Happy 2012 everybody!  This has been quite a year for our home: I ran my first marathon, I proposed to Abbe, Bubs played his first ice hockey games, Viv made some amazing art, I turned 40, the kids went camping for the first time ever in a real tent in the woods, Bubs got his first straight A’s report card, I got health insurance, Viv and Van both got baseballs at a Phillies game, Abbe and I were in the newspaper, Abbe, Bill, and I raised over $11,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and we adopted Titan. So 2012, I think you’ve got some great stuff in store for us as well – let’s do this.

Oh and before our 10 mile run (the last big one before next weekend’s Goofy Challenge in Disney World!)… Abbe discussed black toenails that we runners are prone to get… and I react…

And before I forget, here are some pictures from NYE with the Mecks, we had a blast!

Small Business/Tech Links…

• 5 Apps Worth Downloading This Week
• Why Salespeople Make Bad Fundraisers
• I Resolve: My Top 5 New Year Tech Resolutions

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Austraaaaaalia, Melbourne, kangaroos, didgeridoo, Austraaaaaalia, Olivia Newton John, Paul Hogan, Mel Gibson.
• 2012 & The End Of The World (SLYT)
• Atlantic Wire: Science’s Best Hangiver Cures

Short Run Video – Our team has now raised over 50% of our goal of $11,000!!! Long way to go, but we’re on our way. If you can donate, please consider even a small donation ($5 or $10) – if you can not afford a donation, how about clicking one of the Share, +1, or Tweet links at the bottom of this post to help us raise money to fight blood cancers? Just a click!

Our team page for donations - http://pages.teamintraining.org/nj/wdw12/AllForLayna

Movie Review…

Atlas Shrugged Part 1 – with all of the occupy movements and the economic crisis, you would think that this movie would have received more fan fare. Ayn Rand‘s tale of the good of capitalism and bad of Marxism should be a very close parallel to the demonstrations and hullabaloo we all see in the media. But the problem is, this movie is pretty terrible. Such a shame, Ayn Rand was one of my favorite authors in college.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• The Advent of Internet Censorship in America
• 5 iPhone Apps That Can Help Anyone Cook An Amazing Thanksgiving Dinner
• 16 Sustainable Gifts for the Eco-Minded Techie
• Facebook Makes the World Smaller, Shrinks 6 Degrees of Separation to 4 [STUDY]
• Google Adds More Social SEO With +1′d News Articles
• Leaked Apple Brochure Reveals Black Friday Deals
• 5 Cities Harnessing Breakthrough Geothermal Technology

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Porn Folder
• Octopus walks on land
• 10 Great Science Books for Kids
• UC Davis course catalog, pepper spray edition
• Callista Gingrich, wife of Newt: furry-lover
• A Girl’s Guide to Attending a Gay Bar
• Mieders Alpine Coaster – No Brakes
• Tuby.tv

I had a monster run yesterday. 11.13 miles and I felt very strong; could have run all day long! Abbe and I are coming Disney, get ready!

As Bubs and I pulled into the rink parking lot, we noticed a long line of folks on the sidewalk. I asked what was going on and a nice lady said the Flyers had just finished practice and some stop to sign stuff. So Bubs and I had some time before his game and sure enough, Sergei Bobrovsky showed up and signed Bubs’ t-shirt. A little while later, Max Talbot pulled up where everyone was, got out of his car and signed stuff until the line was gone. Both players were incredibly nice and that really put a big smile on Bubs’ face.

Oh and before I forget, look at this… the folks at my favorite Phillies’ blog, We Should Be GMs put up a nice article promoting our Stand-Up to Cancer comedy night with Mo Mandel (Helium Comedy Club in Philly, December 1st – if interested in tickets, they are $15, please contact myself or Abbe for details). Thanks Corey and Carson, you guys rock!

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Why Both Weight Loss and Google Rankings are Limited Goals
• 10 years ago today, the original iPod changed music
• How would you change Apple’s OS X 10.7 (Lion)?
• Apple Refreshes MacBook Pro Lineup
• Google launches Person Finder app following earthquake in Turkey

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Insane shop-window sign
• Post-it watches
• 7.2 earthquake hits Turkey, more than a thousand feared dead

Well, yesterday was a bad day for Philly sports – the Eagles and Phils lost, but we got to spend a day with Big Tom, Aunt Cis, and my mom down at Cape May. And yes, we got to get some seriously great grub at the Lobster House. After filling our bellies and stopping for Tom to do a little shopping, we stopped in at Penza’s Pies in Hammonton on the way home.

That night, we had our first fire of the season and Tom and Mom came over to watch Breaking Bad with us. Abbe and I have been waiting 2 years to watch Breaking Bad with our big buddy from New Mexico, when he introduced the show to us during our visit out in Las Cruces and Cloudcroft.

Tonight, we are having dinner at Mom’s with more great friends, the Oates and tomorrow night we’re heading to see The Gourds, one of Tom’s favorite bands.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• 19 Effective Offline Advertising Methods for Your Website
• Top 10 Reasons Your Website Is Losing Sales
• No iPhone 5? Apple May Only Launch iPhone 4S
• Klout Quietly Adds WordPress to Klout Scores

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Caroling
• The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
• Doodad the Happy Clown can’t win

Bubs had his first hockey game on full ice today. The white team got trounced but, he had a blast. The boys in white did not have a lot of offensive opportunities, but Bubs did a good job on the faceoffs he took while playing center. Viv and I spent most of the game chatting with Dr. Koren, the father of one of Bubs’ buddies who was on the opposing team. Next week, 7am game in Atlantic City! Yikes that’s going to be early, but I couldn’t be happier than waking up to take my son to the game.

Big Tom arrives tonight! We can’t wait to see him. We missed our big gentle giant from New Mexico. Hopefully, he will come watch Breaking Bad with us Sunday evening.

On the dog adopting front, things are moving along with Brookline Lab Rescue. We have inquired on a few pups and it won’t be long before the pitter patter of big dog feet will be heard in our home again.

Oh and before I forget… GO PHILS!!!!!

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Suitable Content for Membership Sites
• 12 Things You Should Know About Hiring Someone From Elance
• Chrome Set to Overtake Firefox in Market Share
• How Facebook Mobile Will Evolve With HTML5
• 10 Facebook Timeline Designs That Will Blow You Away

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Inspired By… SunRay Kelley – thanks Koo for sharing this! What a cool, cool guy. Here’s more info on SunRay.
• What if Smurfs were real?
• Coversmart