2004 Reflections

Some thoughts on the past year, in no particular order:

I changed jobs, from Sprint to Cerner, in June.

Notable deaths: Keith Gamblin, Larry Avery, Dan Bishop, Mattie Stepanek, Ronald Reagan

Notable births: Troy Schreck, Justin Killen, Grace LaPosta

George W. Bush re-elected to presidency in November. I was negatively emotionally impacted by this than either I anticipated or should have been.

I went to the driving range quite a bit in the summer, but only golfed at a golf course once.

I completed five or six 5K races.

I started the Master of Education program at Rockhurst University in August. I completed my first two classes in December.

I did a decent job on maintaining my health. I went through several diet episodes, lifted weights on a couple seperate consistant periods, and had good cardio workouts. I'm probably in better shape now than I was last year at this time. Definitely, no worse shape.

I began blogging on a regular basis, albeit with gaps, and sometimes with nothing interesting to say.

Sharon became pregnant in November.

We went to Pennsylvania in September for vacation, stopping in Elyria on our way back to Missouri.

The Steelers had an amazing regular season. With their rookie quarterback Ben Roethisberger, they compiled a 14-1 record at the end of the calander year.

The Pirates, as usual, stunk. Now they've added Jason Kendall to the list of players that they've traded away in recent years. Pathetic. (However, I'll still be a fan, as much as I always say I'm fed up with them.)

Lynae had back surgery in February at Liberty hospital.

Sharon had her tonsils out at the beginning of the year. I think it was also February.

Mark, Lyane, Sharon and I saw the Van Halen reunion tour at Kemper Arena at the end of July. Sheri was supposed to go, but she was not feeling well due to her pregnancy, so Mark gave the ticket to Lynae.

Granny visited Iowa at Thanksgiving, and stayed for a little over a week afterwards.

I went camping/fly-fishing at Roaring River State Park in August with Jerod, Ted and Jerod's friend Sarah. Alex was also there with Ted. I actually caught a rainbow trout this time!!

Sharon, Dominic and I camped at Weston Bend State Park in July, and we harvested several bushels of blackberries. In September, Sharon made me a blackberry pie for my birthday.

'The Apprentice', Donald Trump's reality TV show, was the cultural rage of the Spring TV season. It also appeared in the Fall, but I didn't watch the second time around.

The Red Sox finally won a world series, sweeping the Cardinals after overcoming a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees in the ALCS.

U2 released it's album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb". I bought it on the first day it was available, and I quickly grew fond of it.



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