Better get on it...
Monday, March 30, 2009
Disintegration of Intellect
I wrote this last December. I never posted it though. Most of the entry is now completely irrelevant. Enjoy!
Although I have never laid claim to be a writer, I have a severe case of writer’s block. Since beginning to write my first academic papers for graduate school, its like a light has been shut off in my head, and I have been rendered nearly incapable of committing to paper anything of consequence. However, I have a plan. In order to purge this foul affliction, I plan to write about a lot of stuff. Somehow and someway, maybe it will knock something loose and I will be able to finish my final papers for this first semester back in grad school.
I last wrote an entry 2 months ago and it goes without saying that things have been extremely busy in the days and weeks since then. Starting with Halloween, I can say that a good time was had by all at the party and I was so glad to be done with the planning and decorating that I hope I haven’t spoiled the enjoyment of this holiday. Either way, we broke our living room ceiling fan with a severed head and have only just repaired it.
The football Rebs were on a tear in the later parts of the season and scored glorious victories over the hated LSU Tigahs and the other school in Mississippi. If you aren’t from the state, you probably can feel me when I say who cares about the other school? Maybe in baseball or basketball, but football? That program is futile. Nonetheless, it was a great season and I hope that Peria Jerry knocks Graham Harrell’s head through his ass in a few weeks in Dallas. I wish like none other that I could get down to the game, but it looks like this year just isn’t the year for me and Rebel football. Unfortunate, but life goes on.
Thanksgiving was spent with Jacqueline’s family, which is always a good time. Her family parties on Thanksgiving. So the week was spent gorging myself on all manner of foodstuffs and blowing shit up with her uncle and family. A holiday well spent if you ask me. It wasn’t the most restful week though, and it took some time to recover from the holiday.
For Christmas, we are planning on heading to Ohio for her padres Christmas party and then heading south to Alabama for the remainder of the break. I get two weeks off, so it will be a good chance to reconnect with the southern United States for a while. We are even planning on taking a trip to New Orleans for a day or so once we get down there. JQ has never been there and I never had a trip to the Big Easy that I didn’t like or at least regret something about later.
I feel sometimes like I am spinning my tires so to speak. I guess its just youthful impatience concerning all things, but it still gets on my nerves quite frequently. There is so much to do and at times I guess I let things get to me, or at least a lot more than they used to.
I have been hitting the exercise bike a good bit lately, which has helped me in catching up on reading. I got a strap to sleep with that keeps my plantar tendons stretched out and it has greatly helped with the heel spurs. I have been running maybe once a week recently just to test it out, and I have done pretty well. I also got back in the weight room as well, which has felt great as it has been far too long since I last lifted.
I miss the old Facebook sometimes. Before it was infiltrated by parents, teachers, employers, stalkers, and high schoolers; it was awesome. People could post racy comments and scandalous pictures relatively without fear of it coming back to them. Now-a-days, it has become very tame and while I understand and appreciate its utility in the world at large, there is something to be said about college kids having their own little domain where it was okay to champion immaturity.
Although I have never laid claim to be a writer, I have a severe case of writer’s block. Since beginning to write my first academic papers for graduate school, its like a light has been shut off in my head, and I have been rendered nearly incapable of committing to paper anything of consequence. However, I have a plan. In order to purge this foul affliction, I plan to write about a lot of stuff. Somehow and someway, maybe it will knock something loose and I will be able to finish my final papers for this first semester back in grad school.
I last wrote an entry 2 months ago and it goes without saying that things have been extremely busy in the days and weeks since then. Starting with Halloween, I can say that a good time was had by all at the party and I was so glad to be done with the planning and decorating that I hope I haven’t spoiled the enjoyment of this holiday. Either way, we broke our living room ceiling fan with a severed head and have only just repaired it.
The football Rebs were on a tear in the later parts of the season and scored glorious victories over the hated LSU Tigahs and the other school in Mississippi. If you aren’t from the state, you probably can feel me when I say who cares about the other school? Maybe in baseball or basketball, but football? That program is futile. Nonetheless, it was a great season and I hope that Peria Jerry knocks Graham Harrell’s head through his ass in a few weeks in Dallas. I wish like none other that I could get down to the game, but it looks like this year just isn’t the year for me and Rebel football. Unfortunate, but life goes on.
