I'm not sure how other companies in Milwaukee treat the week between Christmas and New Year's, since it's been almost 11 years since I worked for someone other than myself. But I must say, I'm really glad that for the last few years, we've been able to give our staff this week off.

I can't speak for the other 15 people who work at OnMilwaukee.com, but I really needed it.

Granted, we all worked extra hard to prepare ourselves for not being in the office during this stretch, and we're all on call to file stories, finish contracts and complete other tasks. But for a really wonderful, if not hectic year, I'm using this time to recharge my batteries.

Reflecting back on 2008, I'm beginning to think this was the best year of my life. As I mentioned in my best of '08 piece, some of the obvious stuff made this a stand-out year: the birth of my daughter, the Brewers' trip to the playoffs and a 91-year-old grandma who rebounded amazingly from hip surgery.

I also had the chance to do more traveling than to which I'm accustomed. I made my first trip to Europe, picking up our car in Munich and driving to Paris, then flying to Madrid. I visited Phoenix for my 12th annual Spring Training trip. I flew to Jackson, Miss., for an old friend's wedding. I benefited from my wife's good fortune and took a free, all-expense paid trip to St. John, and just a few weeks ago, spent a long weekend in Las Vegas.

Beyond that, we had another good year at OnMilwaukee.com. Sure, things got tight, like they did for every other company in the country. But unlike the rest of the media world, we didn't lay off a single employee, and because we're so darned frugal, our record profits from 2007 helped carry us over in the lean months of 2008. Plus, we landed a major Web development contract just last week, and we're days away from taking the wraps off a new and innovative project that we've been working on for months. More on that soon.

And of course, we all witnessed an historic election this fall. Barack Obama wasn't my first or second choice for president. My first choice didn't run, and my second choice got blown away in the primaries. That said, I became a gung-ho Obama supporter once the general election season rolled around. While I will reserve judgment until Obama actually takes the oath of office, it's simply mind-blowing that America elected an African American as president, and I'm confident that he will begin to turn around some of very dangerous precedents set over the last eight years.

Finally, I remain blessed with a great family and awesome set of friends. Nothing new there, but as our lives change and evolve, it's heartening to see friendships remain strong and family bonds grow even tighter over time.

And now, I've got a little more than a week to sit around and think about it. For me, that's involved sleeping in, eating well, clearing out the DVR, finishing up some long-overdue projects at home and even starting one or two cockamamie new ones. I'm even sorta growing a beard, just because I can.

If we must endure a brutally cold and snowy Milwaukee winter, then I'm happy I can take just a few days to hunker down and let my mind wind down a bit. I suppose, technically speaking, writing this blog counts as work, though writing, for me, rarely feels like work.

Happy holidays, Milwaukee, and happy New Year. I'll see you in 2009.