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This Christmas season was bittersweet. I couldn’t help but think that it’s the 1st Christmas without my boy Reese since 2007. Max is a great companion, however.

I had Thanksgiving dinner with Josh and Aaron again this year. We watched Disenchanted after we ate. We had ‘dim the lights’ at work the first part of that week (work from home, no meetings) and of I was off Thursday and Friday.

I was ready for Christmas this year. I listened to more Christmas music. I saw some holiday commercials on TV and at the movie theater that made me a little emotional.

We had a ‘dim the lights’ week at work the week between Christmas and my birthday. We had Christmas dinner at Josh and Aaron’s, but there was about 7 of us this time. We played video games and did our while elephant exchange. On Christmas Day we had Chinese Dinner and my friend Nir’s place. There were about 5 of us, 2 who I had never met before.

I started feeling a little sick late on Christmas day. I’ve been sick since. Covid tests have all been negative. When one things starts to feel better, something else starts to get worse. Overall, I’m better than I was at the beginning of the week. It sucks because this was my vacation week and I’ve spent it all isolated inside. I’m probably going to miss the NYE party I’m supposed to be going to tomorrow.

I didn’t get as much this year as normal. I still have 3 exchanges that were moved to January because of the hectic holiday season. What did I get?

• a rainbow-colored beanie
• several video games (purchased for myself)
• God is Disappointed in You by Mark Russell and Shannon Wheeler
• Arboretum board game
• Finding Me by Viola Davis
• some soaps and creams
• Nike gift card

Update: 12/31/2022
I realized that I usually give end of year thoughts in the Christmas post and not in a separate post like I thought. At the past few years I’ve done it that way. So I’m updating this.

2022 has been challenging, most because of death. Reese passed away and exactly 1 month later one of my oldest friends died. My aunt passed away last month and last week we lost a cousin (I think he’s a cousin, but I’m not sure. I have a large extended family). Some people who I knew of in the local community passed and of course some celebrities I liked did to.

It wasn’t all bad. I got a new job, which is an FTE position like what I was hoping to find this last year. I’ve made some progress and adjustments healthwise and I still have a long way to go. I started playing guitar again. I incorporated PDX Gaymers as a nonprofit. I’ve met tons of cool people. And so much more.

I’m a little bummed out that I’m too sick to go out tonight, but the rest will be good for me. I know that likely nothing will be different tomorrow, but I am looking forward to seeing what 2023 holds for me.

Thanksgiving weekend is ending. It was a good weekend.

I worked maybe an hour on Thanksgiving and 2 or 3 hours on Friday. Monday – Wednesday were pretty light at work as well. I’ll be glad when I’m working full-time again and don’t have to work on the last 2 days of that week at least.

I had Thanksgiving with my friends Aaron and Josh in Tigard, who I’ve been spending more and more time with lately. They ordered a pre-cooked dinner from New Seasons and all they had to do was warm it up. It was delicious. We played Xbox games and played a Star Wars themed card game that’s a lot like Exploding Kittens. I played games on my own at home before and after. The only thing I didn’t get around to doing was resurrecting my tradition of working out early on Thanksgiving day. At one point I thought I would work out at home after I got back from Aaron’s but I should have known that wouldn’t happen.

Friday – Sunday, I was at home pretty much the whole time playing video games, watching TV and movies, reading a book, and making sure Reese was okay. It was a nice, relaxing weekend for the most part.

I am fortunate.

Christmas has been different this year.

I didn’t do much for Thanksgiving. I’m not that big into holidays, but Xander and I had made it a point to hang out on holidays. That changed earlier this year. On Thanksgiving, Xander was working his new dog sitting/housesitting job.  We did have lunch at My Father’s Place and ate breakfast food.

I wasn’t feeling the spirit this Christmas season.  I never even got all the way through my Christmas mix once, which I think is a first since I made it in 2006. It did snow on Christmas Eve and there was some left on Christmas Day. My vacations is Dec 22-Jan 1.  I let Xander borrow my car for work, so I was basically here by myself for 6 days in a row, Christmas being the 5th day of that.  It would have been difficult for him to do what he needed to without a vehicle. He didn’t come back home at the end of the day on Dec 24 and Dec 25. I wasn’t too happy about being alone and stranded on Christmas day.  My vacation has been better since the 26th.  It’ll have a strong finish.

Since presents are one of the few things I still like about this holiday and I always document my gifts, here is what I got this year for my birthday and Christmas:

• beer mug
• Reese’s, Kit-Kat, Skittles
• Rocks
• The Incredibles on blu-ray
• Texts from Dog calendar
• Armada by Ernest Cline
• Artemis by Andy Weir
• Mississippi State socks
• Guardians of the Galaxy expansion for Legendary
• Vanilla bean and warm tobacco pipe scented candles
• Star Wars droid storage containers
• Thor and Hulk pop vinyls
• voucher for Naked Wines
• several Christmas cards
• Pandemic and Shadows over Camelot board games (gifts from myself)

Once again, my friends did well.

Overall, I think this has been a good year personally.  Lots of fun, but some of what I’ve gone through and what close friends have gone through has made it challenging at times.  Hopefully, 2018 will be easier.