Thanksgiving was spent with Jacqueline’s family, which is always a good time. Her family parties on Thanksgiving. So the week was spent gorging myself on all manner of foodstuffs and blowing shit up with her uncle and family. A holiday well spent if you ask me. It wasn’t the most restful week though, and it took some time to recover from the holiday.
For Christmas, we are planning on heading to Ohio for her padres Christmas party and then heading south to Alabama for the remainder of the break. I get two weeks off, so it will be a good chance to reconnect with the southern United States for a while. We are even planning on taking a trip to New Orleans for a day or so once we get down there. JQ has never been there and I never had a trip to the Big Easy that I didn’t like or at least regret something about later.
I feel sometimes like I am spinning my tires so to speak. I guess its just youthful impatience concerning all things, but it still gets on my nerves quite frequently. There is so much to do and at times I guess I let things get to me, or at least a lot more than they used to.
I have been hitting the exercise bike a good bit lately, which has helped me in catching up on reading. I got a strap to sleep with that keeps my plantar tendons stretched out and it has greatly helped with the heel spurs. I have been running maybe once a week recently just to test it out, and I have done pretty well. I also got back in the weight room as well, which has felt great as it has been far too long since I last lifted.
I miss the old Facebook sometimes. Before it was infiltrated by parents, teachers, employers, stalkers, and high schoolers; it was awesome. People could post racy comments and scandalous pictures relatively without fear of it coming back to them. Now-a-days, it has become very tame and while I understand and appreciate its utility in the world at large, there is something to be said about college kids having their own little domain where it was okay to champion immaturity.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Touch ‘em All
Well, since it has been so long since an update, I may as well go ahead and post a special season premiere episode today. I say today rather loosely, since I typically start a post one day only to finish it the following week. Oh well, here goes.
Life has gotten incredibly busy. I feel that I have generally been pretty busy here in Washington, D.C., but I am now feeling that everything has accelerated. There are many reasons for this. Between striving to kick ass at work, actually applying myself to my grad school studies, Freemasons, NYLF, my awesome girlfriend, and trying to still have some fun; it would be safe to say that I suffer from time constraints every now and again. The problem with all this is that my life becomes something akin to the balloon theory when speaking of the illicit drug trade. You squeeze one side only to have it bulge out somewhere else. Apparently, I have yet to master the art of time management. Whenever I feel like I am rocking the house in one place, I come to realize that I am slacking in another. It’s very discouraging sometimes. At time when I feel I am getting the hang of everything, I somehow learn that not everything is in balance. Balance. To me balance is an essential aspect of, well, (forgive the Eagles reference) “taking it to the limit”.
Either way, this year has been great so far. My work has been going very well. I have a new boss that has been a much greater mentor and reference in 6 weeks than my previous boss was in 9 months. I think (and hope) that I have finally bought into the idea that I will be required to make sacrifices in order to get ahead. I have come to realize that I certainly should have spent more energy on my studies in undergrad. It’s tougher than I thought to come from Ole Miss with a mediocre academic record and make it here. Everyone here has a degree, many of them with master’s degrees. The bar is set pretty high here in our nation’s capitol. So now, a couple years after leaving Ole Miss, I am endeavoring to atone for some of my past sins concerning schoolwork. For the first time in my life, I am actually spending more than cursory concern towards my academics. I actually bought the books for this semester, and what’s more is that I am actually actively reading them. It’s amazing how much more you get out of class when you do the reading and then pay attention (most of the time) in class. I have the utmost confidence and faith in my abilities, but it would have been nice starting from a place with more solid footing so to speak.
D.C. has been an interesting place these days. The inauguration was incredible. The city was electric and the atmosphere was like that of Mardi Gras in NOLA.
Continued March 5th.
