Christmas Song

by Weezer from Christmas With Weezer

Hi everyone and hope you are having a merry, jolly, happy holiday season. I am typing this entry at home, with a slight drizzle rain outside and enjoying a mango pudding milk tea from Quickly. So is winter in California. Apologies to any of my readers on the East Coast. I decided to take this week off along with next week so I will be having a self-imposed Christmas break. I am using the time to take care of some long overdue errands, chores, and tasks. In fact, I am have finished half the items on my list.

Traditionally, I write my "holidaze" entry, where I reflect on the past year, and offer up some resolutions for the coming year on Christmas Eve. However, this year is a bit different since I plan on writing another entry that will reflect on the past decade. Stay tuned for that. But this entry is reserved for 2009. So first things first, how did I do on my 2009 resolutions.

1. Volunteering: I admittedly screwed the pooch on this one. I did volunteer once but that was for work on the company community service day. So that didn't really count. In typical liberal guilt fashion, I made up for it by donating more money to charity (mostly through the self-powered commuter program at work). Alas, I see the special lady on weekends so it left little time for this.

2. Learning more about financial and investment stuff: Yes, I did do this one by consulting with a financial adviser and finally getting my money into some investments. So A+ for me on this one.

3. Finish my book backlog: I did read plenty of books this year but alas, I didn't make much progress on my book backlog. The problem is that I keep on getting new books so that takes away time from cleaning up my backlog. Damn the Recycle Book Store in Campbell and the flea market. I made vow not to buy any more books until I finish reading all the ones I haven't finished.

4. Keep in touch/reestablish contact: Despite meeting up some old friends later this week, I don't think I did a great job on this. I got a bit assist from Erika and Viktor's wedding where I got to reconnect with many former SIers. But I could have done a better job on this.

5. Go to more concerts: Well, I went to the same amount I did in 2008. However, it was only 3 (Flight of the Conchords, Spinal Tap, Eroica Trio) this year. I wanted to see at least twice that amount but scheduling never worked out.

6. Take a vacation somewhere far: Well this one is mixed. Technically I did take some vacation time when I went to Japan. But that was part of a work trip so that was not really a vacation I planned. So yeah this one is a mixed score.

So yeah didn't do a great job on my 2009 resolutions but on most of them I did make a conscious effort to do them. I suppose that is what resolutions are for. Something to strive for. Before I lay out my 2010 resolutions, I wanted to list off some memorable memories from 2009. These are not the most important but things I really enjoyed and look back at fondly.

1. The special lady and I hiking at Point Lobos on a ridiculously great day in January.
2. Me and the special lady going to the Sunnyvale farmer's market in the summer right in the middle of prime peach, plum, nectarine, and cherry season.
   
3. Watching Flight of the Conchords in concert from the 2nd row sing Sugalumps.
4. Walking around Shibuya after arriving in Tokyo, jet-lagged out of my mind but amazed that I was actually there.
5. The special lady and I paddle boating in Golden Gate park.
6. Driving up 280 in the late summer, watching the sunset while the fog rolled in over Half Moon Bay.
7. Skipping the last session of CHI, to walk along the Charles River, through Beacon Hill, to Boston Common on a sunny spring afternoon.
8. Biking along the Stevens Creek Trail in the summer on the way to work and seeing the NASA Ames Research Center gigantic air hanger open.
9. Running with CWP$ on my first training run for the San Jose Rock N'Roll Marathon in Foster City
10. My birthday at Tanto where the waiter cut us off saying we had ordered too much but my friends and I showing him by finishing everything we ordered.
11. Hanging out with Phill and Megan in Sacramento with CWP$ and Carl on a ridiculously hot day.
12. Enjoying actually going into the water of Lake Tahoe on the last day of the Tahoe hike-not bike trip.
13. Enjoying good food and good company at this year's Campbell Octoberfest
14. Spending Valentine's day with the special lady and not having anything bad happen to me as part of my now lifted Valentine's day curse.
15. Laughing and reconnecting with old friends at Erika's wedding

There are many more memories from this past year that I will relish but these are the ones that stand out right now. So what do I have planned for next year? Well, some stuff but here are the resolutions/goals that I have planned out for 2010.

1. Run a marathon: Yup, I decided I needed a fitness goal for next year. So I decided to do the SF Marathon. As an initial warm-up, I have about 90% committed to do doing the SF Half Marathon in February. But I got several months to work up to the full 26 miles.

2. Buy a new car: I should have bought one this past year but timing never worked out and plus I got distracted. But the Maxima is no longer what it used to be so yeah, its time for something new.

3. Look into buying a place: Yeah, while I don't mind renting anymore - I have this nagging feeling that I should be start acting like a grown up. And being grown-up involves owning your own place. So I am going to look into it - no guarantees on buying anything.

4. Get promoted: Making a career goal to become a senior researcher next year. Don't know exactly how I am going to do this but will try to figure it out.

5. Bike to work at least 50 times: This past year I biked to work 38 times. Given that I have now become a eco-friendly west coast liberal elite, biking to work is for the environment plus my health so I should do more of it.

6. Take a vacation somewhere: I didn't really take an extended vacation this past year. I think I should take one this upcoming year.

So that's all for now. I'll have at least one more entry this year looking back at this past decade. But until then, happy holidays, seasons greetings, and peace on earth.