Week 23 begins at the end of the year

Good Saturday afternoon to you all, hope that you are ready for a great New Years Eve celebration.

Please, if you do go out and celebrate tonight, do not drink and drive.  You cannot be replaced!!

With that being said, as many other bloggers have done, a year end review post is in order.

Where do I begin?  Let's see.....

I've made it through 22 weeks of blogging, trades, ripping packs, group breaks, insanity....you know, fun!!

I've read hundreds, nay thousands of blog posts on hundreds of topics.  No matter what other people think, I've found just about every one of the blog posts I've read interesting.  Why you ask?  Card collectors/bloggers are the most diverse, humorous, and borderline addictive group of people that you will ever meet (yes, if you were wondering, I was also describing myself as well).

Products are panned and praised alike based on personal taste.  Trades are made with 1 card, or 100.  Posts based on personal triumph and tragedy also appear.  They're all great.  To the blogging community I say, please don't change a thing.  You keep me entertained, informed and out of trouble.

With that being said, I must turn to personal achievements.

1. I've kept the blog going steady for 5 months now.  Outside of the odd day here or there where I was unable to write or get to a computer, I've posted every day that I could.  I've tried to impart some humor, along with the joy of trading with new found "blog buddies" as my wife calls them.  My writing skills have also improved.  Blog posts are sometimes still a little choppy and uneven, but one of my goals when starting was the improvement of my writing abilities, which I feel I have accomplished.
2. I call this a personal achievement, but of course it hasn't been done without you guys/gals out there.  My collection has grown by leaps and bounds.  I've completed close to 40 trades. My Jays collection, which I now sheepishly say I thought would only be at 250 by years end, is going to pass the 1500 mark today when I do some more cataloging this afternoon.  I've completed 9 sets with your help, and rediscovered sets from the past that had long been forgotten about until now.    
3. I'm developing a love for cards again.  Not just the numbers on the back, but the photography and design as well.  My mentality is gravitating away from the monetary aspect of what cards were for me years ago, to the joyous, wondrous pieces of material that they were meant to be.

Hello!

Anyone still there!!

Card of the year for me:

I know that this isn't a current release, but it's the card of the year for me, because it was my first contest win in the blogosphere.

The fact that another blogger was willing to give away a card like this to me reaffirms the decision I made to become part of this community.



























Had a blast in 2011 everyone....hope it's even better in 2012!!

Thanks for reading, Robert