Happy New Year everyone! 

Whenever the new year rolls around it's pretty normal to take a few minutes and reflect.  I am always amazed at how much faster each year seems to go by.  It seems like yesterday that 2004 was just starting...my boss was on paternity leave, I was about to go on paternity leave, I was sharing a cramped office with 2 co-workers and I had only been with my group for a few months and was still uncertain whether or not I liked it.  Now...I have an 11 month old baby girl, my boss and I talk about our kids ALL the time since they're only a month apart, I have my own office and I have come to really enjoy the group I work with day in, day out.

It's also normal to think back to the past about what was happening decades ago.  Here's something interesting I found at http://www.blogthings.com/yearborn.html.  I was born in 1970:

• Richard Nixon is president of the US
• A federal jury finds the "Chicago 7" innocent of conspiring to incite riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention
• The lunar spacecraft Apollo 13 splashes down in the Pacific after near catastrophe
• The first Earth Day is marked by millions of Americans participating in anti-pollution demonstrations
• At Kent State University, National Guardsmen fire into a crowd killing four student antiwar demonstrators
• A powerful earthquake claims 50,000 lives in Peru
• 18 year olds are given the right to vote in federal elections
• Tidal wave driven by cyclone from Bay of Bengal hits East Pakistan, killing hundreds of thousands
• An anti-war rally is held at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, attended by John Kerry, Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland
• Queen Latifah, Mariah Carey, Andre Agassi, Uma Thurman, Jennifer Lopez, and Matt Damon are born
• Baltimore Orioles win the World Series
• Kansas City Chiefs win Superbowl IV
• Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup
• Tearjerker Love Story is the top grossing film
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is published
• "The Long and Winding Road" becomes the Beatles' last Number 1 song

Some of the pieces of history have an interesting corrolation to present day.  For example,

• Then:  "Tidal wave driven by cyclone from Bay of Bengal hits East Pakistan, killing hundreds of thousands"
• Now:  Just last week we had a large Tsunami in Thailand, India and the surrounding area that has a death toll of over 123,000 and still rising.
• Then:  "18 year olds are given the right to vote in federal elections"
• Now:  For several years we have had the "Rock the Vote" and other campaigns trying to get young voters out to the polls with this year being an overwhelming success compared to prior years (USA Today article).
• Then:  "Kansas City Chiefs win Superbowl IV" beating Oakland 17 to 7.
• Now:  In week 16 of the regular season the Chiefs again beat Oakland (31 to 30), but it's doubtful they'll reach the Superbowl.
• Then:  "'The Long and Winding Road' becomes the Beatles' last Number 1 song"
• Now:  This was included on the Beatles' 1 album (a greatest hits collection) just released last year and is still one of my favorite songs.