Back to the inauguration. Jacqueline and I were unable to get to work since the whole city was shut down for the most part. We got up and had a nice breakfast, and then watched the festivities on television that morning. Once it got to be about 11:00am, we jogged down to the National Mall, watched the inaugural address, jogged home and watched the rest of the day on the news. For all those suckers who got up at 4:00am and froze their asses off all day long, it would have sucked to have been you. I left the house at 11:00, still made it down to where I could see a Jumbotron (trust me, 98% of the crowd had the same view that I did) and still was present for a moment which will go down as a keystone in our nation’s history, and got back home. The only differences were that I was 4 miles in better shape and a good deal warmer, and all of this was accomplished in only 90 minutes. Kudos to everyone who realized the moment for what it was. Our President was right though in making sure to point out the difficulties that we will face in the coming years. What this great nation needs is something to work for; some inspiration. JFK said in1961 that we would put a man on the moon in less than 10 years. At that point, we had never even put a man into orbit. In less than 10 years, the United States put a fucking man on the moon which was something that all generations of humans have dreamed about since our cerebral cortexes were evolved enough to allow for conscious thought.
I am going to jump around quite a bit, a lot has happened since my last entry and I guess I have a lot on my mind as well. Bear with me.
For this section, I have some minor book grievances to air out, plus a Subway shout-out. These aren’t necessarily new items, just a couple things that have been bothering me lately.
Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is a huge pussy. She could have slammed the door shut with absolute authority on what will go down as one of the greatest literary works of our time. Her books inspired millions to read and charged the imaginations of both children and adults all over the world. She could have ended her story in a way that would have been a coronation for Harry being one of the greatest tragic heroes of all time. It could have been epic. It could have been legendary. Instead, she sold out. She is dead to me.
Romans. The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon is too damn long and much too dry to ever conceivably read in its unabridged fashion. Seriously, I know he wrote it in the 18th Century, but please, how much time do you really have to have to write something like that, much less read it. Gibbon 1, Reeves 0.
Twilight. In another example of the whole Man:Mars –Woman:Venus thing, the great majority of the women that have read the books and seen the movie prefer the books. The guys tend to prefer the movie. Why? The movie cuts out all the boring romantic bullshit. Don’t get me wrong, I like romance just fine, it’s one of the joys of life; but when I have other shit to do, reading 100 pages worth of it just doesn’t get me going.
Five Dollar Footlongs. Quite possibly the best thing since crack.
Alright now, on to this years goals and aspirations.
Run a 10K in 40 minutes or less: Got injured last year and could not train adequately for this. Looking good so far this year.
Read 40 books. This is the year. I can feel it.
Begin saving in earnest. Have been pretty lazy about this. Once again, this is the year.
Naval Lodge representative to Allianza. It should be a tremendous help to my Spanish and to my understanding of Freemasonry by attending this lodge once a month.
Promotion. This one may be difficult given the economic circumstances.
Weekly music practice. I will never learn to play piano without practice. I have to make some progress this year.
Learn to draw. I always wanted to know how to draw. I have found I can teach myself just about anything, so here goes.
Write the book. I know for an absolute fact that my stupid stories will never be published. That being said, it never hurts to put it all down.
So it’s now well into the afternoon. Another long day and evening upcoming. No rest for the wicked. Looking forward to the weekend. Looking forward to getting some rest.
Live triumphantly.
Life has gotten incredibly busy. I feel that I have generally been pretty busy here in Washington, D.C., but I am now feeling that everything has accelerated. There are many reasons for this. Between striving to kick ass at work, actually applying myself to my grad school studies, Freemasons, NYLF, my awesome girlfriend, and trying to still have some fun; it would be safe to say that I suffer from time constraints every now and again. The problem with all this is that my life becomes something akin to the balloon theory when speaking of the illicit drug trade. You squeeze one side only to have it bulge out somewhere else. Apparently, I have yet to master the art of time management. Whenever I feel like I am rocking the house in one place, I come to realize that I am slacking in another. It’s very discouraging sometimes. At time when I feel I am getting the hang of everything, I somehow learn that not everything is in balance. Balance. To me balance is an essential aspect of, well, (forgive the Eagles reference) “taking it to the limit”.
