Year In Review
I realize that I don't really write in here anymore, but with Christmas only 8 days away, I figured this would be a good time to take a look back on the year.
The year started on an interesting note. Sarah and I took our second trip to Cooperstown during Martin Luther King weekend. We had another nice time in the cute little town. We stayed at the same inn we were at a year earlier, and the owner actually remembered us. And not just because he looked in the books and saw that we had been there before. He still remembered what we both do, and that we took the VIP tour last time. It was very impressive, and it's a great place. I would definitely stay there again the next time we go, maybe sometime in the summer when everything is actually open.
But the weekend ended on a sour note when, packing up the car to drive home, I slipped on the ice, fell flat on my ass and sprained my right ankle. That sucked a lot, and I wasn't sure if I broke anything. But of course, stubborn me insisted I could still drive 4 hours back home to MA. Before we even got to the house, we decided it would probably be wise to stop at the doctor to get it x-rayed. Fortunately it was only a sprain, but still. Ouchie.
In February we bought our very first new car. We donated our 13-year-old Ford Taurus to the American Heart Association and bought a shiny new Honda Accord. It's fancy and comfy and we love it. Unfortunately, while the car has just about everything else, it didn't come with locking lug nuts for the wheels. In July, some assholes stole all four wheels off of it in the middle of the night right out of our driveway. Everything got fixed in the end, and it didn't cost us anything other than a few headaches, but that was probably the most frustrating thing that had happened to us in a while. It took 25 days to get the new wheels and repair the damage they did, during which we were driving a uncomfortably huge Chrysler Pacifica rental. I just wanted my car back. But that wasn't the end of our car drama...
Sarah got a new job in August, and she now drives to work. We never needed more than one car before this because we both took the train into Boston. Now that she drives in, I'm stuck without a car if I ever need it until she gets home, and it would take about an hour to get to her office via public transportation from either home or my office. So we decided it would be worth it to get a second car. We looked at used vs new, buy vs lease, small economy vs larger cargo space, etc. We ultimately wound up getting a good deal on a lease for a new Toyota Matrix. It's the absolute base model, so it certainly doesn't have the pep that the Honda does, but it's still a great LBC (little big car).
In October, some lady fell asleep at the wheel and smashed her VW Touareg into our Matrix that was parked on the street. We hadn't even put 1000 miles on it. It didn't even have its first scratch yet. But you can read all about that in my previous post. We thought it might wind up being totaled, but $9000+ in repairs later, it's actually good as new. You'd never know anything happened to it. So the next time we get a new car (hopefully not for a while), please don't say "good luck." That apparently doesn't work well for us.
I also got to connect with some family this year. In March, one of my cousins from NC came up to visit. I'm more than 10 years older than her, so I remember when she was born. She's definitely grown up a lot, and we had a great weekend sightseeing in Boston, including a very cold and windy tour of Fenway and the top of the Pru.
Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I also got in touch with two cousins I haven't seen in about 15 years. Our parents don't talk anymore, and they live in AZ, but I found one of them online and sent an email. Now we chat occasionally, send messages back and forth sometimes, and that just makes me happy. I've also been piecing together my family tree. I was able to search the Ellis Island arrival registry online and found the dates my great-grandparents came over from Senglea, Malta with my grandfather and great uncle. It's been fun researching that stuff, and my cousins have helped fill in a few things I couldn't find. So yay technology!
This summer was all about the weddings. As for the friends, Brian and Lisa got married in May, and then in August, we had Lisa and Stew's wedding, and then Matt and Laura. Sarah had a couple of bridal showers, and I finally got to go to a PawSox game for Matt's bachelor party. My cousin Bryan also got engaged, as did Russ and Alexa. I get to be Best Man at Russ's wedding in September. I can't wait for that. But the big one was obviously my sister's. Lau and Rob's wedding was awesome. They then proceeded to buy a house and get pregnant. My nephew is due to arrive in April. :)
Speaking of houses, we've had some interesting house stuff happen this year. In the winter, our neighbors on the 3rd (top) floor tried to sell. But the market was horrible, and while they had a decent number of people come look at it, there were no takers, so they took it off the market and are still there. While they were trying to sell, Comcast decided to screw me, so Sarah and I were looking into getting DirecTV as a replacement. This started up a big argument with the third floor, as she didn't want a satellite dish installed on the roof when they were trying to sell, which would be a reasonable argument except for the fact that the dish would hardly be seen at all due to where it was being placed and the location of other houses and trees. But the entire situation was handled horribly by her, constantly referencing the condo docs, harping on the fact that she thought I was trying to do this without telling anyone when in fact I sent multiple emails over the course of a week that never got responses. Oh well. Needless to say, we don't really talk to her anymore.
