So long 2011, 2012 is gonna rock!

So like everyone, it seems, I'm thinking back on 2011, and trying to create my vision for an amazing 2012.

And for those of you who feel that marking some arbitrary place in the orbit of the planet as a time to reflect, celebrate, and start anew is silly... I say to you with all due respect: suck it.



2011 brought a few big changes...

• We now have a 15-month old running around. There's a world of difference between the 3-month old baby that we started the year with and the rambunctious, opinionated, stubborn, sweet, inquisitive, smart, and thoroughly enjoyable toddler that currently owns our household. But wow.

• Left my job of 11 years. While it was time to move on, starting from absolute zero again is tough. It's been a crazy six months of "post-WebAssign" life... and I think there has been some great growth and self-discovery. I got the chance to really sit down and mull: What do I want to do when I grow up? What am I good at? What am I passionate about? Still a journey, but it's something I don't think I would have done if I was still at WebAssign.

• Moved the family to Colorado. I love it here, but again this ain't easy. Moving is truly a pain in the a$$; moving cross-country is slightly worse; and moving with a child just adds to the fun and games. We miss things from Raleigh... mostly the people, but also some of our favorite hangouts and activities. The possibilities here are tantalizing, but just like with the new career we're starting out from zero and need to figure out a whole new world. Really, though, the opportunity for adventure and crafting new memories far outweighs the downside.

So what does 2012 look like in my mind?

• Another little girl heading our way around May 4. Just when we thought we had things under control... and this time we'll have Sydney around as well. I'll be outnumbered 3-1 here, and may have to take emergency steps to stay sane. ;)

• Building a business! At least giving it a serious whack. More to come on that.

• Exploring Colorado. I want to try to get out at least once every 2 weeks; whether that's snowboarding, hiking, climbing... we're living in the shadow of some amazing mountains and it's time to go enjoy them.

• Sound Body = Happier. Holy crap I need to get back in shape. Seriously; I've taken a couple of steps backwards in the fitness section of my "impossible list". Will phase back into it, but the goal is 5 days per week of doing something for the body; hopefully most of those will be fun activities. Have some ideas on how to eat a bit healthier and still enjoy it, too...

• Building Skillz. Hoping to dedicate one evening per week to improving my graphic design, UX, and programming abilities. Because I want to.

• More art. Want to create much more often... writing, sketching, building... no reason I shouldn't write something every single day.

• Staying Connected. Couple of trips to Raleigh... and more thoughtful use of Skype, Facebook, and other ways of remaining in touch with the people we care about.

• One Big New Adventure. Don't know what it is yet... but I intend to give it some serious thought. Life's too short to not build amazing memories every year.

So what about you? What are you going to do in 2012 that you're excited about?

"My Seat!"

So this is now where Sydney likes to have her bottles. Every time.

I feel like she's going to be heartbroken when we take the seat away to install it in the car.

Cardboard box FTW!

Because when you get a box like this, *not* making a fort would be criminal.

Uh oh... White!

Sydney is pretty surprised by what she sees outside today. Keeps going back to the window and staring.

About 4-5" and still falling...

First frost!

Winter is on the way... ('course it's gonna be 70 tomorrow...)

Can't wait for some snowboarding... The high mountains to the west are already frosted on top.

Snaaaaaakes!

Went out with Sydney to get the mail this week, and look what we found on our front porch! 

Little guy is about 8 inches long, and shakes his tail like a rattlesnake -- though there is no rattle to be seen and his head doesn't look like a rattler...

A little Googling leads me to believe that he's a "Night snake", non-poisonous and in fact very docile and easy to "tame". He's been sunning out on our porch, so he's pretty active... but I give it a go: yeah he tries to bite me. Twice. (Just little love-nips, right??)

 Sydney, by the way? LOVES IT! Wants to pick it up, love it and rub it and name it George. No fear in that little girl.

So we look around a bit more, and check out the crack at the side of the concrete porch... and lo and behold -- there's another one!

And wait, another head in there... is that 3? 4?

Last count, we have 7 little Night Snakes living on our front porch... they've been there for the last 3 days now and show no signs of leaving...


Which is fine by the way -- I think they're awesome, and Sydney is still excited when she sees them. If I can get George (I named the first one George) to calm down with the nipping a little bit, maybe one of these days Sydney can hold him...

Colorado rocks!

Horses... snakes... groundhogs... dragon flies (and almost no mosquitos)... and mountains whenever you look West, which does something for the soul.

(Now if we can just get out and play more!!!)

Moving week is over...

Whew! The past couple of weeks have been packed with packing, loading, driving, driving, driving, flying, visiting, flying again, and then unpacking and starting to settle in. Some thoughts...

All worth it! The new backyard...

Packing

To pack up properly, you have to handle everything you own. Every. Single. Thing. There's nothing like putting a 4-bedroom house into boxes to make you say "what the @$% is wrong with me that I own this much junk???"

Loading

The first 1/2 to 2/3 of loading the truck is enjoyable; like playing Tetris in fact. Lots of work, but with the right folks around (and we had amazing folks helping us!) it goes pretty smoothly. Then at some point things start to deteriorate... you end up with Seussian piles of items that don't quite stack properly; propped up with the odd rake or barstool... you know that it won't really survive the that way, but at some point you stop caring.

The last 1/10 of your stuff takes FOREVER... there's always one more bucket, one more pile of miscellanea, one more drawer taunting you as you try to finish up. Things go in plastic trash bags by now, and more than one item may have accidentally (cough) been thrown away at this point.

We attached the bulkhead (big plywood "door") in the trailer, and threw a few more things over top of it, to make sure that when we unload there is a significant avalanche of debris. By now it is 10pm on the night before pickup, and there is constant lightning and thunder around us (did I forget to mention we finished up in a thunderstorm? Fitting).

Flying With Kids

If you're traveling with a lap-child, bring a copy of the birth certificate. We didn't, and the agent decided to pretend that Sydney might be 2+ years old and might need to buy a ticket. "FAA rules" they say, but I know many others that have flown recently without such child ID, so either:

a) This agent was completely lying about it being a FAA rule, or
b) It's a rule, but nobody enforces it except for this douchebag at Southwest.

Trekking through the airport with 4 large bags, a kid, and a stroller turns out to be not so bad, actually. (If you are laughing at the 4 large bags comment you have never seen how much gear babies require.)

Eventually we got on the plane Sydney's first flight! She was amazing. She got antsy, but managed to hang on for the whole 3.5 hours without screaming like most kids seem to do on the plane. Even got a nap in my arms... and when we landed and taxied around for what seemed like an hour, she squealed with delight at seeing other planes on the tarmac.

You keep calling this "home" but I know better.

New Place

Sydney's face says it all.

She was such a trooper about the whole thing. We spent the first night out here in a hotel, and she gamely explored the room all day and night. When we got to this place, it was just another much bigger hotel room to explore...

Of course once we started unloading things from the truck, especially all her toys and her crib, she warmed up to the place and I think feels at home here already.

There are still a few things missing from the place... but at this point I'm declaring it completely "functional". At right is my current desk, for example... nothing wrong with that, right???

At least we have internet back.

A whole house without furniture? No biggie. No internet except for on our phones? AAUGGH!!!

Weird how much of a difference that makes. First world problem, I know, but that's the way I feel.



More to come; but I wanted to say that we made it, safe and sound, and are looking forward to exploring our new town, mountains, and indeed Colorado.