Looking Back at 2008
December 24th, 2008Each year, I write a blog reflecting on the main events that occurred over the past year. In keeping with that tradition, here is my update for 2008.
Travel
We went to Las Vegas 6 times this year. One of those trips in May was with Pat & Kelly to celebrate our anniversary. This was the first time that we ever went to Las Vegas with anyone, and it was the first time that Jen and I went without Arianna. During one of the summer trips, we drove to Disneyland in California. For Thanksgiving, we visited our friends Brandon (aka “Brew”) and Jackie in Las Vegas. With all of these trips to Las Vegas this year, we had no time to go anyplace else! We did however go to Seaside Heights, NJ. My grandmother wanted to go, so I rented a wheelchair and the family took them to Seaside for a day. Grandmom loved spending all of that money on those claw machines!
Parties
Well, we broke the tradition of an annual summer party. We all enjoy them a lot, but for several reasons I have decided not to commit to do this any longer. But, we did host a great party for our friends this year! The “Retro Party” which was a costume party themed 1960s/1970s was a success. We held it on our Retro Room and we all had a blast! Of course, we had a birthday party for Arianna and her friends at our house.
Moving to Las Vegas
We decided to give it a shot and wanted to build the house of our dreams in Las Vegas this year. We prepped the house for sale, put it on the market, then the economy tanked even more than I could have imagined. In 2 months, we only had 2 showings. House values have plummeted. Unemployment everywhere. Danger lurks. So we decided to stay put for now. Now I have a house that has no pictures up (we took them down to make the house buyer friendly), an attic full of packed boxes (to reduce clutter), a brand new 4th bathroom (it adds value when selling a house), and the most depressing thing is, the Retro Room is no more… We dismantled it in order to make the room more buyer friendly. We poured a lot of time and money into that room, and now it’s nothing but a memory. But, I have some ideas for a new “themed room” to take its place!
I lost my belly
In May, I started my “Not Diet“. I have lost over 30 pounds and about 5 inches in my waist. I went from over 196 lbs to under 165 lbs. I went from a 36 inch waist to about a 31. Now I don’t weigh myself everyday like I did for the first 6 months, so I can no longer tell you an exact weight. It fluctuates, but I can say that I still have room in my 32 inch waist pants with some extra room! I never could have imagined that I could have lost so much. I weigh about as much as I did when I was a Junior in high school and I feel great!
New Ventures
This year did not involve any real estate or laundromats (thank God!). I did decide to give programming a shot. Freelance programming that is. I did it for about 2 months this year (Sept and Oct) and did rather well I must say. I made good money, but one thing was lacking… Passion. I just don’t have it in me to go full-force. I was able to go full-steam ahead for 2 months, but I learned that it was not my true calling. So, I am not actively taking any jobs now. I may do some programming from time to time, but I think I’m going to keep it on the sidelines. Instead, I have decided to do something else… Something that has always inspired and motivated me… You’ll just have to wait until 2009 to find out!