You say 2010, I say Lady Gaga

It's hard to believe that 2010 is long gone. It feels like just yesterday we were in New Orleans for the playoffs in January or enjoying a snow (ice) day in early February. Such is life.

I heard a guy on TV (confession: it was "Jack" from Will & Grace - please, no jokes. Amanda sometimes falls asleep with the TV on) say that we only remember a few things from each period of our life. So that got me thinking that I should make a list of things that I will forever associate with the year 2010. For instance if you say "1990", I say "Milli Vanilli." So here goes...

If you say 2010, I say... New Orleans Saints Super Bowl XLIV champs.

I don't know how many of you actually watched the game or if you just attended a Super Bowl party, ate off a cheeseball and mingled with other people that didn't care about the result of the game. But that wasn't us. I was glued to the TV. We met up some friends at a local bar & grill, and as my luck would have it, my truck was broken into (window busted out, GPS stolen) during the 1st quarter of the game. When I found out about it I called the cops and told them to come around halftime.

My mother could tell you where she was on her elementary school playground when she heard President Kennedy was assassinated. I will tell my children where I was when Tracy Porter intercepted Peyton Manning's pass to Reggie Wayne and ran it back for a touchdown - securing the game for the Saints. I will also tell them how I was smiling all the whole way home (window busted out) on a cold February night.

If you say 2010, I say... family time!

If you know me, you know I love my two older brothers (and their families). One of my brothers is up in Alaska and the other one is down in Georgia. It's a rare occasion that we're all able to get together. The last time all of our families were together was in 2007 and the last time I saw my oldest brother Ash was the day of Amanda & my wedding in 2008. So with that said, having both of my brothers (and their families) around for a week was the highlight of my year.

If you say 2010, I say... fantasy football championship

NERD ALERT: this year I finally came out victorious in fantasy football. Adam (my middle brother) and I have a league with a bunch of my high school buddies. This is the third year it's been going on and after two years being won by Adam, I finally came out on top this year... beating Adam in the championship game. I promise there are other people in the league. It's not just the two of us having a Brown Brothers nerdfest. Even though it looks like that is what the league has become.

If you say 2010, I say... Andrew vs. Our Neighborhood HOA

This year I've discovered the many joys of living in a great neighborhood. We love our neighborhood, almost everybody we've met has been wonderful and the neighborhood has some of the best ammenity perks in the area. However, 2010 will always be the year we really learned what it was to be apart of a neighborhood HOA and to try to get along with everyone living around us (that sounds evil - I am aware).

Back in the apartment days, I had a guy that cooked cabbage (what seemed to be) 3 days a week and wrank Indian dishes the other days. While I'm sure he was a good cook, his meals smelled horrible and the aroma rose through the floor into my apartment. I also had a neighbor in my old apartment that use to bark at his dog when his dog barked. Some people spank their dog; this guy just tried to get in a barking match with his dog. I'm not sure who won those duels but they always seemed to go into overtime and late into the night. The point being is that back in the apartment days, it wasn't a big deal if you had a crazy neighbor because you knew that everybody around was a short term problem. Give it a couple months and they most likely would be gone.

But when you buy a house, you are locked into a 30 year fixed commitment to the crazy lady down the road that covers her yard in garden gnomes, concrete statues, buddhas, Santas, Easter bunnies, snow globes, Halloween goblins, esc, esc, esc. I'm all for a little festive home decor. Heck, I love the Easter bunny, Santa and all things Halloween. But there is a time for each... not all.

Don't get me wrong, Amanda and I love most of our neighbors. But somebody needs to tell me why our HOA prohibits parking on the left side of the road but the crazy lady down the road is allowed to recreate Adventure Landing Putt-Putt in her yard. Between you and me, there might be a few gnome kidnappings in 2011.

If you say 2010, I say... the year I met Saints' owner Tom Benson

My good buddy Chip hooked me, Amanda and a couple of my high school buddies (Clay & John) up with a few Saints sideline tickets for a game at Carolina. Not only did I have a moment with Reggie Bush but I also was able to talk with the Saints' owner Tom Benson. He was extremely nice and I made it out of the situation without a restraining order.

If you say 2010, I say... good year on the Deep Blue

My goal this year was to catch a nice size billfish (sailfish more specifically), but it didn't happen. My pops and I had a few good trips to the coast but when all was said and done, the year was full of mahi-mahi, tuna and one big shark. So a citation sailfish has become my Moby Dick and we'll have to see if 2011 will be my year. The highlight of my year (in regards to the fishing world goes) was when my parents and I attended the Big Rock Blue Marlin tournament weigh-in and witnessed the landing of a North Carolina blue marlin record. It was a once-in-a-lifetime fish that I'm so thrilled I was able to see.

If you say 2010, I say... job/career change!

For a while now, Amanda and I have really been feeling like I needed to move on from my position at APS and find a position elsewhere. I enjoyed my four years with APS but it became clear over the last year or so that it wasn't the place where I saw myself long term. So I put together my resume, pulled out my ol' power tie and went on a few interviews.

Truth be told, I killed the first interview. And no, not "killed" as in "dominated." "Killed" as in "Thank you for coming, we'll call you if we ever want to scrap everything good we have going with our company." It was what my father would call a "learning experience." The second interview, I found a new power tie - a silk blue and white striped tie. I got an offer but it just didn't seem like a good fit or the step that we wanted to take.

Then I mixed things up and went with my new power tie - I went with the light blue (to show a flash of masculinity) and light green striped tie. The interview process went great. I felt comfortable, not just in my light blue/light green striped tie, but also with the company and the managers involved. So after some real thought and after a couple sleepless nights, Amanda and I took a step of faith and accepted the Account Executive offer from Clear Channel.

I have loved my time with Clear Channel so far and it's been great being able to face new challenges and meet so many wonderful, new people. And at the end of the day, they have a wonderful break room. So yeah, there's always that.