Either way, this year has been great so far. My work has been going very well. I have a new boss that has been a much greater mentor and reference in 6 weeks than my previous boss was in 9 months. I think (and hope) that I have finally bought into the idea that I will be required to make sacrifices in order to get ahead. I have come to realize that I certainly should have spent more energy on my studies in undergrad. It’s tougher than I thought to come from Ole Miss with a mediocre academic record and make it here. Everyone here has a degree, many of them with master’s degrees. The bar is set pretty high here in our nation’s capitol. So now, a couple years after leaving Ole Miss, I am endeavoring to atone for some of my past sins concerning schoolwork. For the first time in my life, I am actually spending more than cursory concern towards my academics. I actually bought the books for this semester, and what’s more is that I am actually actively reading them. It’s amazing how much more you get out of class when you do the reading and then pay attention (most of the time) in class. I have the utmost confidence and faith in my abilities, but it would have been nice starting from a place with more solid footing so to speak.
D.C. has been an interesting place these days. The inauguration was incredible. The city was electric and the atmosphere was like that of Mardi Gras in NOLA.
Continued March 5th.
Back to the inauguration. Jacqueline and I were unable to get to work since the whole city was shut down for the most part. We got up and had a nice breakfast, and then watched the festivities on television that morning. Once it got to be about 11:00am, we jogged down to the National Mall, watched the inaugural address, jogged home and watched the rest of the day on the news. For all those suckers who got up at 4:00am and froze their asses off all day long, it would have sucked to have been you. I left the house at 11:00, still made it down to where I could see a Jumbotron (trust me, 98% of the crowd had the same view that I did) and still was present for a moment which will go down as a keystone in our nation’s history, and got back home. The only differences were that I was 4 miles in better shape and a good deal warmer, and all of this was accomplished in only 90 minutes. Kudos to everyone who realized the moment for what it was. Our President was right though in making sure to point out the difficulties that we will face in the coming years. What this great nation needs is something to work for; some inspiration. JFK said in1961 that we would put a man on the moon in less than 10 years. At that point, we had never even put a man into orbit. In less than 10 years, the United States put a fucking man on the moon which was something that all generations of humans have dreamed about since our cerebral cortexes were evolved enough to allow for conscious thought.
I am going to jump around quite a bit, a lot has happened since my last entry and I guess I have a lot on my mind as well. Bear with me.
For this section, I have some minor book grievances to air out, plus a Subway shout-out. These aren’t necessarily new items, just a couple things that have been bothering me lately.
Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is a huge pussy. She could have slammed the door shut with absolute authority on what will go down as one of the greatest literary works of our time. Her books inspired millions to read and charged the imaginations of both children and adults all over the world. She could have ended her story in a way that would have been a coronation for Harry being one of the greatest tragic heroes of all time. It could have been epic. It could have been legendary. Instead, she sold out. She is dead to me.
Romans. The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon is too damn long and much too dry to ever conceivably read in its unabridged fashion. Seriously, I know he wrote it in the 18th Century, but please, how much time do you really have to have to write something like that, much less read it. Gibbon 1, Reeves 0.
Twilight. In another example of the whole Man:Mars –Woman:Venus thing, the great majority of the women that have read the books and seen the movie prefer the books. The guys tend to prefer the movie. Why? The movie cuts out all the boring romantic bullshit. Don’t get me wrong, I like romance just fine, it’s one of the joys of life; but when I have other shit to do, reading 100 pages worth of it just doesn’t get me going.
Five Dollar Footlongs. Quite possibly the best thing since crack.
Alright now, on to this years goals and aspirations.
Run a 10K in 40 minutes or less: Got injured last year and could not train adequately for this. Looking good so far this year.
Read 40 books. This is the year. I can feel it.
Begin saving in earnest. Have been pretty lazy about this. Once again, this is the year.
Naval Lodge representative to Allianza. It should be a tremendous help to my Spanish and to my understanding of Freemasonry by attending this lodge once a month.
Promotion. This one may be difficult given the economic circumstances.
