Sorry I haven't been around for awhile. Life got in the way.

I'm sure for many of the bloggers on this site, 2008 was a down year; a struggling economy, employment anxiety, outrageous gas and grocery prices, and a Star Wars "film" that didn't meet expectations. Don't get me wrong, there were some fun things that happened in the GFFA. "The Force Unleashed" video game was an outstanding success; the Clone Wars cartoon is going well on Cartoon Network. And outside the GFFA, our favorite hero with a whip was back on the big screen. Those were very cool.

But for me personally, and a few other bloggers, 2008 pretty much sucked. It started out on a good note. A bunch of bloggers from the SPEW crew and GHG got together to celebrate the New Year in a multi time zone chat party, which was a blast.

But after that, things started to go down hill for me. In February, I missed out on Wondercon because of a nasty cold and really bad traveling weather, so I didn't get to see some friends in the Bay Area. At the end of March, my brother was in the hospital and eventually passed away suddenly in the beginning of April, the cause of death is still not resolved in my family's view. I spent the entire month of April working on a memorial video that was shown at Phil's second memorial service for our friends in Tahoe. On a side note, I want to thank everyone for their condolences during that time. It was very comforting knowing I had friends that were there when I needed them. You folks rock!!

Memorial Day weekend was supposed to be a fun time with friends and what was called "NobbyCon" but the drive to the area started a summer major knee pain, which eventually got better with some physical therapy, but the therapists believe that my MCL is torn so I will eventually have to get that fixed. Add that to the rumors of layoffs and cuts at work (which eventually came true for some people, but thankfully not me) the summer and early fall were pretty much a waste and a blur. I wanted to wait to have surgery to see what my job situation is going to be. Thankfully, I haven't had anymore problems with my knee.

Things still didn't improve in the fall. I got sick over Thanksgiving weekend with a nasty stomach virus so I missed the Thanksgiving festivities, and just last week, a pipe in my laundry room burst and flooded my laundry room and garage, for the SECOND TIME in two years. Now I have a big hole in the wall. At least the floor isn't damaged. I can't wait for this year to be over!!!!!

Now, everything isn't all bad. Despite the messed up knee, I had a great time at NobbyCon and was able to see some friends that I hadn't seen since Celebration IV, and got to meet a couple of bloggers that I hadn't met before. On the work front, I still have a job and although it doesn't involve a raise or promotion, I've been given some responsibilities that get me noticed by management. I've probably spent more money then I should have on collectables, but I've got some really cool stuff. I've thoroughly enjoyed, both The Force Unleashed and the Clone Wars cartoon.

So, what does 2009 offer? Well, there a plans in the work for my mom, grandma and me to travel to Chicago to see family. Hopefully, that doesn't fall through and I'll be able to go and meet up with some friends. I'll be starting school again, with the ultimate goal of getting an engineering degree. This should lead to better opportunities at work. And there will definitely be more blogging. I'm hoping to restart a collection tour series, maybe with video, if I can remember my Youtube login info.