This is a not-too-subtle reference to this strip.  You ever try to write one of those end-of-the-year/holiday letters and try to encapsulate your entire year in 4 paragraphs or so? Yeah, that’s what I’m dealing with in this blog post. 🙂 So, I’ll try to make this brief, as I am the King of Rambling Stories.

2009 in review

• January – I am laid off from the dot com I was working for in Las Vegas that changed banks 3 times in 2 months. Yeesh.
• February – My wife and I decide to move back to Los Angeles so that my wife can work out of her company’s main office. The move takes place with a minimum of fuss, for the most part.
• February, around the exact same time – I become stay-at-home dad again to my twin girls.
• March – I come up with the germ of the idea that will become MeatShield.
• Sometime in May or early June, I can’t remember – My awesome and super-supportive wife poses the idea of my creating MeatShield as a webcomic and focusing on making it my job for 1 year.
• September 9 – Meatshield.net launches. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Jackson, Wizards.com and the Wall Street Journal seem strangely ignorant of this historic event.
• Mid-November – I begin using my WACOM Graphire pen tablet to ink and color the strip.
• Mid-November as well – I begin to experience mild numbness in my drawing hand’s thumb and index finger. Carpal Tunnel seems most likely culprit. Would be alleviated by the purchase of a WACOM Cintiq 12WX. Still awaiting the necessary funds for such equipment. Wife seems oddly resistant to purchasing a $999 pen tablet/monitor.
• December 28 – I write this list from Nocona, Texas in the aftermath of the first white Christmas I have ever had in my life.

There’s probably a lot more, but I just can’t think of it. The kids started kindergarten, my wife continues to do well at work, and everyone’s healthy. That’s about it. Happy New Year, everyone!

~Rob