Happy New Year!! Each year around this time, I take a moment to reflect on my life...my accomplishments, breakdowns, breakthroughs and areas for improvement going forward. It's also a good time to reflect on what has gone on over the past year, not only in this country, but across the globe.

Below are some highlights that I have recalled, some of the items noted here were good...some have been included all in good fun, and then some were catastrophic. I have included the catastrophic events in order to honor those who have lost their lives and to acknowledge and support those who have lost loved ones.

1. Barack Obama's presidential campaign: no doubt the most notable and well run political campaign in the history of time
2. China's May 12th earthquake that killed 67,000 people
3. California's Supreme Court Ruling that opened the door for same sex marraige, and was "reversed" if you will, by Proposition 8, which ammended the Constitution to define marraige as being between one man and one woman
4. Tina Fey's recreation of Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric
5. The attacks on Mumbai
6. The tragic deaths of Jennifer Hudson's three family members
7. Gas at an average of $4.38 per gallon
8. Myanmar's May 3rd cyclone that killed 78,000 people
9. The marraige of Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey
10. Hillary Clinton's notable fight for the Democratic Nomination - hats off Hillary!!
11. Lehman Brothers files bankruptcy