In 2017, may your neighbors respect you, troubles neglect you, angels protect you, and heaven accept you. I hope Christmas was all you wanted it to be.

One guy I visited with said New Year's Day was when his final Christmas celebration would be. I tried to get a time and location from him, but much like the other two places I work, no information was forthcoming. Sadly, I did not get invited to the City of Alva Christmas party, but on a better note, I did get my yearly pay as city marshal this week. Ninety-three cents after taxes isn't bad. Thanks, citizens, for the pay, and thanks to the powers that be in the city for having the first employee Christmas party in years.

Last year I was at the Courier around Christmas and saw lots of snacks. Linda told me the Christmas party was the night before. I puckered up to cry about missing it and Lynn gave me some candy. As soon as I see Lynn and get my sad face on, maybe I can get more candy this year.

I don't know what we will be doing today, but the last two years we have had a casino marathon with my dad on New Year's Day.

Oklahoma Natural Gas Company put up a new website recently. It is okay, but had no provision for paying your bill long before the due date online. I called and the lady got in touch with one of the techs and they will adjust the site for this provision. I questioned the lady I got, and she told me around Christmas every other year the family goes on a cruise. When I asked how many went, she said about 60. Pretty amazing.

We had to make a late night run to St Mary's Hospital in Enid on Tuesday night. Everything came out fine, so it was kind of over and back.

On the way over we met two ambulances and support trucks with lights flashing. Sadly, I found out in the Newsgram they were headed to a fatality accident. On the way back I stopped in Lahoma and got gas (unfortunately I don't always follow my own advice about keeping the car filled with gas for emergencies). This was after midnight. A pickup pulled up across the lot and started unloading a small bed and some other stuff. I thought it was a bit late for a parking lot sale, but I drove closer to see what was going on. I told the lady it was going to be cold sleeping there, and she growled a little. I didn't hear what she said, but it wasn't an offer to join them. As we drove away, another vehicle pulled up, and Cleo said the stuff they were putting out was kid's things. Sometimes things suck, and I bet this was one of them.

I have thought this for years, and finally someone put it in perspective. Sad how everyone is upset by the celebrities that we've lost in 2016. But in case you didn't know, 138 police officers died this year, along with 87 firefighters and fourteen United States soldiers, with the year not over yet. Now, this is just me, but can you name one celebrity that died giving a crap about you, your family, your safety, or your freedom? Now, go back mourning the people that play make believe, and I will put my heart, tears and support where it belongs.

New Year's is just a holiday created by calendar companies who don't want you reusing last year's calendar.

The spider's resolution: Spend more time with family and less time on the (his) web.

And my favorite: I'm actually feeling pretty okay about not accomplishing anything this year.