Weekly music practice. I will never learn to play piano without practice. I have to make some progress this year.
Learn to draw. I always wanted to know how to draw. I have found I can teach myself just about anything, so here goes.
Write the book. I know for an absolute fact that my stupid stories will never be published. That being said, it never hurts to put it all down.
So it’s now well into the afternoon. Another long day and evening upcoming. No rest for the wicked. Looking forward to the weekend. Looking forward to getting some rest.
Live triumphantly.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Sandro Botticelli Was Gangster
This past weekend, I was walking through the National Gallery of Art with Jacqueline when I came across a peculiar painting. It was in Gallery 10 or something like that, which in this room the principal attraction is the only painting by Leonardi da Vinci that is kept in the U.S. While that painting was cool enough I suppose, there was another that caught my attention. Behind the da Vinci and to the right was a Botticelli painting that made my day. I like how people take their video cameras to art galleries and take video of the famous works. I can imagine those are some great home videos! And damn, my relatives never showed me any vacation movies from art galleries! I can just imagine the commentary...Either way, here is the painting that I am talking about.
Love him or hate him, Sandro Botticelli invented the West Side connection. Not only is this strapping gent throwing up the sign, but he even has that telltale gangsta lean going on. Not to mention that this guy is rocking the dew rag as well a pimp tunic. The painting is actually called "Portrait of a Youth", but who cares?
It has been mentioned to me that this blog has become, for lack of a better word, boring. Lines of white text on a black background. Simple, dark, unremarkable. Well, in taking this advice to heart, I will strive to insert a little living color here. Maybe some pictures and whatnot might pop up from time to time as well.
Now I just need to learn to insert some youtubery and all will be golden.
And just for good measure, here is one more for today. This one is of Coimbra, the town in Portugal where I lived for 7 months.
Monday, January 5, 2009
End of Year Recap
Well, here is the holiday letter that Jacqueline and I sent this year. If you want an email copy, just let me know.
Well this year has been another whirlwind of activity. For the sake of brevity, I will only hit the highlights.
For starters, Jacqueline and I found an awesome apartment in the Kalorama Triangle in Washington, D.C. It’s a great area and a really nice part of the city (in between Dupont Circle and Woodley Park/Adams Morgan). I am sure many of you have seen the pictures of the apartment and we have been busy upgrading ever since. We plan to stay in our current place for at least one more year before looking at moving up and out.
In February, we had the good fortune to take a vacation with Jacqueline’s family to Costa Rica. We flew into San Jose without mishap, rented a car, and boomed northwest to an area near the Volcano Arenal. I spent half a summer in Costa Rica several years ago and visited this great resort, Tabacon, at the foot of the Volcano. The only problem was, since I did not drive the trip myself, we underestimated the difficulty of making the trip in the dark through unfamiliar countryside. After some time was spent getting lost (read as horrendously lost) we finally made it to the resort. After hiking around the volcano the following morning, we spent some time relaxing in the hot springs before setting out for the Pacific Coast. We stayed with the rest of Jacqueline’s family in San Manuel Antonio, a beautiful surf town on the southwestern side of the country. While Costa Rica may only be about the size of West Virginia, getting around the country requires a great deal of time and patience. After arrival on the coast, the rest of the trip was quite relaxing. Between swimming in the pool and the ocean, walking along the beach, watching the monkeys, sunbathing, and relaxing, the rest of the trip was immensely pleasant.
In pursuit of higher education, both Jacqueline and I have been busy. I started a graduate school program in Global Communications/Latin American Affairs at George Washington University, while Jacqueline has been busy studying for the GMAT in advance of applying to business schools in the area.
Professionally, we are both doing very well. Jacqueline left BLS to begin a career in the financial sector and is now with Bessemer Trust, a wealth management firm for high dollar accounts. She is working in client account management and looks forward to moving up within her company. I am still working with Boeing in Missile Defense Systems and looking to climb up the corporate ladder myself.
