Hilarious that I began last year saying it was a relatively stable year. Little did I know my “little” stint between jobs was going to last as long as it did (six months) and affect me so much. This year was overall a mixed bag. Continue for more…

Job

It is telling that this is the first thing I feel like writing. I’ve written extensively about job seeking and interviewing. I’m confident I know far too much on both subjects. The jobless time period was terrible. It devoured every minute and bit of energy I had, both physically and mentally. To cut it short, we’ve been financially responsible so it was no problem there and I landed my dream job doing exactly what I’m a superstar at at easily one of the best tech companies to work for, Netflix. Couldn’t have had a better ending, but man was it tough.

Kids

They’re getting so big. Hurray clichés! Really though, a couple of hikes ago I retired our kid backpack, which really just means they’re on my shoulders now.

Mia is a real kid now attending pre-k. She has “married” a girl down the street, might be a bit too opinionated, and has all the sass in the world once she gets comfortable in a setting, which takes a lot of time. Looking at pictures of her from a year ago is mind-blowing; she has changed so much.

Bryn is still our baby and loves learning along with Mia; letters, numbers, and sass. She continues to be super squeezable, loves hugs and snuggling, and I fear every day that may fade. When Mia went to pre-k, Bryn also moved “schools” to one on a farm. She absolutely loves animals and being outside so it has been a great fit.

While their favorite thing is likely fighting with one another, they also enjoy wrestling with me, hiking, biking, gymnastics, swimming, and have even begun skiing.

Travel

Not much happened until I had work figured out because we wanted to be smart about our finances, but we managed to eventually get a lot in!

In April, we took a relatively short road trip north to Montreal. We found a crazy deal on a sizable condo for the weekend, did a bunch of kid stuff and walking, and hung out with some old friends who were living there at the time. We need to get up that way more. It is closely than any large US city and feels like Europe. Interestingly, it is a good winter destination as well; their weather is a bit more moderate than ours thanks to mountains and stuff.

In May, the whole crew of us went down to DC for the Race For Hope. Dad and Karen met us there. We stayed with Greg again, which is such a blessing as his three daughters love playing big sister.

In June I made my way down to NH to bum a ride back up to Maine (due to lack of highways, driving can be a bit roundabout here) to resuscitate Chris’ “annual” rafting trip. Was an excellent day on the water and seeing the guys, but too short.

We took the girls camping twice with mixed success. Our first issue was a new borrowed (now ours) tent that was enormous and lacked good instructions (some items had been replaced, but not noted and the instructions were bad without those problems) and our second was rain. Overall, I think we did well and the girls had fun regardless. Both our sites had standard shelters so I’m thinking I might invest in a bug net and staple gun this coming year; way easier and gets us actually using the space for more than dancing. It is fun seeing what different campgrounds offer and would love to trade details with folks. We went to Jamaica (quiet, out of the way) and Lake St. Catherine (the big time with a lake, amenities, and amazing mountain biking across the street).

In September, we did our now annual trip to “our” rustic resort in The Adirondacks. It was a bit chillier this year, but the girls don’t mind frigid swimming for some reason.

Hot off that trip, Rebecca and I headed to Portland for her best friend’s wedding. This was my first time back in two years and it was lovely. Visiting old haunts, hanging out on familiar couches, seeing the old neighbors, and to finish it off we “hosted” a park picnic to which ~20 folks showed.

I was able to get out to work HQ in Los Gatos for a semi-annual all-hands with my organization. It was super cool to meet people in person, but I came down with hand-foot-mouth disease on day two and had to keep to my hotel room or an abandoned floor of the office, masked. I’m very much looking forward to the next visit.

For our fifth anniversary, I surprised Rebecca with a trip to the White Mountains for a summit of Mount Washington. We were playing with fire given a mid-October summit attempt, but the weather gods were in our favor and gave us a great one. Tough hike. Jackson, NH, will be revisited.

To finish the year, Mia and I made our way down to North Carolina to see my family. We split our time between my sister and dad, went to the beach twice, trampoline park, hiking, I sniped a pair of Strava running KOMs, and had loads of great food and cookies. The budget airline we took out of New Haven last year opened up a nonstop from Hartford, which has better dates and is an easier drive (still 2.5 hours, but ~5 turns) for us so that’s what we chose.

Beyond our travels, we hosted probably half a dozen people for nights, weekends, or weeks. Hoping we catch more of that every year.

House

A big year for this 127 year old place.

We painted the exterior green (err “jojoba”), painted a bunch of the interior various colors over the winter, and had the roof replaced, which will likely not need to be redone until I’ve left this earth.

Smaller projects entailed installing a new garage door opener, playing with and failing at concrete work (twice, but I knew I was failing the second time), and caulking the heck out of the interior trim and windows. Maybe we’ll save a few bucks on heating this season?

