I know, I know … it’s a bit early, right? There are still 28 days left in December. However, nothing will cause an early post as such as fearing that your blog of the last 3+ years has just been flushed down the drain.

Thankfully, my hosting provider had a backup that I managed to use as a springboard to restore almost the whole thing. That was a very, very happy night.

That was Friday. Today is Monday. I’ve had the weekend to ponder what would have been lost, had I not been able to recover any data. And it hit me.

It’s just data.

Yah, it would have been disappointing, but really, in the end, does it matter? No. This blog is my escape. My thoughts about stuff. Sure, it’s mostly about music, but there’s more here than just that.

In the end, does this blog matter? To me, sure. Does it matter to my kids? Nah. They’re young. Their interests are in dolls, bugs and Shaun the Sheep. Also, pizza. Does this blog matter to my wife? Only in that she knows that I like writing, so she likes that I like it.

Which begs the question: what *does* matter? I’ve compiled a list. This is not a fluff-fest.

• Realize your worth as a person.
• Be the best husband/father or wife/mother that you can be.
• Help other people.
• Find something to believe in. Not necessarily religion, but a cause, at least.
• Be a productive citizen. Contribute to society. At least, to the best of your ability.
• Speak nicely of those around you. “If you can’t say anything nice …”
• Don’t be an idiot. (“Best advice you ever gave me.”)
• Exercise. Take care of yourself.
• Educate yourself in everything you can. You don’t have to be an expert, but knowledge never hurt anyone.

There it is. The list of really important things.

What mattered to me in 2012?

• Taking my wife and kids to southern Utah to see the annular eclipse in May.
• Watching the Venus transit with my girls in June.
• All of us getting to go to Oregon in July.
• The girls’ first beach experience (TOO COLD!!!)
• Watching my mom and step-dad remarry and knowing that this time it’s permanent. Like … *really* permanent. As in, forever.
• Knowing that I’ll be with them forever.
• Celebrating my daughters’ 8th and 7th birthdays. Yah … they’re kinda close together.
• Watching my wife enjoy her business as it starts to grow and thrive.
• Multiple date nights with my wife … most of which were just a simple Chinese take-out and in-home movie night, but we love those, and that’s what matters to us.
• Watching my daughters learn and grow into even more incredibly smart, wonderful little girls whose hearts are so full of love that they barely know how to contain it all.

I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff. In fact, I know I am. An odd paradox–knowing that you’re forgetting something, but you don’t know what. For now though, these are the things that matter to me.