Holy Crap!!!

Salutations Peeps,

Has it really been almost a year since we've spoken? I was shamed into this posting by a dear friend and I thank her a thousand times over for reminding me that sometimes we all just need to be heard. So, without further ado. The Murt is back! A lot has happened in the last year peeps; we have been experiencing the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression, we got ourselves a new president and for once he doesn't suck. Truth be told I was gonna vote for Hillary, just kidding...Ralph, where are you, come back...hello, is this thing on? Our new pres can actually speak without fumbling through countless vats of innuendo and minutiae and that my friends is a step in the right direction.
In the last year we have all (I'm sure) experienced great triumphs and lowly defeats but the common glue that binds is that we are all still here. The Murt himself has been through so much it boggles the mind. The kids live in SC, I got a great new job, I fell in love, and I'm living day to day. The Ducks won the Holiday Bowl and then embarrassed themselves on national TV on opening night. As usual, the Thanksgiving Day Party was a huge success and greeted me with a huge hangover the following day. As much as things change, they always stay the same. I've started and quit smoking more times than I can count, have made a bunch of new friends and said goodbye to a few old one's. How are things in your lives peeps? Can you let me know where you are, what you're up to?
On a sad note, Patrick Swayze died last night and I was disheartened to read that the only accolade given to him from the local fish-wrap was that he starred in Dirty Dancing. What??? Dirty Freakin' Dancing, are you serious? How about Red Dawn, Roadhouse, or even Ghost for God's sake!
Because this is all so fresh and renewed I'm gonna cut things short and I promise I won't stop writing. I need to knock some of the rust of the fingers and more than a little off the mind but as usual, I'll leave you with a quote.

Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Ps, to my friend who reminded me that I need to Murt-out...I'll red-neck with you and yours anytime!!