It feels like I just wrote one of these. But not really. It's such a strange time of life, that feels both hurried and slow. I'm told this has a lot to do with parenting.
Parenthood was challenging as ever, but I'm proud of the way our little boy is growing up. We started the year with an official diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), to compliment the previously diagnosed Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). These probably sound terrible, but honestly it has just meant an extra layer of learning and understanding to help him overcome these developmental delays.
At the core of Simon's upbringing is absolutely his mom. Diana is the most amazing mother possible. Sometimes she's not confident, like any parent, but she tends to get it right. Her ability to always keep on school stuff, therapy, etc., is remarkable and detailed.
Starting in the fall, Simon started attending both the small class with other kids needing some developmental help, but also a regular preschool class. While I was worried that this would completely exhaust him, and some days it does, there's no doubt that it has been really good for him. His teachers are really great, and the one in particular really seems to get him, having a daughter (now adult) who had similar issues. At this point he's at least trending toward an on-time kindergarten start. He's still struggling with fine motor skills around writing, drawing and coloring, but spelling is coming fast to him. I think being in that structured environment is conditioning him to understand that sometimes he has to do work. That's good because, like me, he tends to not be interested in doing anything he doesn't care about.
Simon had a really good ABA therapist for part of the year before the new school year started, and she came to our house. She was making amazing progress with some of his behavior issues, particularly those that involved a lot of unintentionally violent contact (generally with my balls). Worth every penny, obviously! When school started, we lost her because of scheduling, and that sucked. Many weeks later we started with a replacement, but she was not a good fit at all, so he's not getting any outside therapy right now.
Outside of his learning endeavors, this felt like the year where he finally became a communicator, especially in the last six months. We don't always understand him, but he can mostly have conversations. Heck, the kid insists on ordering for himself at restaurants. It's so neat to see all of this personality pouring out of him. While the ASD manifests itself in certain ways, we're fortunate that it's not in any of the ways that make him seem antisocial or distant. He's a talker, he's very affectionate and very polite and kind. He has his defiant moments (or days), but as his teacher likes to say, he's just trying to assert his independence. It's good to have potty training in the past, and the use of a fork and spoon in the present. It's easy to forget those days are relatively new.
As much as I have in the past tried to convince myself that I shouldn't define myself by my career (in part because it reduces flexibility in changing it), this was a really outstanding year. I started the year in an extension of my contract job at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment as a software architect. While it was clear that the job wasn't going to convert to full-time (if you've been following the headlines, you can probably figure out why), it was a very dense year of work, and I'm really happy with it.
The SeaWorld gig wasn't always ideal, but it helped me in a lot of my soft skills, especially around politicking the right things, taking my own ego out of the equation, mentoring, coaching, etc. I had to learn to let go a little bit of certain things around execution, because I had so many different things to do, context switching constantly. The process was not ideal at all, but I feel like I left the place in better shape than it was in when I got there. Oh, and I obviously care a great deal about theme parks, so you probably couldn't match me up to a better industry.
Many months before the end of the contract work, I started to look around at potential opportunities, and got involved locally by doing a speaking gig for the user group, then a couple of talks for the huge code camp event we have here. That scored some visibility for AgileThought, which was hiring some folks for the Orlando office, and that's where I ended up.
My previous experience with companies that work on an agency model has been a total disaster. Every one of them have been awful, and none of them lasted very long. However, this company has an exceptionally good reputation, and is known to be full of really excellent people. After more than half of a year, I can confirm that all of this is true, and it's awesome. I'm not even remotely the smartest person in the room, it's OK to say, "I don't know, but I'll ask for help and figure it out," and the process is awesome. If that weren't enough, there is no mandate to go into an office (aside from meeting clients where appropriate), but those of us local to Orlando go in anyway at least twice a week. It's really the best of both worlds, remote and colocation.
But it's the people... man, I can't emphasize that enough. I've said for a long time that surrounding yourself with awesomeness is a key action to becoming awesome yourself. Even as a Tampa-centric company, we've got people everywhere who are so good at what they do, and share their expertise liberally.
My position, as a technical architect, is to not just set standards, design stuff and do code reviews. I have accountability for the technical execution of projects, as well as the developers in my charge. Some projects involve a lot of bootstrapping and coding, others might require none at all. It appeals to my strengths in a lot of ways. I'm pleased to say that my first project just wrapped, and it was a great success. While I'm sure I had something to do with that, I couldn't have done it without the great people I was talking about.
I was the happiest I had been in a long time professionally working at SeaWorld, and I'm relieved that it's even better in this newer job. I hope this one lasts a very long time.
On a side note, Diana has re-entered the workforce for the first time since getting laid-off by Key about five years ago. She's working part-time at the arts center downtown, and I'm happy that she finally gets to spend more time with adults!
After somewhat irrationally diving right back into the housing market within a few weeks of living in Florida last year, we closed on our new house in late February. Diana and I finally have our very own, slightly-customized McMansion that is wholly ours to identify with. That made for five moves in just over four years. Moving almost felt easy this time, but I'd rather not do it again for awhile.
