Merry Christmas to all!

As the year 2006 comes to a close, I look back on it with appreciation to everyone who has influenced my life during the past 12 months.

Sophie is my 6-year-old granddaughter.

This was the year I retired from full-time work. In my almost 44 years of employment, I've known many great people and am a better person because of their influence in my life. I've always enjoyed my work and have looked forward to each day.

This was the year I took my running to a new level. In the 2 1/2 years since my auto accident and 6 1/2 weeks in the hospital and my first run after the accident of 1/8 mile, I'm running 30+ miles per week. I set a PB in the half marathon of 2:21:16. I'm looking forward to the Salt Lake Half Marathon in April. I'm still running without injury, and I'm still running because I enjoy it and because I want to.

This was the year that I gained a greater appreciation and love for my friends and family.

This was my first year of retirement, and I've discovered that it's great to be an old geezer! They call us "golden-oldies". I'll accept the "golden" part, but I'm still young! Oldies are those over age 100....

This was another year in which I'm glad to be Allen Leigh!