It is the time of year when people gather together and eat a ton, watch football or Dexter or some singing competition, Thanksgiving pilgrimsand give thanks. I’d like to join in there – been a tremendously interesting year, and I have a ton to be thankful for.

  • My family and friends – as always, I depend on them all a ton. I am a trying guy, so my friends and family have a great deal of patience for me more than not. I appreciate it. Very proud of my son and my Asian son, and my wife. I have a family of goofballs, and I appreciate them. My friends have been great to me this year, tolerating my eccentricities as usual. And my dog Zoey, who was all kinds of awesome. Thanks!
  • My writers and co-workers – this has been a very good year for us. There were some weird times in there for sure, but the work has been steady and the output has been stellar. I could not be where I am without the strength of the people I have working with me, and 2012 was a banner year for that. The core team has really clicked, and is making me prouder all the time. We’ve tackled some big projects, but treated the little ones like they were just as important – and that is how we’ve stayed busy. Thanks for everything you have done and are doing; I sincerely appreciate your drive, skills and dedication. Nice work, team.
  • My clients – The roster has been full for quite a while, with no room at the inn more than not this year. This is due to my clients being amazingly cool and exceptionally good people to work with. I have not had too many issues as the year went along, and all of the clients in the fort these days are becoming more like friends and family. I expect the next year to be a challenging one, as things get even more difficult on a per-page basis to sort out, but I am extremely grateful to have the trust of my clients, and to be able to build something strong for them. Thanks for an awesome year and looking forward to it continuing to grow.
  •  SEOBook’s Forum – this is still, years later, my favorite place to be on the web more than not. The conversations and insight in there have led me to lucrative paths so often it is beyond measure for me. As things got even weirder in the Google-sphere this year, the forum members helped me to come to better conclusions multiple times. Aaron and his team are always writing provocative stuff – and the forum membership continues to inspire and console me a ton. I made even more great connections through there this year, so my membership is like a goose laying golden eggs, some of them hatching into good friends over time. Lots be thankful for there.
  • Bloggers and otherwise yappy online activists – I have to read a lot, so I appreciate the people who are skilled in writing often and do it consistently well. I also appreciate people in the industry who share solid information and are interesting doing it because there is so much crappy info and echo chambering out there. So in honor of the day’s spirit, I’d like to thank various characters that made quality stuff to chew on this year. I am thankful for people who make it look easy, and inspire me to want to get in there more myself.
  • Mentors – I have some really wonderful people who help me figure out the best things to do in a lot of different situations. I can’t name them but don’t have to – they’ll hear from me soon enough. But thank you for helping me when I need it, even if I don’t realize it at the time.
  • My son’s newer friends –I worry about my boy, so I am glad he is not hanging around a bunch of meatheads. As he makes new friends now, away from here, I am glad to see the kind of people he is gravitating toward…it says a lot about who he is becoming.
  • The musicians I am playing with – I have been occasionally playing with some new guys, and only hope I don’t scare them away. It would be interesting to see what a band kind of thing became at this point of my life so I appreciate them letting me play with them…keeps me saucy.

I am sure there is more – but that stuff was all sitting top shelf. I have a lot to be grateful for, and I am. Not taking any of this for granted, and want to remember to say thanks at every step and half-step along the way. Life is good.