Welcome To The New Year!

Did we all make it back? Good. I know I saw lots of celebratory pictures on social media along with lots of wishes for everyone to have a happy 2019, so I'm glad that everyone I know made it home safe without any worries other than perhaps a hangover. That's encouraging, and I'm grateful for all my friends and family.

That being said, 2019 will be a bigger year of reflection for me. Let me be clear that these statements below are not resolutions, but decisions made long before the holiday season, including New Year's Eve, got underway. The last month or so has really allowed me to reflect on a number of things - some of which affect this blog - so I need to fill everyone in on the changes that will happen.

The first thing that I need to prioritize is time. Time is the one thing that I never seem to have enough of and always want more of, so it's time to make that my most important priority. In saying this, the one thing I'm going to do is cut my social media time to the hours of a common workday. I want my weekends and evenings back, so I'm making that change starting today. Social media and blogging will be fit squarely into a workday schedule, and weekend and holiday entries will be added at my leisure.

In gaining some extra time back, I am committing myself to reading a lot more. I'll have a book review later this week to post, but I found over this last month that I really enjoy reading again, and this needs to continue. Expect Teebz's Book Club to have more entries more often than ever before as I dive back into the literary world with gusto once again.

If you're a business reading this who wants a review of your product done on HBIC, please note that I will not review any products without being able to use said product. If you expect me to promote it, the expectation is that you'll allow me to review it fully and entirely which means you placing product in my hands. If you're not willing to do that, please save yourself the time and don't email me. I don't know how many companies have reached out to me only to tell me that they aren't willing to send a sample. One company that did was NoSweat, and they got the full monty when it came to their products. Thanks again for being a pleasure to work with, NoSweat!

The HBIC Playoff Pool will RETURN this year but it will have a new added twist to the format. Thanks to NHL.com basically copying my pool, I needed to find a way to bring back the pool with an added twist, and I think I've accomplished that with this new idea. Watch for this in April when the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs begin because this year should be crazier than before with this new feature.

Finally, thanks to everyone who stopped by to read these ramblings throughout 2018. While this place is kind of like a therapy session regarding my hockey obsession, I really like the interaction that it brings as well. And it's weird how some specific articles got way more hits than others, but it seems like there's a fair number of people who like when I post recipes on the site. Is this something you want to see continue? Would you like to see more recipes? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Year 12 of HBIC will start later this month and I'm not sure how much longer it will continue, but I'm over 4000 entries into this craziness. Thanks for being there with me, and we'll keep this going for as long as I can!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!