2011 - The Year Of

Happy New Year 2012, everyone.  Here is the list of what happened in 2011, compiled throughout the year. 

•  9.0 Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
• US Representative Gabrielle Giffords shot in the head, and survived.
• I traveled to Prague and Milan (and Orlando [twice] and Miami and New York and Pittsburgh and DC and Philadephia and Toronto and Wisconsin and the Twin Cities) for work.
• As a result of more travel than ever before, I got Delta Silver Elite Status - and my first First Class upgrade.
• Minnesota government shutdown.
• Angry Birds
• Final Harry Potter movie released.
• Family vacationed in California.
• Mike moved to LA. (Yes, he really did.  We saw him there.)
• Norway terrorist set off a bomb and killed young adults at a political camp
• US Government went into default - almost - rather than cooperate on making meaningful changes to reduce the deficit.
• 37th Street was torn up for repairs late spring through summer.
• Grandpa Will retired. (Congratulations, Dad!)
• Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast, causing New York City to evacuate some, shut down elevators and mass transit.  Vermont was basically all flooded.
• Earthquake hit the East Coast.
• Leah missed both Hurricane and Earthquake by being in Minnesota for two weeks.
• Sarah and Troy moved to the Twin Cities (Fridley.)
• Sherry completed semesters 2 and 3 of Apparel Design program.  
• Sherry worked at Ginny's Fine Fabrics and Support Group.
• Angry Birds were everywhere.
• Watson competed on "Jeopardy!"
• Adam and Marisa announced grandchild #1 would be born in July 2012
• Name hilariously considered is Ca$h (but I can't do it justice in normal characters; it must be accompanied by the proper hand and head motions. And the double-veritcal-bar dollar sign.)
• A new phase in Lucas' life began.
• Leah acted in "Trojan Women" (and "Three Sisters")
• Sherry and I went to NYC -- stayed with Ruth -- to attend "Trojan Women"
• I shot birdie 4 on Willow Creek 11.  [Very long drive over the creek, almost cutting the corner; crushed a 3-wood to the fringe; long putt a bit past the hole; a decent 3-footer for four] 

Something (maybe many somethings) missed this list.  It interesting to me, for the future, to see what I thought was important over the course of the year, to add to this list.

2010 - The Year Of ...

News

• Earthquake in Haiti
• Earthquake in Chile
• The volcano in Iceland affecting travel for a week
• The BP Oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico
• Nashville Flood
  

Weather

• No snow in March
• Tornado hits Rochester
• Highway 52 washes out with the huge rains and floods of September 22-23
• Lake Shady is no more - dam breaks
• 16 inches of snow in Rochester from the blizzard on 12/11/10
• Metrodome collapses in the Blizzard of 2010.
  
• Snowiest December on record for Rochester: 41.2 inches (35.3 previous - 2000). Average is 52.7 inches for an entire season.

Family/Personal/Entertainment

• Sherry in the School of Design
• Patrick living with us for the summer
• Leah works at Wacky Bear
• Troy gets a job at Columbus Junction, IA; Sarah in Burlington, IA; we move them into an apartment in Wapello above a flower shop.
• Faure Requiem
• Pastors Peter & Kathy Nycklemoe leave
• LG Vortex phones for Leah and me
• PS3
  
• The End of Lost
• Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
• My trips: Orlando (conference), South Florida (customer), England (conference), Memphis (customer), Las Vegas (keynote at a conference), Jersey City (customer), Twin Cities (business partner event)
• Vikings play "home" games in Detroit and at the U of M stadium because of the blizzard. Then get an away game delayed by two days by a storm in Philadelphia.

2009 - The Year Of...

To wrap up the year, I decided to compile a couple of lists of notable events from 2009. I think I started this in the middle of the year, so some of the key events from the first six months might have escaped my attention. Feel free to comment and tell me what I missed.

In a broad sense, 2009 was the Year of

• Twitter (explodes on the national consciousness, becomes part of the news media)
• Barack Obama is inaugurated - and later won the Nobel Peace Prize
  
• Cash for Clunkers ($1B in a week)
• The Depression that Wasn't
• The End of Jon & Kate
• Cougars -- and I still think they are the invention of middle-aged men, not real life people
• Michael Jackson's death
• Brett Favre as a Viking.
• H1N1 (aka "Swine Flu")
• The downfall of Tiger Woods' image
  
• "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "Star Trek" and "Avatar" in the theaters
• Heath-care reform passes both houses of Congress. Now, how will it be perceived in 10 years?
  

Closer to home, 2009 was the Year of

• Great Courses (for me)
• Wii Fit (and then Wii Fit Plus)
• The Prius
  
• Seeing the space station and space shuttle in the sky over Nordic Fest
• Sarah & Leah both graduate
  
• Losing Doug
• Joining Mt. Olive
• Opening the time capsule from 1999, and preparing the one for 2019
  
• Sarah & Troy in Clarion, IA
  
• Season Tickets to the Vikings with Adam, Lucas & Dad
  
• My first trip to Japan and China
• Our first trip to Washington DC
  
• The wedding of Sarah & Troy
• Mannheim Steamroller in concert
• Leah entering NYU and thus...
• The Empty Nest

Happy New Year, everyone!