The main goal I have for next year is to live a healthy lifestyle again.  My success criteria will be having normal cholesterol and glucose levels when I have my annual exam in December.

I hope every one has a happy New Year.  Take care of yourself and each other.

Lately, I’ve really gotten into audiobooks.  I think it was last summer that I re-activated my Audible subscription.  I created an account to get that 1 free book years ago, but I canceled afterward and never even listened to the book.  Until last summer, that is.

I was reluctant to listen to audiobooks because I figured I would miss too many details.  When I listen to podcasts at work, I miss portions because I’m focusing on my work. However, I’ve found that there are tasks that I do during the day that I don’t need to focus on much,  so I’m able to focus on the book enough to catch what’s going on.  An example is that I spend about an hour in my car on an average day, so I can get a lot of listening done in my car.

I doubt that I would choose the audiobook for a book by one of my favorite authors or a book that comes highly recommended.  I have been able to experience books that are off my radar.  It’s allowed me to keep “reading” since though it’s harder for me to find the time to sit down and read a book these days.

It’s taken me a while to jump on the audiobook bandwagon because I love my paper books.  I hope to continue utilizing them for a long time.

I had a good Christmas this year.  I decided to remain in Portland this year. It’s nice to spend a holiday resting instead of traveling.  I missed seeing my family, but I didn’t mind missing out on the airports. I worked on Christmas Eve for the first time ever, but I did take a vacation from work beginning on Christmas Day and ending on New Year’s Day. On Christmas Day I saw two movies, two of many movies I plan to see during my break. I’m going to a game night on New Year’s Eve, but that’s the only social activity.  I have planned.

What did I get for my birthday and Christmas? My friends and family took very good care of me this year.

• Grimm lore book
• Batman figure
• The Shining by Stephen King
• Princess Mononoke on DVD
• 2(x)ist underwear
• Pizza pan
• Beanie
• Enterprise-D model
• C.O.P.S. Vol. 1 and 2 on DVD
• Batman snuggie

I sent my niece a toy Dora the Explorer guitar. I hear that she really liked it and was doing air guitar not long before she got her gift.

The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m not 100% sure what inspired me to read this book. I think it was the selection for a local book club I wanted to get involved with, but I think they changed their mind about this book because I haven’t seen any mention of it recently.

The main character wakes up in a park in London surrounded by bodies. She bruised and doesn’t remember who she is. She discovers that she’s a super-powered person and that she’s a member of a very old secret British organization that protects people from supernatural threats.

The Rook is definitely a page turner. I like that there’s a lot of humor in the book. It’s one that I would really like to made into a movie one day. I only have 1 issue with the book. The main character knew she would lose her memory and wrote letters to herself. The letters give the reader background on the organization and all the key players. These letters showed up way too frequently and sometimes went on way too long. Whenever the momentum started to pick up, I would be forced to read a long, boring letter.

In spite of that I highly recommend it to people who are fans of books like these.

I don’t think I’ll be posting these blurbs here anymore. Check out my Goodreads page if you want to know what I’m reading.

I think I rocked 2012.

• Listen to music more. I didn’t do so well in the first few months of the year, but it picked up after that.  Between new CDs, SiriusXM, and live music, I think I did well.
• Read 20 books. I read 20 books. I might be able to hit 21 by the end of the day.
• Go to a Halloween party. Okay, so I bought tickets to a Halloween party that I had heard about.  A few days before party, I got an email saying that they were going to change it to an indoor party, which meant fewer people could come.  They offered me ticket to a couples only event they were also having, but I didn’t have anyone to go with.  I decided to stay home that night.
• Go to a Christmas party. I went to my company’s Christmas party and had a great time.
• Buy new clothes. I bought new shoes, shirts, jeans, socks, and coats.  I almost bought a new suit, but they couldn’t get anything to fit me when I needed it.
• Meet new people. I’ve met new people at work and outside of work.  I need to hang out with them more.
• Do social gaming. I’ve done more social gaming this year.  It’s been all online.  P.A.X. inspired me to do more board gaming, but so far that hasn’t gone anywhere.  I recently found out about a couple of groups trying to get a regular gaming night going, but with the holidays nothing got off the ground.  Maybe in the new year.
• Start buying collectibles. I’ve been doing a good job of growing my collection of geeky items.  Following Brian’s suggestion, I’ve been documenting them on Facebook, Google+, and Flickr.

What a great year this has been.  I moved across the country to a great city with lots of exciting things to do.  I’ve made new friends and I have a job that I love.I’m not going to make a list for 2013.  I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.

The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a step down from the past few volumes, but only a small step. There was a little too much whining from Dale and a little too much talking about how much Rick has changed. We did see a certain character return that I had been hoping to see again, so that was good.

The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this volume. It starts out focusing mostly on Rick and Carl, but other characters come in later. We find out the fates of the characters that we were unsure of at the end of the last volume and we meet some new ones. It seemed mostly like a setup volume, but it was still great.

The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another great volume. It started out in the Governor’s camp right after our survivors escaped and showed the intervening time from their point of view. It quickly got the point where the last volume ended. There was a lot of action and the death toll was high. The fates of a lot of characters are up in the air. Once again, I can see elements that the TV show borrowed but changed up a little. My goal is to get caught up on the comics before the show resumes in February.