2006 has been an interesting year for me.  It was largely unique in my excessive laziness in the second half of it.  For some reason, I just didn't feel the urge to do much of anything. I watched DVDs, read quite a few books (for me at least, slow reader that I am), played some online games, and generally stayed away from the gardening, yard work, and other at-home stuff that would have gotten me more into the world.  And I loved it. 

I kept thinking "maybe I should get to the gym more" or "I should really do more with the yard; there's a lot of weeding to do" or "I should get off my ass and start some more of the remodel projects around the house."  And then I realized how relaxed my life was and how much I enjoy being relaxed.  And I really have enjoyed this year.  It was unremarkable on the whole, but I only had a handful of bad days, I got plenty of sleep, and I simply enjoyed being myself.

That's not to say that the entire year was a complete bust for getting things done.  My kitchen was finished at the beginning of the year and I cooked my first dinner party in it on my birthday, which was one of the coolest things ever.  I've learned how to bake bread and have accumulated kitchen gear, "recipes," and skills that will serve me well in the coming years. 

I refinanced the house just a couple weeks ago, which will allow me a little more leeway in financial terms and more security with the payments since I paid off the variable-rate HELOC and rolled it into a fixed-rate mortgage.  I was lucky to have bought three years ago, as I would be priced out of the market today.  The remodel work done so far has been very expensive, but even after all of the money spent, I have about as much equity left as the remodel has cost so far.  If all goes well, I won't need to borrow any more money to finish the house.  But if I need to, the money will be there.

On a more personal level, I saw a lot of friendships wane more as I kept fairly happily to myself, and a few friendships strengthen.  I am particularly happy that a foodie friend that I met last year has become more of a frequent brunch and dinner companion, and I'm elated to be welcoming Dave back from St. Louis in the early part of 2007.  A few other friends who have moved away for various reasons have different plans, a couple of whom will probably never be returning, another changes his plans every few minutes.

It was also a great year for my professional life.  My team adopted a different approach to getting things done (Scrum/Agile instead of Waterfall), and the new approach really works well for me.  My financial situation looked up fairly considerably both because of this team change and because I had pretty much been due with my skill set and contributions to the team over the past years.  It would probably have come earlier if I could keep my mouth shut about my laziness when talking to my managers.  But frankly, I value honesty over money, and I'm quite confident about my contributions despite my lazy streak.

The love life was yet again non-existent, but didn't leave me bitter as it has in the past (I think a bad relationship a few years ago showed me that being single isn't the worst thing that can happen).  There was a prospect that I was excited about for the last quarter of the year, but he has been incommunicado for all but two weeks of that quarter year for reasons beyond either of our control.  Some of the excitement is still there, but largely dulled due to the waiting.  I have been hoping to write the follow-up posts to my earlier entries on the subject, but the waiting just kept (and keeps) going on.  Maybe someday.

So that's been the year.  What about the turn of the year and 2007?  Well, the end of the year has been spent entertaining out of town visitors.  Dave was here from St. Louis over Thanksgiving and now, Chris from San Jose, Chris from London, and Chuckles from Gilroy are all in town for New Years.  Luckily, they seem to get along, so I don't have to spend too much time picking and choosing which time to spend with which, but I would like to have some one-on-one time with each of them before they take off out of my life again for months or years or forever. 

2007 looks like it could be a great year.  Dave is moving back from St. Louis in February and will be moving in with me.  He's going to start a contracting company and while he builds clientele, he'll be finishing the rest of my remodel.  I have had 70-80% of the materials necessary to finish it sitting in the garage for the past three years, but couldn't afford the labor and didn't want to attempt it myself.  Dave will trade me the labor for his rent, and since I'll be paying the same amount of money every month until it's finished and I can get a paying roommate, it seems like a great deal for both of us.  Words can't express how happy I'll be to have Dave back in town, to have him living so nearby (downstairs), and to have my house get finished.  I'm a happy camper.

Because of the refinance, I have some money left over, which I'm going to earmark the better part of for the remodel costs, but which I'm also planning to spend on a trip to the UK.  The foodie friend I mentioned earlier is from there and one of the Chrisses who is in town now lives there for at least a few more months, so I should have cheap room and board as long as I can manage the vacation time properly and get an affordable flight.  It's about time I got out of the country.  I've been thinking and talking about it for the better part of a decade now and I want to do it before the rest of this decade passes by.  With luck, before another year passes by.

Though I enjoyed being lazy this year, I'm going to make it a goal to get back into the garden in 2007.  I loved the yard work and gardening last year but just couldn't get into it this year.  I'm hoping that I'll have some veggies growing for the kitchen and in general get things looking good again. 

So remodel, vacation, and gardening.  I really have no other plans yet.  I hope to hear from my incommunicado guy at some point, but the hope of that happening has dwindled over the past three months and seems to be draining at a quicker rate these days.  I'm sure there'll be a post about that at some point either way. 

Wow, well, that was dry, boring, and singularly lacking in any of the wit or soul I try to put into these when I actually get around to writing them (I think I missed a couple years), but really, that kind of goes with how life has been this year--not bad, just not exciting.  Maybe there'll be more of a spark to next year's.  Until then, I plan to enjoy life as much as I have this year, and hopefully have more to show for that enjoyment in a year's time.  I wish you all a swell closure to 2006 and an absolutely fabulous 2007.  Get in touch sometime and let me know how it's going.

I had figured that when I got news about my man situation I'd write more. That was nearly three months ago. Since it seems it'll be another month or three till there's real news, I guess I'll just go ahead and write about other stuff.

 

Things have been going well 'round these parts. I'm coping admirably with the winter dreariness. And in a couple days, there'll be more rather than less light every day. Yay for Winter Solstice! I threatened last year to throw a Winter Solstice party annually from then on out, but since the house is still not done, a real party would be difficult.

 

The house hasn't gotten much done to it in many, many months, except for the week when Dave, a friend who's been out of town for three years, was visiting over Thanksgiving. That week I got a new vanity mirror and lights for the master bath, an entry light, and the downdraft vent in the kitchen rewired. Luckily for me, Dave is moving back to town in February and starting his own contracting company. Until he builds a client list, he'll be living for free with me and beginning the end of my three-plus-year remodel. And there was much rejoicing.

 

I also just signed the paperwork for a refinance of the house. The mortgage is a lot bigger than when I first bought the place, but the equity has outpaced it by a wide margin. I'll be paying a little less every month AND I'll pay off all of my other outstanding debt. It'll be a very good thing.

 

Brian's tip for the month: your computer doesn't like wine as much as you do. Just trust me on that one. In other news, the new laptop is FAST like lightning! Unfortunately, updates to my most recent online gaming addiction have rendered the game unplayable in the extreme. Instead, I've been keeping myself busy with Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series (11 books averaging about 700 pages each--just started the fourth).

 

I've also started cooking a little bit more.  I'm going to try starting my own sourdough and see how that turns out. 

 

Aside from all that, there's not much to report. I lost power last week during the big Seattle area wind storm, but had it back on in just under 24 hours. Many coworkers and friends are still without power four days later. I'm hanging around here for the holidays and have taken next week off to laze about and hopefully hang out with some friends. I hope everyone's holidays will be as swell as mine should be.