In terms of health, we have both been great this year! Jacqueline’s immune system is still not quite back up to snuff, but greatly improved over last year. She has taken up yoga and loves it. Frankly, yoga is too hard for me, so I have stuck to running. However, I have developed some heel spurs recently; I guess it’s my first real harbinger of old age. I have gotten back on the exercise bike to maintain some fitness and in the weight room as well. We are both striving to eat well and making sure we get our daily vitamins.
Besides work, school, etc, we have both been extremely busy in D.C. Jacqueline joined a dance/cheerleading squad for a minor league football team and has had a great time doing it. She plans to try out for an arena league team next season. As for me, I followed in the footsteps of my grandfather and joined a Freemason lodge in the area. It has already been a tremendous experience with respects to charity and fellowship, and I look forward to growing within the organization. Otherwise, we have filled our time with numerous other pursuits. We met Senator John Glenn a few weeks ago and Senator Bob Dole during the summer months while showing friends around the city. We witnessed the bedlam that engulfed most of the city on election night. We happily cheered on participants of the National and Marine Corps marathons (thank goodness those are over with).
We had a good year in regards to sporting events as well. Boeing has a corporate suite at the new Washington Nationals stadium (baseball) that we were able to attend a few times. We made it to two Redskins games, a couple of Wizards games against the Cleveland Cavaliers (basketball), and also to a few Navy football games.
We have also had the good fortune to entertain some visitors this year. Thanks to all who were able to make it up and allowed us to share some of the good things about our city. It was great having all of you, and everyone certainly kept us on our toes. To Ms. Deborah, Mimi, Maria, Nate Dawg, John, Leslie, Stephanie P., Alison, Amy, Jerome, Carter, Stephanie B., Adam and everyone else if I have forgotten; thanks for visiting. I also got a great deal of practice if I ever do the tour guide thing like I am always talking about.
For the holidays, we will be spending a couple nights in Ohio with Jacqueline’s family and then heading south to my family in Alabama on the 21st. We are planning to spend a day or so in New Orleans before Christmas and taking in the sights of the Big Easy. (Voodoo tours!) Once again we are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza this year. I like to say that it makes us children of the world, but I think Jacqueline just likes it since she gets more presents…Oh well.
So, last but not least, a brief look at the year ahead. Weddings. That is all.
No, just kidding. The next year should bring nothing but success. Jacqueline’s brother, Pedro, is getting married to a wonderful woman in Cabo San Lucas in June, and we are looking forward to taking a week in the sun soaked beaches of Mexico. Another one of Jacqueline’s best friends, Jessica, along with some of her favorite cousins, Andrea and Ian, and her friend Sylvie are getting married as well! Congratulations to all of them and we wish them nothing but the best of luck in the future.
As for us, life will always be on the upswing. We have done pretty well in meeting our goals this year and I expect nothing short of another wonderful year in 2009. Thank you to all who have helped shape our experiences in this city. We have had some great opportunities here and we have built a good life for ourselves in our nation’s capitol. We hope everyone has the very best of holidays and a very happy New Year as well. We also would like to extend our warmest wishes for health, love, and happiness in the coming year!
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin
Well this year has been another whirlwind of activity. For the sake of brevity, I will only hit the highlights.
For starters, Jacqueline and I found an awesome apartment in the Kalorama Triangle in Washington, D.C. It’s a great area and a really nice part of the city (in between Dupont Circle and Woodley Park/Adams Morgan). I am sure many of you have seen the pictures of the apartment and we have been busy upgrading ever since. We plan to stay in our current place for at least one more year before looking at moving up and out.
In February, we had the good fortune to take a vacation with Jacqueline’s family to Costa Rica. We flew into San Jose without mishap, rented a car, and boomed northwest to an area near the Volcano Arenal. I spent half a summer in Costa Rica several years ago and visited this great resort, Tabacon, at the foot of the Volcano. The only problem was, since I did not drive the trip myself, we underestimated the difficulty of making the trip in the dark through unfamiliar countryside. After some time was spent getting lost (read as horrendously lost) we finally made it to the resort. After hiking around the volcano the following morning, we spent some time relaxing in the hot springs before setting out for the Pacific Coast. We stayed with the rest of Jacqueline’s family in San Manuel Antonio, a beautiful surf town on the southwestern side of the country. While Costa Rica may only be about the size of West Virginia, getting around the country requires a great deal of time and patience. After arrival on the coast, the rest of the trip was quite relaxing. Between swimming in the pool and the ocean, walking along the beach, watching the monkeys, sunbathing, and relaxing, the rest of the trip was immensely pleasant.
