2009.12.19
New job or not, I am still too lazy to write out christmas cards by hand and too cheap to buy the postage to mail them...
What a year!
I spent the first half of it on unemployment and working at a bicycle shop. Somehow I made enough money selling my old race bike on ebay during the Tour De France to buy a brand new frame. Unemployment = Much enjoyment.
I had the unbelievable privilege of taking a 10 day trip to Beijing with my best friends in the entire world. Rodney, Ryan, Wes and I basically spent the entire trip eating incredible food and exploring the city by foot, by bike, and by taxi. Even when we got ripped off it was cheap!
Around July I felt the pull of an adorable nephew down south. He is SO cute that I somehow found myself demolishing a bathroom, routing electrical wiring under a house, installing a reclaimed wood floor, and doing drywall, tile and paint for 4 months straight. It was really wonderful spending time with such an adorable, intelligent and easygoing child. It was also lovely to go on bike rides with my sister Jill and make burritos for dinner with Scott and Jenn and Jack over and over and over again.
We were also lucky to have all sorts of family out to help remodeling the house. My Dad sprayed the outside down with his pressure washer, my Uncle Kenny helped us put together a water heater enclosure, Uncle Rick helped sand the floors, my cousin Brett helped demo them (first, thank god), Uncle Tom did some really trick electrical work near the junction box outside, Wendy helped paint, my step dad Bill helped install a side door in the garage, and my friend Wes helped haul materials to the landfill (and didn't complain when we burned down his kitchen table).
My privilege was increased even further when my dear friends Justin Bomben and his incredible wife Lauren asked me to participate in their wedding ceremony. I had an incredible weekend and felt blessed to be a part of it. They are such a special couple and will no doubt be pretending they don't adore each other for the rest of their lives, even though its plain as day.
By the time the project was done it was time for me to start my new job. The commute would have been worse than murder, so I packed up and moved. I am living in an apartment on my own for the first time in my life. I think its a mistake, but only because its making me spoiled. I am working for a software company called ESRI, and enjoying the routine and steady paycheck. I miss Sacramento, but I'm happy. The cycling is much hillier here (which is, believe it or not, a good thing), and I am lucky to have friends to race bikes with in Southern California too.
Happy Christmas to you and yours! I sincerely hope that you find yourself in good health and good spirits and that you are surrounded by those you love as the weather gets cold.
-john
ps. For the computer literate, I have included a link to download a xmas mixtape. The rest of you will just have to make due with what you already have. : )
http://johngravois.com/mixtapes/xmas09.zip