It's that time of year again. Time to get depressed again about no truly exciting holidays for quite a while. But since holidays don't really do anything for me in and of themselves, my situation isn't really any different than it was before Christmas, except that I don't need to endure annoying repeated various renditions of the sleigh ride song.

But here's the thing: I am pumped. For many reasons. In under two weeks, my entire family will visit me here in KC. Three weeks after that, I'll get on a plane for Boston. I will be visiting Beantown for the 4th Annual Extreme Beer Festival, put on at the Cyclorama by beeradvocate.com.

To make matters better, I'm actually on top of my expenses for once. When April 15th comes this year, I'll actually be able to pay my taxes on time, while getting some saving done. On the materialist front, I have a new camera, a new video card, memory, and motherboard.

2006 proved to be an excellent year for forging and reinforcing friendships here in KC. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Kickball was the best thing I've ever done for my social life. Next week, I'm meeting the kickball people for a rousing game of whirlyball. I even owe the great new job I have to friendships I've made through kickball. Speaking of that job, I've had it now for just over three months, which means I finally have some vacation and sick days. In addition, with each passing day I am a little less clueless with the work there is to do here.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that things are going really well for me right now. However, as is my nature, I still like to improve some things. They are, like so:

• As I've stated before, I am committing myself to losing fifty pounds by the year's end.

• I also resolve to buy a home before the year ends.

• A unique opportunity has presented itself this year. I can't expand much on it, and if I've confided in you about it, please keep the details you've heard to yourself. But I plan on at least taking steps this year, to start my own business.