In pursuit of higher education, both Jacqueline and I have been busy. I started a graduate school program in Global Communications/Latin American Affairs at George Washington University, while Jacqueline has been busy studying for the GMAT in advance of applying to business schools in the area.
Professionally, we are both doing very well. Jacqueline left BLS to begin a career in the financial sector and is now with Bessemer Trust, a wealth management firm for high dollar accounts. She is working in client account management and looks forward to moving up within her company. I am still working with Boeing in Missile Defense Systems and looking to climb up the corporate ladder myself.
In terms of health, we have both been great this year! Jacqueline’s immune system is still not quite back up to snuff, but greatly improved over last year. She has taken up yoga and loves it. Frankly, yoga is too hard for me, so I have stuck to running. However, I have developed some heel spurs recently; I guess it’s my first real harbinger of old age. I have gotten back on the exercise bike to maintain some fitness and in the weight room as well. We are both striving to eat well and making sure we get our daily vitamins.
Besides work, school, etc, we have both been extremely busy in D.C. Jacqueline joined a dance/cheerleading squad for a minor league football team and has had a great time doing it. She plans to try out for an arena league team next season. As for me, I followed in the footsteps of my grandfather and joined a Freemason lodge in the area. It has already been a tremendous experience with respects to charity and fellowship, and I look forward to growing within the organization. Otherwise, we have filled our time with numerous other pursuits. We met Senator John Glenn a few weeks ago and Senator Bob Dole during the summer months while showing friends around the city. We witnessed the bedlam that engulfed most of the city on election night. We happily cheered on participants of the National and Marine Corps marathons (thank goodness those are over with).
We had a good year in regards to sporting events as well. Boeing has a corporate suite at the new Washington Nationals stadium (baseball) that we were able to attend a few times. We made it to two Redskins games, a couple of Wizards games against the Cleveland Cavaliers (basketball), and also to a few Navy football games.
We have also had the good fortune to entertain some visitors this year. Thanks to all who were able to make it up and allowed us to share some of the good things about our city. It was great having all of you, and everyone certainly kept us on our toes. To Ms. Deborah, Mimi, Maria, Nate Dawg, John, Leslie, Stephanie P., Alison, Amy, Jerome, Carter, Stephanie B., Adam and everyone else if I have forgotten; thanks for visiting. I also got a great deal of practice if I ever do the tour guide thing like I am always talking about.
For the holidays, we will be spending a couple nights in Ohio with Jacqueline’s family and then heading south to my family in Alabama on the 21st. We are planning to spend a day or so in New Orleans before Christmas and taking in the sights of the Big Easy. (Voodoo tours!) Once again we are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza this year. I like to say that it makes us children of the world, but I think Jacqueline just likes it since she gets more presents…Oh well.
So, last but not least, a brief look at the year ahead. Weddings. That is all.
No, just kidding. The next year should bring nothing but success. Jacqueline’s brother, Pedro, is getting married to a wonderful woman in Cabo San Lucas in June, and we are looking forward to taking a week in the sun soaked beaches of Mexico. Another one of Jacqueline’s best friends, Jessica, along with some of her favorite cousins, Andrea and Ian, and her friend Sylvie are getting married as well! Congratulations to all of them and we wish them nothing but the best of luck in the future.
As for us, life will always be on the upswing. We have done pretty well in meeting our goals this year and I expect nothing short of another wonderful year in 2009. Thank you to all who have helped shape our experiences in this city. We have had some great opportunities here and we have built a good life for ourselves in our nation’s capitol. We hope everyone has the very best of holidays and a very happy New Year as well. We also would like to extend our warmest wishes for health, love, and happiness in the coming year!
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin
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