I did it!  Oh, and it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be to put up the tree.”  Then I posted a picture brazenly lifted borrowed from the Internet of a pine air freshener.  It didn’t take long for the usual suspects to get on my case over that.  And I thought it would be funny like this pic is funny.  Don’t you agree that this one is funny cute?

We lost our kitty, Midnight, this year.  So we knew it would not be fun to put up a big tree with shiny temptations ornaments.  Also come Christmas Day there would be two of us to share the day.  So out came Granny’s (Sylvia’s mom) tree.  It’s nice . . . at least I think it is.

This was taken at night using flash.  Usually a walk past the tree after the sun has set looks more like this:

The Christmas spirit is alive and well and illumines the dark places.  I’m ready to celebrate Christ’s birth.  Are you?

I had not looked forward to the job.  In no way had I wanted to go through all the bother.  But the Christmas spirit finally kicked in, I did it!  Oh, and it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be to put up the tree.

Just having fun with you.  Our “tree” has been up for a couple of weeks already.  The beautiful ceramic unit was made by my late mother-in-law.  It doesn’t shed needles and is lighted from the inside by a single bulb.  Our son, Scott, installed a high-intensity LED to illuminate the star that tops that small tree.

I wrote on Friday that I thought I had located a cousin, but then discovered that I had found a woman from a different state.  Turns out that it is the cousin I was searching for. :frolic:

My hand is not doing any better, which means I must limit my time here at the computer.  For that reason, I’ll keep this short.