Well, I guess we made it.

(Or, for you Barry Manilow fans, "Looks Like We Made It." Hey, I likes me some Manilow every once in a while...)

There was times when I honestly didn't think 2008 would ever end.

And now that it has, I say, "Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits!" (No, wait, I'm on a diet.)

OK, maybe it's more like, "Praise the Lord and pass the ammo!"

Yeah, that's better.

Because as we head into 2009, I think it's best to be prepared for battle.

By that, I mean spiritual battles, emotional battles, financial battles, etc.

It's just been a "caustic" year.

Aside from the birth of my awesome, little daughter, Kyrie Izabella Daffron, (I'm still waiting for someone to "get" her initials and the first name is pronounced K- ear-ee) 2008 has kinda, well, SUCKED.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older and more cynical.

Things I have experienced in the past year have made it nearly impossible for me to think or feel the way I used to. (And has also made it impossible for me to stop ending sentences with a preposition-which is a grammatical "no-no.")

If one more person smiles at me while they are sticking a dagger in my back, I believe I will puke.

If I am lied to directly to my face once more, I will surely scream.

If I am further treated unfairly, my head will most certainly pop off and roll across the floor.

So, if, during your travels, you encounter a screaming, vomit-covered head...it's just me.

I truly believe 2008 was the year we witnessed a very rapid, and very succinct (My, now THAT'S a fancy word!) decline in morals and ethics.

You know that saying about everything "going to h*ll in a handbasket"?

Well, it seems to be going that way, and in a very nice Longaberger basket, to boot.

Let's see...

We had $4 a gallon gas (Is he STILL going on about that?!)

Our stock market tanked.

The major auto makers in the U.S. may been facing extinction.

Someone nut job threw not one, but TWO shoes at our President.

Yeah, it's been an odd year, to say the least.

By this point, you're saying, "GEEZ! Wah, wah, wah, what's up with this crybaby?"

My wife always tells me (in a very calm voice) "You've just got to have faith."

Every once in a while, someone will come across with the ever famous, "Well, you woke up this morning, didn't you?"

Yes, but you never know WHAT you will wake up to anymore.

Would you be surprised if on the news tomorrow morning, you heard our dollar is now only worth ten cents?

No, you wouldn't. You'd probably say you expected something like that.

Would you be surprised if you learned a well-known and trusted person did something shocking and immoral?

No, because nothing seems shocking anymore.

About the only "news" that would make us panic would be hearing Wal-mart was facing financial trouble. And if that ever happens, "Katie bar the door!", as they say. (Hey, how about that? I snuck both my daughters' names in this column!)

It's a "Wal-mart World" we live in.

Wal-mart has pretty much become our "one-stop" for everything, it's, molded our mentality, and even managed to become a household word.

Is that a good thing?

Don't know about that.

Did you ever think a major retailer would become more powerful and more stable than some of our country's leading banks?

How many Wal-marts have you heard of "failing."

If you really want to think outside the box, would the government "bail out" Wal-mart?

I can't decide if we, as a nation, have become too smart, too fast, for our own good...or if we have "dumbed down."

I often scan magazine covers, and I do try to keep up with current happenings.

Are you aware what the "top web search" for 2008 was?

BRITNEY FRIGGIN' SPEARS!

Not trying to be rude or anything, but I could care less about what's going on with Britney Spears. (Although "Womanizer" is not a bad song...)

I am more concerned with my kids, my wife, and the future.

And at this point and time, I just don't know what the future holds...