It’s getting mighty close to January 2, 2007. That means in about 14 more hours, I’m heading back to work after a 10-day break.

It’s been a great vacation. It’s the first one I’ve had since Christmas 2005, and I don’t count that week Alyssa was born as vacation. It was joyous, but hectic with everyone constantly at the house.

I love my job and station. I’m very blessed to be in a place I enjoy with people I enjoy even more. That being said, I did not enjoy November or December 2006 at work. I haven’t told a lot of people because no one really wants to hear my complaints, but there was hardly a day I was happy to be there.

I imagine it had a lot to do with the holidays rolling around and being anxious for some time off. On the other hand, there were only a couple of stories I really got fired up about (the big one being the local “We Are Marshall” piece). Outside of that, every day was just “eh.”

My two big resolutions this year are knock a dent in the debt and relax more at work. Some would say, “Relax? In news?” Yes, because I can handle the stress better than some. If you’ve never been in a TV news environment with a deadline and breaking stories looming, you’ve never seen stress…

Not everyone can be on television where people recognize you and trust what you tell them. That’s a blessing, and I love it. I just want to capture that fire I had. Now that I’ve been away for a few days, I know it’ll show up again.

Here’s to a great 2007!