We got to go to two awesome games this year. We were at Opening Day at Fenway, when they presented the '07 rings and displayed the World Series Banner. That was definitely the best baseball game I've ever attended. The pregame ceremonies gave me chills being there. I also finally got to go to my first NFL game, and now any other game I ever get to will probably pale in comparison. Gregg got tickets to a luxury box at Gillette Stadium and asked us to come to the 10/26 Pats game vs the Rams. We were a box or two over from the 50 yard line. Awesome view, food, and service.
I've been at my current job since Feb 06. Other than my boss, I've been here the longest out of all the people in Technology. When I hit my three-year mark in February, I get more vacation days, which we plan on using towards a nice trip next year. The company was almost bought earlier this year, but after months of negotiations, the partners eventually decided not to sell, which I was happy with. I really like my company, I like how it's run, and I like the product that we produce. If we got bought, I don't think I would have agreed with a lot of the changes that might have occurred.
In October, everyone in the company finally got together for the first time. We have offices in Jackson Hole, Boston, Atlanta, London, and some satellite people working in NJ, Hong Kong, Nashville, Kansas, etc, so most of us have not met each other in person. The company flew everyone down to Atlanta for a weekend. There were some meetings that were kinda boring, but it was really nice meeting everyone. The lodge we stayed at was amazing. We took over the lobby bar and got to watch one of the Sox playoff games, and I also played golf on an actual course for the first time. I didn't do half bad either.
This year I finally accepted the fact that my hearing sucks and I might benefit from some sort of help. I got my hearing checked and got myself a pair of basic model hearing aids. They made an instant difference, and are probably one of the best investments I've made in a while. They're hardly visible, but I don't think I'd even mind if they were anymore. Not enough people get them when they need them, which is both the cause and effect of them being so expensive. If more people who could afford them got them when they needed them, prices for everyone else would start to go down.
In September, Sarah and I spent our 3-year wedding anniversary in Providence. We stayed at the Biltmore and had a nice weekend walking around and seeing the Water Fire. We don't get down to Providence enough. It really is a nice little city.
Other random things:
- In February, I decided to buzz off my hair and wear it short. It looks way better.
- In May I did a 20-mile Walk for Hunger. Thanks again to everyone who donated.
- We bought a new couch in July. It's big and leather and comfy.
- We went down to NY a day early for Lisa and Stew's wedding. Took the Hudson River line into the city and spent the day with Sara B.
- I've successfully kicked my nail-biting habit. Almost 2 months strong now.
Random pictures from many of the above mentioned things are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellegrini/sets/
I think that's about it. Wonder what'll happen next year...
The year started on an interesting note. Sarah and I took our second trip to Cooperstown during Martin Luther King weekend. We had another nice time in the cute little town. We stayed at the same inn we were at a year earlier, and the owner actually remembered us. And not just because he looked in the books and saw that we had been there before. He still remembered what we both do, and that we took the VIP tour last time. It was very impressive, and it's a great place. I would definitely stay there again the next time we go, maybe sometime in the summer when everything is actually open.
But the weekend ended on a sour note when, packing up the car to drive home, I slipped on the ice, fell flat on my ass and sprained my right ankle. That sucked a lot, and I wasn't sure if I broke anything. But of course, stubborn me insisted I could still drive 4 hours back home to MA. Before we even got to the house, we decided it would probably be wise to stop at the doctor to get it x-rayed. Fortunately it was only a sprain, but still. Ouchie.
In February we bought our very first new car. We donated our 13-year-old Ford Taurus to the American Heart Association and bought a shiny new Honda Accord. It's fancy and comfy and we love it. Unfortunately, while the car has just about everything else, it didn't come with locking lug nuts for the wheels. In July, some assholes stole all four wheels off of it in the middle of the night right out of our driveway. Everything got fixed in the end, and it didn't cost us anything other than a few headaches, but that was probably the most frustrating thing that had happened to us in a while. It took 25 days to get the new wheels and repair the damage they did, during which we were driving a uncomfortably huge Chrysler Pacifica rental. I just wanted my car back. But that wasn't the end of our car drama...
Sarah got a new job in August, and she now drives to work. We never needed more than one car before this because we both took the train into Boston. Now that she drives in, I'm stuck without a car if I ever need it until she gets home, and it would take about an hour to get to her office via public transportation from either home or my office. So we decided it would be worth it to get a second car. We looked at used vs new, buy vs lease, small economy vs larger cargo space, etc. We ultimately wound up getting a good deal on a lease for a new Toyota Matrix. It's the absolute base model, so it certainly doesn't have the pep that the Honda does, but it's still a great LBC (little big car).
In October, some lady fell asleep at the wheel and smashed her VW Touareg into our Matrix that was parked on the street. We hadn't even put 1000 miles on it. It didn't even have its first scratch yet. But you can read all about that in my previous post. We thought it might wind up being totaled, but $9000+ in repairs later, it's actually good as new. You'd never know anything happened to it. So the next time we get a new car (hopefully not for a while), please don't say "good luck." That apparently doesn't work well for us.
