Welcome to 2009! The year of ???

To me it seems like each year develops it's own theme. It doesn't stick by a calendar or anything but a theme is there nonetheless.

For 2007, it was the year of the horrid deployment (which really wasn't that horrid once I got back and started forgetting how horrid it was).

For 2008, it was the year of getting started. I started my first large organic veggie garden. I started a social life. I started learning new skills like canning, dehydrating and other general food preservation skills.

So what is 2009 shaping up as? I think it started in December and I'm pretty sure it is going to be the year of "Get 'er dun!". Please pardon the play on a truly tasteless movie! But really, that is it. Pretty simple in concept, but oh so complicated in reality, don't you think?

I'll give you an example. Like many others out there I have my list of things to do. Some are small things like number 14: Examine all light switch and outlet covers for damage. Buy and install new ones where needed.

Okay, that one should take 10 minutes to look, 1 hour to shop and another hour to install. And yes, I do have some that need replacing. I really don't like those marks that get on them from plugging things in and out all the time.

Others are so much more complex. Take number 30: Rip out carpet and padding in FROG. Replace all subflooring and get rid of all creaks. Install new padding. Re-install carpet or buy new.

Yeah...that's gonna take a while, not to mention it isn't cheap. Yes, I know, my house is only a few years old but I really hate that floor and want different subflooring. And padding is nasty and should be replaced when you can.

Others just require hiring someone and a whole pile of moolah. Take 63 for example: Have solar attic fan installed. Or try 41: Have retaining wall installed along pathway behind house where everyone walks and fix the incline. Or perhaps number 3: Have hallway carpet replaced with same maple floor as downstairs.

Oh yes, I have pages and pages of this list. I am actually up to almost 200 line items remaining and that doesn't include the 50 or so I've marked off since my last iteration of "The List". I am constantly adding new things and it seems that I add 3 or 4 for every one that I mark off.

Some of them have been lingering around since the original list of 2005 simply because I really, really, don't want to do them. One of those would be number 1: Go through all Star Trek trading cards and trade, sell or give away duplicates and consolidate only one set of each series.

That may not sound so bad until you note that I have over 100,000 cards. Yeah, I love Star Trek though I haven't actively traded or collected or anything in many years. I am not a Trekkie, but a true appreciator of creative talent that changed TV and our everyday culture in huge ways we don't even notice nowadays. Okay...nuff of that.

I probably shouldn't have mentioned that one.

So how do I know that this is the year of getting things done? I think because I've been very restless about the list. I seem to trip over the list no matter what I do and I feel terribly guilty when I see the list. Since last month, I've been working on something from the list at all times. So, I think that this is the year.

Anybody want to work on some weekend projects?