The 2006 Esqys

Last year, I made a list of some of the highlights of the year, and thought I would continue the tradition. Like last year, I am favored to win every category, and I must remind everybody...please, no wagering.

Best trip (non-family) = the Mini Takes the States Road Rally. Fun trip, fun people, fun to not be at work for a whole week. Check out my archives for the full story.

Best trip (family) = Thanksgiving in Colorado with the Gilberts. Great to see everybody again, and need to do that more often.

Best book I read this year = The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Beautifully simple book about the love between a father and a son...told against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic nightmare. If my father were still alive, I would have shared this book with him.

Best new habit = getting more assertive at work. As I continue to learn the law and the various court procedures, I am trying to become a better advocate for my clients. I am getting better at believing in myself and standing my ground when I think I am right. More and more often, I am.

Best new habit, runner up = paying off debt. We have been free of credit card debt for a few years now, but earlier this year I was able to pay off my undergraduate student loans, we are a couple payments away from paying off the car, and should be able to pay off the wife's student loans in the coming year. My law school debt will be hanging around for quite a while (emphasis on "quite"), but with those others out of the way, I think we can seriously begin looking at buying our own home in the near future. Yay, us!

Best continuing habit = running, but I'm not going as often as I need to. Hopefully this will be a continuing winner in years to come.

Best purchase (big) = our new car, an '06 Mini Cooper. Made driving fun again, and made parking less of a chore. Also exciting? I've never owned a new car before. Honestly, made (makes) me a little nervous.

Best purchase (smaller) = TiVo. Has revolutionized how I watch television, and I am proud to say, has worked out how I hoped: I watch fewer overall hours of television, and can't remember the last commercial I saw. Fantastic!

Best videogame = Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. Playing video games in my 30s? Check. Playing a game where I get to re-live my favorite movies of all time? Check. Both of those, but doing it as lego characters? Check. All of the above, and the wife likes to play it with me? Come on...that's almost too many positives for one game!

2006 was a positive year for me, and I hope it was good for you as well. Good luck to all of us in the coming year!