I also got to connect with some family this year. In March, one of my cousins from NC came up to visit. I'm more than 10 years older than her, so I remember when she was born. She's definitely grown up a lot, and we had a great weekend sightseeing in Boston, including a very cold and windy tour of Fenway and the top of the Pru.
Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I also got in touch with two cousins I haven't seen in about 15 years. Our parents don't talk anymore, and they live in AZ, but I found one of them online and sent an email. Now we chat occasionally, send messages back and forth sometimes, and that just makes me happy. I've also been piecing together my family tree. I was able to search the Ellis Island arrival registry online and found the dates my great-grandparents came over from Senglea, Malta with my grandfather and great uncle. It's been fun researching that stuff, and my cousins have helped fill in a few things I couldn't find. So yay technology!
This summer was all about the weddings. As for the friends, Brian and Lisa got married in May, and then in August, we had Lisa and Stew's wedding, and then Matt and Laura. Sarah had a couple of bridal showers, and I finally got to go to a PawSox game for Matt's bachelor party. My cousin Bryan also got engaged, as did Russ and Alexa. I get to be Best Man at Russ's wedding in September. I can't wait for that. But the big one was obviously my sister's. Lau and Rob's wedding was awesome. They then proceeded to buy a house and get pregnant. My nephew is due to arrive in April. :)
Speaking of houses, we've had some interesting house stuff happen this year. In the winter, our neighbors on the 3rd (top) floor tried to sell. But the market was horrible, and while they had a decent number of people come look at it, there were no takers, so they took it off the market and are still there. While they were trying to sell, Comcast decided to screw me, so Sarah and I were looking into getting DirecTV as a replacement. This started up a big argument with the third floor, as she didn't want a satellite dish installed on the roof when they were trying to sell, which would be a reasonable argument except for the fact that the dish would hardly be seen at all due to where it was being placed and the location of other houses and trees. But the entire situation was handled horribly by her, constantly referencing the condo docs, harping on the fact that she thought I was trying to do this without telling anyone when in fact I sent multiple emails over the course of a week that never got responses. Oh well. Needless to say, we don't really talk to her anymore.
We got to go to two awesome games this year. We were at Opening Day at Fenway, when they presented the '07 rings and displayed the World Series Banner. That was definitely the best baseball game I've ever attended. The pregame ceremonies gave me chills being there. I also finally got to go to my first NFL game, and now any other game I ever get to will probably pale in comparison. Gregg got tickets to a luxury box at Gillette Stadium and asked us to come to the 10/26 Pats game vs the Rams. We were a box or two over from the 50 yard line. Awesome view, food, and service.
I've been at my current job since Feb 06. Other than my boss, I've been here the longest out of all the people in Technology. When I hit my three-year mark in February, I get more vacation days, which we plan on using towards a nice trip next year. The company was almost bought earlier this year, but after months of negotiations, the partners eventually decided not to sell, which I was happy with. I really like my company, I like how it's run, and I like the product that we produce. If we got bought, I don't think I would have agreed with a lot of the changes that might have occurred.
In October, everyone in the company finally got together for the first time. We have offices in Jackson Hole, Boston, Atlanta, London, and some satellite people working in NJ, Hong Kong, Nashville, Kansas, etc, so most of us have not met each other in person. The company flew everyone down to Atlanta for a weekend. There were some meetings that were kinda boring, but it was really nice meeting everyone. The lodge we stayed at was amazing. We took over the lobby bar and got to watch one of the Sox playoff games, and I also played golf on an actual course for the first time. I didn't do half bad either.
This year I finally accepted the fact that my hearing sucks and I might benefit from some sort of help. I got my hearing checked and got myself a pair of basic model hearing aids. They made an instant difference, and are probably one of the best investments I've made in a while. They're hardly visible, but I don't think I'd even mind if they were anymore. Not enough people get them when they need them, which is both the cause and effect of them being so expensive. If more people who could afford them got them when they needed them, prices for everyone else would start to go down.
In September, Sarah and I spent our 3-year wedding anniversary in Providence. We stayed at the Biltmore and had a nice weekend walking around and seeing the Water Fire. We don't get down to Providence enough. It really is a nice little city.
Other random things:
- In February, I decided to buzz off my hair and wear it short. It looks way better.
- In May I did a 20-mile Walk for Hunger. Thanks again to everyone who donated.
- We bought a new couch in July. It's big and leather and comfy.
- We went down to NY a day early for Lisa and Stew's wedding. Took the Hudson River line into the city and spent the day with Sara B.
- I've successfully kicked my nail-biting habit. Almost 2 months strong now.
Random pictures from many of the above mentioned things are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpellegrini/sets/
I think that's about it. Wonder what'll happen next year...