I’m not one who gets particularly sentimental as the calendar rolls over to a new year, but I thought I’d take a look back at 2017 — a year that had a lot going on.
As is the case with any typical year, there is some good, and some bad. There are moments of crisis handled, and moments of crisis averted.
But there are fun moments as well. Let's look at some highlights...
The year started off as they typically do in Nebraska — cold. Cold weather means UNO Hockey season is in full swing, and since we’ve never missed a home game in the program’s history, it is kind of a big deal for us each year.
We did discover a “game” on social media last February — "Finders Keepers" — that was sort of a crazy scavenger hunt across Omaha — where all the clues were given via Twitter (read my full blog post here). The hunt typically involved money hidden at various spots throughout the city, and hunters would race to find the loot.
My nieces won on a number of occasions. This picture is of me, Bridget, and our nieces Lauren and Julia taking a pit stop from the race and munching on donuts (in the middle of the night) at Winchell’s in West Omaha:
We also took some impromptu trips in 2017. We decided to drive two hours north to Sioux Falls, SD, leaving at 4 p.m. on March 7 to watch the UNO Men’s Basketball team play for a Summit League Championship (and try to earn its first berth in the NCAA tournament). The Mavs lost in the closing moments of play, but it was fun to be part of the March Madness atmosphere in the building.
My dad ended up in the hospital in April. He’d been having severe pain in his leg. Doctors couldn’t tell if it was pain associated with a pinched nerve, or something more sinister.
Pain killers didn’t work, and my dad’s condition worsened to the point where he was unable to walk. When the pain hit its zenith, Bridget took him to the emergency room to try and find him some relief.
It turns out he had a couple of serious blood clots in his leg, and had to have surgery to remove the clots (followed by inpatient and then outpatient rehab). Kind of a crazy sequence of events, but at least he didn’t lose his foot or leg (which the doctor said was a real possibility due to oxygen deprivation in the limb).
On April 14, we attended the League of Women Voters Mayoral Debate at the Omaha Press Club. Mayor Jean Stothert and Heath Mello sparred over various local issues impacting our city — and, as is the tradition with these forums at the OPC, attendees had lunch during the program.
We welcomed our new nephew Anson on April 29. He looks like a little bug in this picture, but he has grown in the past 8 months, and is a fun little guy to spend time with.
May 2nd saw us attending the Omaha Metro High School 7-7-7 Film Championship at the Western Heritage Museum. My niece Julia was part of a team (from the OPS Career Center) that competed in the event (read my blog on the 7-7-7 Film Championship). This picture is of Bridget with one of the Union Pacific trains on display:
On May 18, we had a chance to see and hear author Craig Johnson at The Bookworm. Johnson is the author of the terrific Longmire series of mysteries (which are the basis for the show “Longmire” that is available on Netflix). This was our third time meeting him!
We are volunteers at our neighborhood pool. I’ve written about the 61-year-old Robin Hill Pool before, and the challenges faced in keeping the aging facility running. On May 22, my nieces Emily and Lauren worked on painting the “big pool” and the “baby pool.” It was messy work (pool paint is basically oil-based rubber), but the three of us had a lot of fun talking and laughing that day, as illustrated in this picture:
My niece Veronica graduated from 6th grade at Jefferson Elementary on May 25th. The very next day, my niece/goddaughter Lauren graduated from Central High School.
Then things kind of fell apart, and life threw a wrench in the engine. My brother-in-law Sean was found dead in his apartment on May 30th. He died of complications related to undiagnosed diabetes. We were stunned. He was 49 — taken way too soon.
I lost my mom in 2013, and I can’t imagine how it feels for my nieces to lose their dad at such a young age.
But the summer wasn’t all melancholy. At the end of June we had the opportunity to brave the rising mercury and watch a couple games at the NCAA College World Series (held each year in Omaha).
We also had the opportunity to see the fireworks display at Memorial Park on June 30 with our nieces Julia and Veronica. (Olivia was also at the event, but was with friends.)
On July 11, our friend Kathleen Lighthart invited us to their lake house near Fremont and we had a fun day hanging out with the Lightharts and our nieces and nephews.
That same day we dressed up like cows so we could get free food at Chick-fil-A.
We won tickets to see the local comedy/skit show “Omaha Live!” (season premiere party) at Aksarben Cinema, and won an autographed special edition poster for the show (read my full review of the event).
At the end of July, we took our nieces (and their mom Danielle) on a five-day RV trip to see the Tour of Utah. My brother-in-law Sean was an avid cycling enthusiast, and had spent his recent working years as a press officer for professional cycling teams. The trip was an opportunity for our nieces to get to see the sorts of things he did when he was on the road, and it was a chance for them to get to meet some of the people Sean knew through his profession.
I also had the chance to eat at In-N-Out Burger for the first time on that trip:
Bridget and I saw the movie “American Assassin” at Aksarben Cinema on Sept. 14. We are big fans of the late Vince Flynn — the author of the Mitch Rapp book series that the “American Assassin” movie is based upon (read my review of "American Assassin").
We also like to spend time with our nieces and nephews at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch each fall. I wrote a review in 2016 about Vala’s — it is a cross between a pumpkin orchard and an amusement park.
In early October, we attended the National Resume Writers Association conference in Lombard, IL. Bridget and her colleague Kimberly took the opportunity to co-present a webinar (not related to the conference) while they were together in Lombard:
Nov. 11 saw the University of Nebraska at Omaha Men’s Soccer squad win a Summit League championship. We were in attendance (with our friend Mike) at UNO’s Al F. Caniglia Field to witness history as the Mavs secured their first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
As I alluded to at the beginning of this post, we spend a significant amount of our fall and winter months following UNO Maverick Hockey. We run a fan site called mavpuck.com, and haven’t missed a home game... ever.
Our niece Lauren is attending St. Cloud State University in Minnesota this season — a conference rival for the Mavericks. So this season has been a bit different since she’s not sitting with us at (most) games.
That said, Lauren has made it to a surprising number of home games, including the matchup with St. Cloud in early December.
Suffice it to say, it was incredibly uncomfortable sitting with her while she cheered for the Huskies (we still love Lauren... for now!)
It will be interesting to see what 2018 has in store — we're hoping it is a fun year.
I want to wish all of you a terrific 2018. Thank you for reading. This blog recently surpassed 14,000 page views, and the feedback I’ve received the past year has been awesome!
I'm very blessed!
