Good Bye, 2009! And thank you.

I can't say that I'm sad to see the end of 2009. Early 2009, the state of the economy was pretty bad -- housing market was terrible, big businesses were closing, the job market dried up, cut backs everywhere, and banks and credit card companies were making a bad situation worse -- as bleak as the January winter landscape of DC during the swearing in a new President. Every since 2001, I've heard the mantra of "doing less with more" as companies make more and more cut backs to stay afloat.

In this year, my wife and I bought a house, after selling ours right before the downturn of the housing market -- we didn't loose our shirts, but we didn't make any money after owning a home for 5 years -- and renting for the past 3 years. To be honest, for the last 3 years, if felt like our lives have been in a holding pattern -- none of our grander plans have moved forward -- or just moving at a snail's pace.

But this is a blog about LEGO... I must say, I think the only thing that has made these bleak times bearable has been family and AFOL friends. The passion, creativity & inspiration AFOLs generates makes me remember that there's always a different way to look at life -- it may not put food on the table at first, but it's a matter of finding what snaps into place.

Anyway, with all the good/bad of 2009, with all of it's unfounded hopeful optimism and talk of hard roads ahead, Good Bye, 2009! And Good Bye a decade of bitter-sweetness -- a few moments of joy, followed by 3 to 4 acts of sadness or frustration. And Good Bye 2009 LEGO sets, since I can't seem to find not a damn one of you still on the self after being decimated. Here's to 2010 & a better tomorrow! Here to friends and family, may the next year be brighter and full of joy! And here's to TLG, may you have the wisdom to make better products and resist the temptation of corporate greed -- that have plagued so many other companies and brought us to the brink of economic ruin in the first place!

So out with the old, in with the new!