The Year of Following Through

Part 1

2006 is almost over. I've had a little time to stop, take a look back, and sum it all up. These are the big and small moments that made up lessons I learned in 2006. This was the year of following through.

It started out innocently enough. I was hanging out with a few close friends last New Year's Eve. We were sipping coffee at our local shop, Rivertown, and making lists. You know, like people do on TV at the end of each year. Lists of top movies, top people, best moments, worst moments, that sort of thing, only with people we actually know. Somehow in the course of the conversation we noted that we had a lot of great ideas, but never really followed through with them. We decided 2006 would be different. In the words of Bo Woody, it would be a year with "a lot less talk and a lot more action."

Later that evening we went out to eat. (I know, coffee should be after the meal, but sometimes we do things backwards in Alabama.) We were discussing how none of us had ever done anything spectacular for New Year's Eve. (This was no exception. Appleby's is pretty slow on New Year's Eve.) So as we were trying to come up with some big plan for Dec 31, 2006, a thought hit me. Why can't we have our own New Year's Rockin' Eve? Why does New York City get to be the only place to count down the end of the year by dropping a giant ball from the top of a tall building? I voiced these questions to the guys. The overwhelming response was "why wait until next year? We still have 2 hours left." Since it was the year of following through, how could I argue?


We put our heads together and came up with a plan. After a mad dash to Wal-Mart, we met back at the Greenlee's house to put everything together. A giant inflatable soccer ball, a roll of twine, packing tape, and battery operated Christmas lights became a New Year's Rockin' Eve countdown ball. We headed downtown to the parking deck and ascended to the top. We wished it was taller. We hung the ball over the side and began the countdown. We prayed the cops wouldn't show up. We rang in the New Year with cheers, high fives, and some snapshots of our creation. The countdown was a great gesture for ringing in the "Year of Following Through."

to be continued...