Has it really been 10 years?

Time surely does keep slippin into the future, but it just seems that it's slippin by way too fast. Over the past weekend I really got to thinking about how 10 years ago, December 31, 1999 to be exact, I was 30 years old and spent the day laying on the couch with my broke foot and watched with Peter Jennings, the dawn of the new millennium as it made its way around the globe.  First in the South Pacific Islands, then the major Asian cities, then Moscow, into Europe and finally, North America.  All the time wondering if the lights were going to go out at any time and the world come to a crashing halt.  It didn't, and we all had a good laugh out of the hype and stupidity.  Now that I'm 40, I've been trying to piece together the last 10 years and all I come back with is that it was a blur and how much things have really changed.  Normally, I would do one of those year in review posts.  But this past decade has just flown by and some much has happened both in the world and personally to me.  For example..

• In 2000, a dial-up ISP business seemed like a really good and profitable idea.
• In 2000, pagers were king and cell phones were still a luxury.
• In 2000, high speed internet in the home was still out of reach for many.
• On September 10, 2001, we were drunk with our accomplishments and thought just how safe we were in America.  On September 11, 2001, the hangover occurred. 
• On September 12, 2001, America was a united country.
• Shortly after that, we splintered again over politics.
• In 2000, Molly was 6 months old. Now she's 10 and, well....the teenage years are going to take what dark hair I have left.
• In 2000, Alex was still just a little boy.  Now he's17 and becoming a man.
• It's going to be 2010 and still no closer to finding a cause/fix for autism.
• In 2000, I was the "Lotus Notes guy" on the Help Desk at work. Now, it's my baby.
• On January 25th 2003, I went to my first Lotusphere.  I returned home on January 31st.  The next day, February 1, we witnessed the Columbia disaster.
• In August of 2003, I started blogging.  Boy, did I suck at it back then.  Come to think of it, I don't know if much has changed.
• Though blogging, I found that I was a part of a much larger, close and sometimes dysfunctional family of bloggers that all share a common love for and sometimes hatred for a software product. 
  
• Remember back when SPAM mail didn't seem like that big of a deal.....
• I remember when I got my first Treo 300 and thought how incredibly cool that was and how lame the BlackBerry seemed.  
• Remember 10 years ago when .MP3's were something cool and we all wished we could play them somewhere other then our computers?
• Remember when the iPod just played music?
• In the past several years, I've rediscovered my love for photography.
• And through it all, the love of my life, Denise, has always been by my side. 

So my hope for you is that 2010 is a peaceful and prosperous year.  And, I hope the next 10 year slow down a little bit..