Goodbye 2016!

A lot of commentary out there that 2016’s been the worse year since, oh, I dunno, 1939 (the start of World War II)? 1861 (the start of the Civil War)? 1328 (the year the Black Death spread through Europe)? 666?

I can’t say I agree. In fact, 2016 was a great year around here for me and my family.

About that whole election thing, well, Hillary’s not going to be President. So there’s that.

About the economy, hmm, I’ve been working since the beginning of June and we’re actually back in a pretty good place, finance-wise. So there’s that.

The Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years. Now, we’re not Cubs fans, but my father-in-law down in Hilton Head is (he grew up in Chicago seventy-some odd years ago), so we were pretty excited for him. And the Cubs dispatched the Giants on the way, the team who dispatched my Mets in the Wild Card. So, there’s that, too.

And speaking of sports, 2016 was the year Peyton Manning went out in a blaze of glory with his second Super Bowl win, avenging a horribly embarrassing loss two years prior. Since we’re Eli fans, we’re de facto Peyton fans, so there was that.

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room: 2016 vs. Celebrity in a year-long death match.

In music, we lost: Pierre Boulez, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Maurice White, George Martin, Keith Emerson, Frank Sinatra Jr, Steve “Seven Bridges Road” Young, Lonnie Mack, Prince, Paul Kanter, Leonard Cohen, George Michael. Other celebrities who passed on to the Great Beyond: Nancy Reagan, John Glenn, Antonin Scalia, John McLaughlin, Gene Wilder, Alan Rickman, Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, George Kennedy, Garry Marshall, Jose Fernandez, Kenny R2D2 Baker, and Carrie Fisher and her mom.

And this is by no means a comprehensive list.

And there still are a few hours left in the year …

Let’s switch gears and look forward to 2017. What about 2017? Resolutions, and all that?

Well, to be honest, I’ve been so busy of late I haven’t made any resolutions. Little One has, resolving to get the rest of her family in shape. I’ve walked three times this past week with her, and she harrumphs and murmbles whenever I reach for a soda or a slice of pizza (I’ve had neither in the past week…).

Yeah, so I’m going with that, the health thing. (How’s that for conveying single-minded intensity?) No, seriously. The wife and I have been discussing this for the past couple of weeks, planning and waiting to get the holidays out of the way. I’m a firm believer in the mind-body connection, and in the upcoming months I need all the energy I can get. So we’re revamping our habitual eating patterns (hint: google Dr. Ian Smith) and resuming short, daily workouts. The object is to make it so it’s not even noteworthy anymore. That’s 2017 for me.

And for you?

Well, I wish you all a

SAFE and HAPPY

HEALTHY NEW YEAR!