Review 2024: Calm

— 4 minute read

This year has seemed to speed past me faster than normal.

Looking back on the year, I finally feel a sense of calm. I've had my "I finally made it" moment. It may seem silly, but it's been a journey to get where I am today.

The end of the year always seems to sneak up on me. But here are some of the things that have happened.

Family trip to Washington DC during spring break. I could spend all day at the zoo with the family. Show the kids a hotel with a pool, it's the best vacation ever. NOTE: It's not a vacation with young kids, it's an adventure.

The Work Team Retreat:

Buckle up, this travel story is a bit of a doozy. I woke up the morning of the trip at 2 am to an IMPORTANT message from the Greyhound bus that was delayed/canceled for my 6 am pick-up. Cool. Fine, I'll schedule an earlier bus. That bus never showed up. Finally, a bus shows up and it is heading to Montreal. I had to beg and plead my case to the driver to let me on the bus. Get to Montreal, and find some espresso and pastries. I met up with my long-time internet friend Marcos gets me to the airport. Off to see my team!

I get a bit emotional thinking about being in Mexico with my team, and how I ended up there. The notion of having a company fly me somewhere to hang out with the team. Unbelievable. Lots of people take this for granted. There are countless jobs that you are lucky if you get a pizza party.

Friends and Phone Calls

Some of my favorite moments over the last year have been the friendships from the internet turning more personal. Being terminally online and communicating through screens is fine. However, a quick phone call/Facetime to check in on friends gets me fired up. You can call your friends.

Moonlighting as a handyman

The list of side-quests as a homeowner and dad is endless. But this year some big home improvements. After 4 years, we finally have a dishwasher! We had a spot for it the whole time, but the previous owner messed up the opening so it wasn't flush enough to pop in a dishwasher.

Countless tinkering of an old hot water tank. I replaced thermostats and elements on our old water tank multiple times this year to milk the joys of hot water as long as we could. Alas, we had the tank die the Saturday before Christmas.

CAT

After months of asking "Can we get a cat?!", we broke and got a cat! Kida has been a perfect fit for our crazy life.

Coffee

I started getting whole-bean coffee again. Coffee making as a ritual to start my work day has helped a lot with anxiety. Coffee as a tool and not "needing" it to get through the day has left me more calm and a lot less shaky.

Podcast

After years of wanting to start one, I started one! But that's about it. Maybe more next year.

Listen here:

Taylor Swift

My wife went to see Taylor Swift in Toronto. A magical experience for her. I proved to myself that I could take care of the family, work, and house on my own for a couple of days.

Stats (people love these)

  • Blog Posts Published: 20
  • Podcasts recorded: 1
  • Chicken Nuggets Cooked: ~ a Million
  • Site Traffic: ~ 2.5x from last year.
  • Miles run: less than you
  • Code: 548 commits
  • Bagels: Not enough
  • Kitchen Dance Parties: 234
  • Rejected Publication Letter: 1

Looking forward to the new year.