Holiday Toasts- Wine and Friendship

Yesterday my wife and I were getting a gift package ready for some friends, and one of the presents was a wine journal.  We wanted to write a nice quote about wine and friendship, and while Google provided ample results to our search, none sufficed, so I made up several of my own: 

The vine begets the grape
The grape begets the wine
Our friends be gettin’ glasses
And I be fillin’ mine

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With our friends we raise our glasses,
And watch another New Year’s pass us
Uncork the wine, my lads and lasses
And we'll get drunk off all our asses

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Friends and wine go hand-in-hand
Or glass-in-hand, as it may be
I really can’t tell right now
For I’m so drunk I see in threes

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We count our blessings
For our friends
And toast until
The bottle ends

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Fine wine is to be cherished
Like a friend’s familiar face
So let us gaze upon each other
And have wine brought by the case

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Let’s raise our glasses, raise them high
Another year has passed us by
And once the bottoms reach the sky
Fill them again so they won’t dry

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  

The Holidays Are Over

The holidays are over, and I can sum it up in one word:

Crap.

I'm rolling off the end of a two-week vacation. Six use-it-or-lose-it days, nestled among holidays. Sure, I had a few conference calls to attend from Ye Olde Home Office, some email trickled through, but for the most part I was offline and enjoying the holidays with my friends and family.

Today is a day for alarm clocks, showering before noon, bus stops, and work, so I'll say it again:

Crap.

December was a whirlwind for my family with events galore, ranging from weddings and office parties to quiet days at home. We visited relatives, had friends over, and had wonderful time alone as a family.

My boys shed tears Christmas Eve knowing the Elves would leave that night, but all sadnedd had abated by Christmas as the boys found that Santa brought them what they wanted most: football pads and Legos. Oh, the simplicity of youth, how I long to have you back...

Santa did bring Band Hero for the Wii for the whole family, and we spent many hours with the four of us working through guitar, bass, drums, and vocals on a bevy of 80's and 90's rock. I'm sure we looked (and sounded) like idiots to the casual observer, but when you find that the whole family can rock it through Mr. Roboto, you find that warmer family moments are few and far between. Domo arigato, indeed.

Here are my New Year's Resolutions:

- To see at least one of my books with a contract for publication. I'd like to say "get published" but with the speed at which the publishing industry moves I think it will be 2011 before anything hits the shelves.

- To write every day. Must be part of a novel, blogging doesn't count. So far so good.

- To post to this blog at least once a week. I like the irony in have a weekly Daley rant. I might shoot for Monday as my regular posting day.

- To do good work for my day job

- To not take for granted all that life has afforded me thus far, and to meet any challenges head on and come out on top. (NOTE: does anyone else hear the theme music from Rocky right now?)

That's all for today. Now it's time to get back to reality. I have an eight-year-old who just came into my office claiming a stomach ache, no doubt school-induced. Must get things moving again.

Crap.