What can I say about 2006? I think about it and it reminds me of A Tale of Two Cities - “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Some of the stuff I blogged, some I didn’t, but let’s see if we can recap some of the major happenings.

In January, I ended my three year stint of taking allergy shots. I still have some minor troubles now and then, but nothing like it used to be. I put it to the test when we went karaoke-ing at a local pub, marking it as the best time I’ve ever had at a karaoke bar.

In February, Stu and I invented “units” - running up against a video game for sometimes hours on end. Jenn and I started working out to try and look good for the wedding (and it didn’t totally fail, but it didn’t really succeed, either).

In March, following a great run at Paper Mario, I went to the Corillian Casino Night and had a blast. We saw the Cirque du Soleil show, Varekai, and we decided a lot of stuff surrounding the wedding (like catering). I also went to a really great Peer Mentoring seminar and learned a lot of stuff I use all the time.

April found Stu entirely addicted to coffee in a week (which we’d find out would end a few months later after he decided it was really kicking his ass). I got further into some fun board games, switched to cable phone service, and got my Xbox 360. We rounded the month off with the 24: Season 1 marathon. April also found Stu and Tiff getting divorced, which, while I didn’t blog it and won’t go too far into it, was an unfortunate occurrence for them that affected Jenn and I far more than I think either of them realized. This was actually quite a turning point for a lot of things. I’m sorry it had to happen, and I wish things would have worked out.

In May I spent a lot of time playing Tomb Raider: Legend and my dad got an Xbox 360 (though he’s rarely on it, which sucks). It was all to be overshadowed with my granddad passing after a bout of cancer. I still think about him all the time and miss him very much.

In June not a lot happened beyond some experimentation with scripting and contact information and a round of rototilling at home. I did take a bad drink in there, but I wouldn’t really qualify that as “eventful” as much as just gross.

July was much more eventful. My sister, Tori, got married to a really cool guy named Brandon (congrats again!); Jenn and I did our usual pyrotechnics at the sewage treatment plant; I turned 30 and had a great birthday (even though my Xbox 360 died and had to be sent in for repair); and my stinking dad got me hooked on R/C helicopters so I had to spend a lot of money.

In August we got our sprinkler system installed. I got my Xbox 360 back and discovered the lameness that is Xbox Live Digital Rights Management. We got the house trim painted, but it didn’t turn out too great and had to be fixed. Stu’s parents came to visit and it was great to finally meet them in person and talk, even if they couldn’t stay very long. I also went a little aggro because people just don’t understand the need for RSVPs when planning a wedding.

September started off with a fun, unit-filled Labor Day weekend. I didn’t (and still don’t) get Sandcastle and think Microsoft should have just taken NDoc over. I got myself a PSP (love it!) and discovered the awesomeness that is TypeMock.

October began with my bachelor party in Vegas, one of the best times I’ve ever had. I saw the Cirque show KA while I was there, front row center, and it absolutely rocked. The month peaked when Jenn and I got married and went to Aruba.

November was fairly uneventful, which was fine since October was exactly the opposite, and ended with a fairly lame Thanksgiving (my least favorite holiday).

December started off slow, but things definitely started happening toward the middle of the month when we were hit with a city-wide blackout. I also wrote about some of the cool gadgets I use to help me keep the house clean. The month took a definite downturn as Jenn’s fat kitty got sick and had to be put down. That cast a shadow on Christmas, making it sort of hard to have a great time the way you really should during the holiday.

I took the last two weeks of the year off and started back to work on the third of January, 2007, after taking a while to recover from Jason and Tracy’s yearly New Year’s bash (which was a load of fun where I proved once again that I am an unstoppable force at Scene It! and where I successfully avoided getting conned into going streaking). Stu was there, but ditched after showing up fairly late and only hanging out for about an hour - just as we were starting to play games. He missed out on a great time.

2006 was a pretty stressful year. A lot happened, both good and bad, and I’m really not sure where 2007 will lead. Friends I thought were really tight with me have drifted (extremely suddenly and fairly inexplicably) away. I find that unfortunate, particularly as I’m sure they don’t actually realize it. Or maybe that’s just the way things go. Friends that had drifted away over the course of the years have come back and are just as much fun as ever, albeit slightly changed over time. Things I thought would become regular traditions turned out to be more important to me than to other folks, and things I never thought would happen came to pass.

Regardless, the past is past and what’s happened has happened. On to 2007, whatever it holds in store.