Well, here we are at the close of another year, the first for Goodboys Nation weblog. A perfect occasion, BTW, to thank everyone out there for your visits and comments. I hope you’ve enjoyed the variety of stuff that’s been posted here over the past year. Sometimes, serious, sometimes silly, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, but I hope never boring. It’s not always easy to come up with worthy material to post about, but your comments and support have helped make it both fun and worthwhile.

Today I’m heading west and hopefully will find myself back in Gilbert, AZ just in time to raise a glass or two of bubbly with the lovely Mrs. Shank. For a year that started out on such a down note (last New Year’s Day found me at a local veterinarian’s office having our last cat Sparkle [R.I.P.] put down), the year ended up pretty good all around. Of course, our Hawaiian cruise and vacation were a highlight, as was the whole Tiki Bar thing. More than anything, however, having my family and friends in good health and well-being (by and large) was the most important thing. And, being gainfully employed and with a solid roof over our head (even if the A/C and a variety of machines and equipment were on the fritz constantly) puts both my wife and I among the fortunate, fer shure.

The fact that my good friend Rock finally moved back into his Katrina flood-ravaged house two weeks ago makes me feel good.

And knowing it wasn’t a good year for Saddam Hussein ain’t a bad thing, either.

What will 2007 bring? Only God knows. But I sure hope we’re all around to read a similar post next year at this time. Let’s all try to do it again, shall we?