Ringing in the new year

    Christmas has now come and gone, and thankfully for the little ones in my house, Santa made a stop. I assume my kids are still a little young to use Santa as a bargaining chip to be good. They are still not too sure about the “naughty or nice” list. On Christmas Eve, my wife and I tried to explain to them that they needed to go to sleep early, and that if they were good, they would get toys from Santa. My son, Sawyer, took some time to think whether he had been naughty or nice this year....

    Thankfully, for Sawyer and Charlotte, they had been nice (mostly) all year. Our holiday season has been spent enjoying time together and reflecting on what was a great year for our family. In fact, we are able to spend even more time together this week since Sawyer is home with the flu for the second time this year (does anyone know why they keep making us take flu shots???).

    When the calender turns to 2018, there are some significant changes coming. Please take a chance to review the newly enacted changes of the Rules of the MS Workers’ Compensation Commission under the “USEFUL LINKS” tab. The newly enacted changes actually start on page 45. They will not go into effect until January 17, 2018. I will be providing a detailed summary of those in January for you, so you will certainly need to make it a point to review the blog next month. There are some noteworthy changes everyone will need to be made aware of.

    For this month, while many people are gone for the holidays, I understand a blog on workers’ compensation is not going to really move the needle. Most of you are either off of work and at home with your families or staring at a clock and wishing the hours away today so you can get home and lounge on the couch. Me too.

    When I decided last year to do a blog, I could hear my inner 18-year-old self screaming “nerd”. This new venture has certainly been time-consuming, but it has helped me connect with an audience through a subject-matter I have dedicated my professional life to. I sincerely appreciate you all following along this year and consuming my work. I am excited about what the future has in store here, and am looking forward to getting to know some of you better along the way. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year!