In light of the many recaps I have been reading about this past year and about the hopes of the next 365 days ahead of us all, doing a bit of a journal entry seems to fit well. This December has proven itself to be rewarding in a sense of instilling hope to the first few months to come, while also adding to a growing feeling of the unknown at the same time. The holidays have passed quickly, as they often do, and left a list of good memories with some others which could be better left forgotten. It is best described as bittersweet, this year of 2006, and while it is good to see it go, the securities of the past are to be missed along side a sigh of longing to have a few of them back.

It was a year of firsts for me, starting most memorably of the trip last Christmas and New Years to Mexico with the rest of my family as sort of an en-mass Christmas present. We did not have a tree or any decorations to speak of, but we did come out of that vacation with a smile and a good feeling for eachother. I went to my second-ever convention, Further Confusion to be precise, and stayed a record four hours... I was uncomfortable with not knowing anyone in person, a fact that should be somewhat remedied this time around in a few weeks time. April saw me graduate with a college degree, ending a chapter in my life that had changed everything about me and had instilled a purpose that will last me the rest of my career. And then a month later, my life changed again along with my employment. I accomplished a salary that had never been mine to have before, something I am quite proud of despite the broken down hourly earnings of a firefighter for the State of California being just a few quarters above minimum wage. I transversed the state over and over again, worked hard, fought hard, and came home safe at the end of the season. Just a few weeks shy of that end, my father retired from a career of 41 years as public servant. As the fall came to a close, moving both my parents to one house, and then myself to another became the biggest time-consuming and stress-testing project to focus on. And then watching my little brother move off on his own during this same time only added to the drama. As if it were an icing on a very big fruit cake, I am now presented with the most difficult, time consuming, and life-changing task of them all as I write this journal entry. I have in front of me the rest of my life, and the real beginning to my career. Starting just this next week is the testing process for one major metropolitan fire department in the SF Bay Area, followed by several oral interviews only a few days later for still other departments. One of these departments is the same organization I grew up around, where my father just retired from, and it has been the pipedream of my life to work for. I am of the belief that words, both spoken and typed, could never convey the sense of emotion involved here. Getting this one job would be the single most defining moment of my life. In the space of one month, starting tonight and ending with the beginning of the academy in February, everything about me has the potential to change.

Talk about a Happy New Year!

My breath is held, and the luck of anyone willing to extend it is needed to get me through successfully; I'll take anything I can get at this point! So for the rest of you, I wish you the best New Year's that is possible. May the days ahead be fruitful, rewarding, healthful, and productive. And most of all, stay safe out there!