2012 is going to be big.

It's this time of year when I always think of my friend Joe Smyth and New Year's Day 1997. A number of us had gone to a friend's apartment at Marist College for all the end of year parties and had gotten after it pretty hard. The following morning/afternoon we watched the bowl games while re-hydrating and trying to piece together the events of the previous night. After some extended quiet time, Joe said to no one in particular, "Well...it's 1997...I was supposed to have my shit together by now."

Ahhh, how things change.

Granted, every January 1st, I have that same thought Joey had, but these days it's more about the comic relief. I'm a dad, a husband, a teacher and a coach. I have two dogs, a house in the suburbs and a rider mower. But despite my obvious standing as a pillar in the community (editor's note: HA!), it can be difficult figuring out how, in the blink of an eye, you went from being a 21-year old nursing a wicked hangover to an adult with real world responsibilities.

Nevertheless, spending my days wondering where time went seems somewhat counterproductive. We got things to do, man! My team is taking on the three-time defending state champs on Tuesday. Emily is scheduled for her first lengthening in mid-May but is slightly more concerned with changing the outfits on her many princess dolls right now. My bulldog Moose desperately wants me to play tug-of-war with the new rope Santa brought him. And, unless, Baby Paige busts out early, we'll be inducing Kate a week from today. And what am I doing? Posting on my blog for the first time in two months. Yep. Wasn't I just saying something about counterproductivity? Is that even a word? Shut up.

So...yeah. Camp Sweatpants is just a hub of activity right now. And while I had big plans for this post to be full of witty observations, heartwarming stories and other, general end-of-the-year wisdom, all the stuff going on around me makes me feel like this will quickly spiral into just a stream of curse words. Common decency suggests we can't have that.

But before we wind this down, there are a couple things worth mentioning. Emily's friend Mariel, who is just slightly ahead of us on a similar journey, is down in West Palm Beach right now. Her blog can be found here. Check it out for a taste of what's in our future.

Since this blog is mostly about Emily, we should probably mention that this kid is funny. She's legitimately developing a sense of comedic timing. She'll randomly come up to me and innocently whisper, "Daddy?" before getting a big grin and yelling "GET TO DA CHOPPAH!" It never, ever fails to make me giggle hysterically.

That's a brief glimpse into our little world. Just know that large-type events are afoot. I'll do my very best to keep you up to date with the birth of girl #2, preparations for Emily's first lengthening and all the other things that pop up along the way. In the meantime, have a safe and restful holiday and maybe think about getting your shit together.