Guest Post: 2008 Year in Review

Hello, is this thing on? Oh.

This is my first post on the Gaskill Rascal blog. I’ve kind of made fun of Anne for doing it, but I guess I have to admit it is pretty cool to have, even if only like 3 people read it. A few days ago I was reading one of those “Best of 2008” lists that are usually pretty good for no more than a timewaster. But this time it kind of got me thinking about all the events of 2008 that took place in the Gaskill Rascal home. It wasn’t a boring year by any stretch of the imagination. So I asked Anne if I could make a “guest post” on her blog to talk about what 2008 meant to me. The irony was that I had to go back and look at all her blog posts to remind me of what actually happened. So I guess the blogging thing is pretty cool after all.


They say (whoever the heck “they” are anyway) that some of the most stressful events in a life are (1) death in the family, (2) starting a new job, (3) moving to a new city/house, and (4) having a baby. Well, we had all of them all packed in one single year. But looking back, it was probably one of the best years in recent memory. Yes, stressful at times, but like being on a fun adventure at others.

So with that said, let’s look back at the major events of 2008 for the Gaskill Rascals:

December, 2007 – I know, this is supposed to be a look back at 2008, not 2007. But, it’s my blog post and I want to start with the end of 2007. That’s when I started my new job at the Big D. For about two months, I was living the big life in Richmond while Anne and Danny were still in Atlanta. Not cool. We didn't decorate for Christmas because we were selling our house (plus I wasn't there anyway) and it was just tough being apart for that much time. But in the end I absolutely love my new job. There’s no travel, very few long nights at the office, no taking my laptop home to work, and I’m working for a company that I really love. So the job change has been a real positive experience for everyone.

Jan 1, 2008 - The best New Year's of my life. Anne’s uncle Gary gave us 8 tickets to the Sugar Bowl so Anne, my brother, mom, and some friends went to New Orleans. I’d never been there before and I definitely want to go back when I have more time to see it. What a cool place. Plus, the game turned out pretty good too!

February, 2008 – Closed on our house in Richmond. Yeah! We loved our house when we bought it and still do. One thing about our house is that it’s 20 years old so there’s always little things to do. Problem is that I’m not real handy. And when I say “not real handy”, I mean “not handy at all in any remote sense of the word.” But it has been fun trying to learn and I’ve got a father-in-law that loves projects (at least that’s what he tells me) and has lots of patience with my tool-challenged ways. Oh, and there was THAT little incident. Probably the best thing about our house is our neighborhood. Last time I counted, we were approaching about 1.3 million kids in our neighborhood. Or maybe it was more like 50…I can’t remember. Either way, our neighbors really welcomed us from day one and we’ve gotten to know them real well. That’s something we didn’t have in our old neighborhood in Atlanta and has been a blessing to us.

April, 2008 – Let’s see. Anything exciting happen in April? Oh yeah, that. We got to bring home our second bundle of trouble joy. Josh was born the night of April 25. Looking back, that was a really fun time leading up to the big event. Anne had been having contractions for several weeks and we were convinced he was coming several weeks early. Max and Nana (or as Danny now says, “NanaMax” as if they’re one single entity) drove up from Atlanta when it looked like he was coming early, only to go back when he wasn’t. They took Danny back home with them in what would turn out to be the last quiet moments of the year in the Gaskill Rascal home. Oh, good times. Then Josh came. He’s been so much fun to watch grow and to see Danny learn to be a big brother. Definitely the highlight of the year.

Summer, 2008 – I’m not going to do a month-by-month breakdown of the summer because it all kind of runs together for me. But it was a lot of fun. One of the great things about Richmond is that there is always a lot to do. The summer was filled with trips to Virginia Beach, a visit to Belle Island, multiple visits to the neighborhood swimming pool, playing in the backyard, being chased by a hurricane, Danny's 2nd birthday, and learning how to keep up with two little boys instead of one. Fun, Fun, Fun.

September, 2008 – September is usually my favorite time of year. Not coincidentally, that’s when football season starts. This year was a little different. I think this fall was actually probably the hardest time of the year for Anne and I. We kind of hit a point there where the “newness” of Richmond was wearing off and we were kind of homesick. My sister had her baby Jada in August and we weren’t there to meet her. We had to watch football games on TV or internet instead of getting to go to the games every week. That’s not a big deal in itself, but going to football games with my brother and the sounds and smells of the game just make it “feel” like fall. It was just a point where we both kind of questioned whether we made the right decision to move. I still loved my job and we liked our new city and all that, but we just missed the familiarity and family of Atlanta. There were definitely some fun times too - I took a trip to Arizona with my brother, we picked apples in Charlottesville one weekend, and the fall leaves and weather in Virginia are hard to beat. But overall, if April was the high point of the year, this was probably the low point for both of us.

November 1 -7, A Week That will Live in Infamy - The first week in November was a disaster. Maybe one of the worst weeks in history. There was this. Shortly followed by this. To quote the great Forest Gump - That’s all I got to say about that.

The rest of November was great. NanaMax had moved to Maryland the month before and were only 2 hours away. So seeing them more often kind of helped ease the homesickness a bit. We had a fun trip to D.C. with Max, Nana, Danny, Josh, and Bob the Builder. We drove down to Atlanta for Thanksgiving and had a great time with our family. So after the disaster that was the first week, I guess November turned out okay after all.

December 2008 – A month of mixed emotions. The buildup and anticipation of Christmas is always fun. And its even more fun now with a two year old. Just getting to teach him, not just about Santa, but also about the birth of our Lord is fun. On a different note, Anne’s grandmother passed away last week so that has been tough. We’re heading to the funeral this week. It will be great to see all of Anne’s family again, but we all wish it were under different circumstances.

Overall - What a year! I don’t think the word “exciting” quite does it justice. But I don’t know what other word to use so we’ll just stick with that one. It was filled with lots of highlights - New Job. New City. New House. New Church. New Josh. New niece Jada. Along with some lowlights - missing family, UGA going 9-3 after being ranked #1 in the preseason (even worse, the gayturds are in the national championship game), losing 30% of our savings as we watched the stock market collapse, and the passing of Anne’s grandmother.

But if every year was like 2008, I probably couldn’t be happier. Indeed, the state of Gaskill Rascals has never been stronger. We wish everyone (all 3 of you that read this blog anyway)

a great new year and hope it is filled with as many blessings as we had in the previous.