Dear 2008,

Good bye.

Please don't smack your ass with the door on the way out. You have given me some wild swings all the way from pure joy to total chaos. You and I have had an interesting time together.

Remember back in January when we decided to start taking this whole tri thing a bit more seriously? We hired a coach, got a training plan together, entered in a bunch of events through out the year. February brought my first half marathon since having kids. It was a cold day, but a super fun day with lots of sunshine and it felt good to run the whole thing and give myself a starting point for what would be improved on. I was only 4 minutes off my PB, on a cold day in February, not too bad!!

Some more training in March and looking forward to my first duathlon in April. Too bad you brought blizzard like conditions and drifts of snow just days before the du and it was cancelled. To tell you the truth, I had no idea how I was going to bike all that way!!

May was cold and I was anxious to get my bike on the roads. We had entered a half ironman in July, remember? I bought toe warmers, ear warmers, gloves and wore three layers on my legs for many a ride in May. I did my second half marathon of the year and finally got under 2 hours! Then June came and you gave us a perfect day for my second attempt at an Olympic distance triathlon (the first, the year before had been cancelled due to lightening and rain...). I had biked 100km the day before and had no idea how I was going to get through the day!! But I surprised myself and pedalled my heart out and ran my fastest 10km ever!!

Bring on Stoney Plain!

Then my big event. My very first Half Ironman. What day!! It rained, it was SO humid, I was scared to death of that bike ride. 90km. But we got it done and had a pretty good run afterwards. I had such a good day, I immediately was looking for another one to enter!

August was spent being lazy and recovering and enjoying time at the lake. September brought another half marathon in Regina and again, I got under 2 hours with a bit more time to spare. A year ago, I would have NEVER thought I would whip off FOUR half marathons in one year!! All getting just a tiny bit faster.

October and November brought some crazy days. Thank-you for the Lehman Brothers, AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the total financial chaos that I watched from my computer screen. Thanks for the sleepless nights, the panicked phone calls from clients, the hedge funds that had to sell off their positions and cause the wild swings in the markets. I want to personally thank-you for the significant income drop I will be experiencing over the next several months. I have come up with a nickname for you "2008: The year the markets hate" I thought that was clever.
All the negative stuff aside, it is lessons like these ones (and 16 years in this business) that have taught me, it's only money. Seriously. I have my health, I have my family, we have a very nice home, we have plenty to eat and cozy warm beds to snuggle in every night. My boys are healthy and active and I love them to pieces! It has been a year of watching Luke learn to talk, use the toilet (properly) and show off his very own personality. Matthew has started school, has excelled at a couple of sports, is a bright, inquisitive, fun little boy.

I can't ask 2009 to bring me much more than that.

Sincerely,

Kelly