There’s still a lot of work remaining and I suspect it will never really end as we do most of the smaller stuff ourselves. If money were no object we could probably have a handyman in for a month and have it all done.

This coming year we’d like to get the wood stove situation figured out – either put a new high efficiency stove in the living room or rework everything about the existing stove in the kitchen. Both jobs are in the five figures so we need to think long and hard about it. I’d also like to get around to doing some more decoration; walls are still fairly bare and a lot of our accessories aren’t cohesive or appropriate for this home. Little, fun things.

Reading

Read 26. A lot of stuff that had been in my queue for a decade or more for good reason; dry and boring, which affected my desire to read. I only thoroughly enjoyed a couple of Vermont nonfiction items (1, 2) and one on computer history. I started into the Wheel of Time series, but after completing one I don’t think I’ll be proceeding.

Wellness

It was a relatively good year. Most importantly, I began PT and alleviated a hip injury that hampered much of last year. This allowed me to walk more and even run with some confidence and surprising speed.

I’ve started doing multi-week bike racing tours online, which also served to send my cycling ability through the roof (seeing my best numbers ever). Recognizing my time is limited I also spent a lot more time “in the red” as opposed to a lot of the empty miles I have always done. The result? A 10% increase in power numbers.

Interestingly, this year I also saw some weight gain. Even when eating my best, I can’t get below what used to be my “standard” weight. At regular times, I’m six pounds heavier than I’ve been for ages. The performance boosts I’ve seen have outweighed this (haha get it?) so it’s really just my body being where it needs to be. Unless I’m targeting something super specific that will benefit from less weight, I’m not going to worry about it.

Oh and did I mention I got back into running? My virtual cycling team is a bunch of triathletes. Our cycling software supports running and there is a weekly duathlon. I picked up a cheap treadmill from a neighbor, attached a bluetooth sensor to it, and am running sub-18 minute 5Ks regularly after 35 minute bike TTs. I’ve run outside only limited amounts, but enough to know treadmills certainly provide some artificial speed. I know I can run sub-18 pace for at least one mile outside, but for 3.1? I kind of doubt it. Anyway, good to be back running well. Hoping to do more this coming year outdoors. I’d be over the moon to find a duathlon!

The data:

  • Burned 293k calories versus sitting on my butt (+33k).
  • Rode 6048 miles (+675). I should really be measuring by time here because the 6000 this year probably rivals my personal best of 8000 in 2017 when you factor in conditions (gravel, elevation, effort).
  • Didn’t do any proper races as I only signed up for one, got sick, and had to cancel. Did have a good time at a few touring events, “placing” 2nd in one I tried hard in, and top-5 in another I was ill-prepared for.
  • Did some more good KOM work, nabbing 16 riding and two running. Developing some healthy rivalries in town and in nearby towns too.
  • Virtually, tallied 30 wins (+22), 31 2nds (+28), 7 3rds (+4). I’m currently bouncing between A-class and B-class so I’m either getting dead last or winning with relative ease. Entertaining? It at least means I’m progressing. It should be noted I entered 168 races this year versus 75 last year. Again, trying a lot harder due to limited time.
  • Ran 50 miles (+42) with a 17:40 5K best following a 35-minute all-out bike ride. On treadmill so big asterisk.
  • Hiked 27 hours (+15).
  • Walked 260 miles (+42).
  • PT and strength combined for 17 hours (+10).
  • Didn’t snowboard at all last winter, but didn’t blank the year with three days to close out the year at the end of December.

2024 Goal Review

Nailed it!

  • ✅ Figure out this hip situation, get back to all the things I like to do on my feet. — went to a physical therapist, began a route, was able to walk a full amount and even began running again.
  • ✅ Land a job.
  • ❌ Feel good about my Overland performance. — This gets a pass. I put the work in and had confidence, but got sick and had to cancel.
  • ✅ Get the roof and exterior paint done.

2025 Goals and Plans

  • Continue PT and core work routines. I got sick late in the year and never picked them back up. I can feel my hip started to get cranky again and just need to be stronger in places other than my legs.
  • Keep on loving and kicking ass at work.
  • Do a little bit more wellness than last year – my private goals all increased a few %. As the kids need less and with stable work I think I can comfortably do a bit more.
  • Race more in real life. Gravel, MTB, and running. Already in the works.
  • Get another major (but less so) project done on the house. Wood stove or deck.

Noteworthy Posts / Links

Past Years

This was my 19th Year In Review in a row. See 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. Yes, I realize posts from 10+ years ago are broken. There was a web host migration this year, which broke this. Fixing it is not trivial as the old site had security vulnerabilities. Maybe soon? I said that last year… Leaving for posterity.