The Best of 2007

I'm finding it hard to fathom that another year is about to pass. Perhaps it's because 2007 has been such a memorable one, full of life experiences that extended from euphoric, glorious and hilarious to plain scary and rotten ...

So let's do it. Presenting some of my favorite posts, the best of 2007 ...

The year started with Brett Favre dazzling us. And here he is doing it again as the year closes.

But Brett's name wasn't the only "B" word making headlines on this blog in 2007. Yep, Kates and I can't look back on the year without discussing the impending birth of our first child. We have been delighted and awed and humbled by every aspect of this new phase in our lives, even amid the hormones. Though we also recognize we've still got a lot to learn.

By day, Kates entered her seventh year of elementary school teaching and I recently passed the five-year mark at my office ... Meanwhile, on the homefront, our year was dotted with the joys of a new vacuum, complaining about the weather and listing our dreams. We also started redoing our bathroom a little earlier than we'd planned but it turned out pretty swell seven months later.

I said good-bye to my M.U.S.C.L.E.S. ... Paris Hilton said hello to prison. We joined the High School Musical craze. The Jayhawks broke my heart again, and so did the Bearcats.

And those weren't the only things that consumed us ...

How about the TV, for instance ... And a little talent show called American Idol. From the first episode we'd ever watched to Jordin's crowning finale, and some worthy auditions in between, we got to watch Sanjaya's rise and fall. We fell hard for talents like Chris Sligh and Gina Glocksen. And I even got to chat with an almost-Idol.

At other points, there were only glimmers of compelling TV. ... We thoroughly enjoyed The Class before CBS dismissed it. And we stayed with Grey's Anatomy, even if the idea of Meredith drowning was a bad one. We indulged in guilty pleasures like You're the One That I Want and The Apprentice and other spring leftovers. We celebrated the return of My Boys, discovered Meerkat Manor, laughed with Brian Williams and embraced some great episodes of Lost (Shambala!), including its finale.

The music, on the other hand, was always good, and overflowing. While the Grammys were a night to remember, 2007 gave us great stuff from Avril Lavigne, The Shins, and Regina Spektor. It also was a year of excellent indies like Mates of State, Feist, Belle & Sebastian and The Weepies. ... Mute Math wowed me. The Shins nearly had me in tears. ... And my lust for the Rumours album continued.

But none of that matched the pure joy of five nights of Summerfest. Or chatting with Peter Noone, who we saw not once, but twice -- and with Barry Williams.

We laughed with Frank Caliendo, too.

As the summer came and went, we had a Fourth of July beach party. We played games and watched sunrises and sunsets on Lake Michigan. Harry Potter flew into our house one last time. And we went back in time at the Renaissance Faire.

... We made two trips to Kansas City. In August, we were there for the much anticipated 10-year high school reunion, which proved to be a special weekend of reuniting with old classmates and seeing how much “the old neighborhood” had changed. And in September we were there to celebrate a close friend’s wedding.

... In October, to celebrate our wedding anniversary, we spent a long peaceful weekend at Kati's parents' farm.

Suffice to say, though, the year might be best remembered by, well ... baseball. It all started once again with a day in February to get Cubs tickets. And it culminated with one of the most exciting season's in recent memory not to mention a Red Sox championship and a free taco ... even if seeing Barry Bonds hit No. 756 almost made me sick.

But, hey, let's keep with the good stuff -- like a gripping pennant race that included the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers.

We attended a record number of games -- highlighted by a game played in snow, a brawl game at Wrigley, a near-no-hitter in Kansas City, a celebration of legends, and one amazing Friday in August -- and I rarely got tired of it.

And let's not forget I played some good, fun ball too ... and even got in a little fall ball.