So what's new these days? Well...another Christmas season came and went and this one was memorable for many reasons. First, Kara got sick on Christmas day which was not cool. Tory was in town which was awesome. Christie, Joe, Claire, Carmen, and baby boy in utero were not here which was not cool. But they got to go to Dubai which sounds like it was amazing. Grandma and Grandpa Murphy hosted, what I'm told, is their final Christmas Day brunch. This is sad, but also fun in a way because it has brought back so many great memories of Christmas brunches past.
What else? I got to go to Kansas City right after Christmas and see my good friend Kris Kaminsky for the first time in many years as he was back visiting from China with his new fiance, Brianna. It was great seeing him and meeting her. Art, Kristine, and Zoe came to St. Louis to spend New Years with us. That was fantastic. Art and I kicked things off by going to see Umphrey's McGee at The Pageant where they treated me to a stirring rendition of Hall & Oates' Maneater. We had a great dinner on New Years Eve, and overall had a great time. I was asked to be Zoe's godfather, which was unbelievably flattering. Yes, I accepted.
It was around this time that I began writing a weekly Royals column for I70baseball.com. I am now 5 columns in and really enjoying it. My amazingly ambitious wife has worked out every day of 2012 so far. I am so proud and impressed, even if one of those days was dancing at a party (she was dancing pretty freaking hard). I began P90X2 on Jan. 10 and am rolling along pretty well with it. It feels good to be back in the swing of things with my fitness and eating and diminished drinking. The holidays really kicked my butt this year...kind of starting with Halloween.
Going back further, we lost a very good friend in Brian Hoffman in September. Brian lost a courageous battle with cancer. Nobody deserves to go like that, especially at such a young age. But I'm not sure I could think of anyone who deserved it less than Brian Hoffman. He will always hold a very special place in my heart as a great friend and I think about him daily.
Katherine Margaret is still getting by with just about 4 words (this is probably not any different from the last post). But I'm sure she'll be blabbing all sorts of stuff soon. She's a smart cookie and a doll. Anna Rose just got her hair cut off today to donate to Locks of Love. She is very proud of herself and we are even more proud of her. While we will miss the long hair, she looks darn cute with her new short hair. I am trying to add pics to this post of the before/after but can't seem to figure out how to do it. Speaking of Anna, she had a great season of soccer this past fall and winter playing first outdoor, and then indoor with the kindergartners. She was the only 4 year old on the team with all 5 and 6 year olds. While sometimes the age difference was somewhat evident, overall she did great and it was at the very end that I really started to notice her making significant strides. And it was in the last game that I noticed...she is FAST!!! She must have gotten her Nana's speed. I'm sure this year of playing with the older kids will serve her well when she plays kindergarten soccer again next year. Oh, and speaking of kindergarten, we have made the decision to send her to St. Gerard next year. We are happy to have that decision behind us and are very excited, as is she.
And the last thing(s)...first we got to see Joe last night as he's in town working for the week. HE and Burke came over and hung out for awhile and it was great catching up. In a few weeks we get to see Christie and the girls as they will be here, and a month after that we are going to BELGIUM to see them! We made the decision to go on Dec. 30 and will be leaving on March 15. We are all very excited for the trip. Anna is excited for her first airplane ride.
I think that's it for now. Hope to report again very soon!!
-Nick
