“Another Year Down the Drain”
Salvatore said that once. We were eating dinner in the blue house in Linthicum, I think. “Gee, great” I thought, “how uplifting!” Old men are prone to those kinds of proclamations.
People my age are supposed to be excited for the new year. I recall being quite happy to say goodbye to 2008. I’m happy to say hello to 2012. Especially curious to see how all this Mayan prophecy junk works out.
Okay, then, 2011 in review:
- my baby boy was born in march. he’s amazing. such a happy little guy and very easy going. I just wish he’d stop trying to bite my nose.
- I built a patio in the summer. I dug out six inches of dirt and moved it with a wheelbarrow to the back yard, then filled it with sand and finished it off with flagstones. It was meaningful work, let me tell you.
- Since baby boy was number three, I got neutered in August. Ouch. Since I tend to bumble through life I never thought about the impact this would have on cycling. If I had thought about it, I may have chosen to remain intact.
- we went to disney world in september/october (2011 was blurry. I can’t remember completely.) I was surprised at how much fun the trip was. Sure, there were times when I was annoyed, but I had a great time with the kids.
- One saturday in November, I went to REI and bought O a new bike. She loves it. It was a stretch money wise because we were very focused on paying off a bill, but it was worth it.
- I quit drinking for about two months, hoping to inspire others around me to quit. Didn’t work.
- I quit coffee for about two months to see if it had an impact on GERD. It helped. Then it got dark and rainy in October/November and I folded.
- I tried to lose weight all year. apparently I didn’t try hard enough! except that time I had stomach flu and lost 8 pounds overnight.
- Between the snip snip, the boy being born, stomach flu and general laziness, I’m 300 miles behind my cycling goal. But I’m okay with that. Sort of… I’ll hit 10,000 miles in January. Good enough.
- Work was challenging and stressful. I’ve been coding since the middle of summer. I find it very gratifying but also frustrating since we don’t have any full time developers on staff. Not much chance for mentorship…
What do I want in 2012?
- a little tranquility. (ha!)
- inner tranquility. when I quit coffee, I felt very calm. I could use some of that again.
- I need to learn to relax. Having goals is great but when they wear you out and everything is a blur, that ain’t living.
- the wisdom to take time out and engage with my children.
- sleep.
This is a bummer of a post. I get this way at the end of the year, like my grandfather.
Now, it’s time to got paint with O.
“Do you like Chicken?”
why yes, yes I do!