The buying experience was just completely awful. The banks are completely insane about documenting everything, to the extent it's almost an invasion of privacy. And mind you, my credit score is 800, so I can only imagine what someone goes through with a lower score. We almost walked away in the 11th hour, when they wanted to pay my substantial federal tax bill at closing. I had to back out contributed money from my IRA to pull off that trick, and I'm hoping I did the math right to avoid a penalty.
Because we put so much into the purchase, we've been somewhat casual in terms of settling into the place by buying stuff. Curtains have been an extraordinarily slow process, for example. But we do have some stuff on walls, we've right-sized our furniture collection, and we have rough priorities over what we would like to do still. For me at least, it's hard to spend a lot of time and money on further doing "house stuff" because I feel relatively comfortable already. Still, I know there is stuff that still needs to get done.
The hardest thing about it all is probably the financial hit. Being an epic money saver for a year and then draining it all wasn't a great feeling considering the burden that my previous house was. I'd like to be optimistic about the future and value of the house, that I might actually get that money back out some day, but who knows. It's up $20k in the first year, if you believe Zillow, so that's a good start. My mortgage is actually less than the one I had in Cleveland, for significantly more house. That should add context about what an awful situation that was.
For all of the strange feelings around a need to feel a sense of mobility and settling down, I have to admit that I like having a place that's uniquely ours. I started to feel more strongly about it once I started working from home part time. It's cozy, and it's filled with love when the rest of the team is home.
It's hard to really assess your financial condition when you buy a house. The savings effort was epic, and unlike anything I've ever had enough discipline to pull off. We really didn't vacation during that time, and we generally avoided being stupid about spending.
After closing on the house, it was hard to save money. There were a lot of reasons, including our pent-up vacation desire, some amount of house furnishing, and a pretty significant amount for Simon's therapy (which in my mind was non-negotiable in terms of being required). We ended the year with a smaller savings account than I would have liked, but it wasn't a total disaster. I have to keep in mind that half the year I was also contributing to a 401k, so that counts too.
Still, I did keep to my important declaration that "thou shalt not carry a balance" with credit cards. That used to be so hard for me, but I've stuck to that since mostly paying everything down while we lived in Seattle. I hate the idea of ever operating like that again.
We've been huge boosters for Give Kids The World for years now. The great thing about living down here though is that we've gone beyond donating money, and now we can give them time. Diana has pretty consistently volunteered once a week, or every other. I've done mostly fund raising help, since I was a "founder" of sorts for the annual Coasting For Kids event. I remind people that even though it's a local charity for me, it's global in reach. They've probably hosted families from your home town.
I also had a few chances to donate some video work at the Dr. Phillips Center, which I'll talk more about later. Money is easy, and these organizations definitely need cash, but it's a lot more personal when you can give time.
I need to do more though. I live a decent life, that has not been without its shitstorms. I feel that if I'm capable of philanthropy, it's very much my duty. I'm challenging myself to get more involved this year.
This is an area that was kind of neutral in terms of progress. Last year I bought a Fitbit, and being accountable for my activity and food intake allowed me to easily knock off a few pounds, and more importantly not feel like a slug. There isn't a day that I haven't had that thing on me, but late in the year I stopped logging food. By some miracle, I haven't gained any weight, but I know I don't feel as good as I did. I've been eating like kind of a moron, and since working remotely, I'm not walking nearly enough.
In any case, I'm self-aware, and I just need to adjust my lifestyle again and get back into that groove. While not an excuse, I know that my mental bandwidth has been used up, and I'm not prioritizing right. What's good is that I don't feel as good, and I would rather that I did, so shifting the priorities should come pretty quickly. I mean, I don't have to go to an office most days, so I have no excuse about not getting out more.
We've now been Florida residents for a year and a half. In some ways, the state is almost as screwed up politically as Ohio, but you know, you tend to overlook a lot of things when you have so much blue sky and no snow. I can't understand how I didn't end up here years ago.
That lack of winter is really the big deal. Cleveland winters were so mentally awful for me. Summers here, oddly, remind me of Seattle winters only 40 degrees warmer. Count on a little rain (OK, actually a wrath-of-God downpour), but trust that you'll also see the sun.
And of course, there's always something to do. We're outside more than we ever were, year-round, living in Cleveland. We have experienced neat stuff like rocket launches, gator sightings, a unique zoo, an amazing downtown scene, some great local restaurants, etc.
Oh, and of course there are the Disney theme parks we live next to. We didn't visit nearly as much this year because of Simon's school schedule, but they're still super fun. The novelty hasn't worn off, but we definitely have a particular m.o. in terms of how we visit. It's usually only during non-busy times, only if we can get Fastpasses that day, and rarely more than four hours unless we're visiting with out-of-town friends (which happens a lot). We stay far away at times like spring break and Christmas.
We still find ourselves missing Seattle in certain ways. We had a nice social circle there, I enjoyed hanging out with my brother-in-law's family, and of course it's just a generally more progressive and vibrant part of the world. Oh, and of course it's beautiful in ways that few places are. I still think that it's objectively a "better" place, but it doesn't necessarily win over Central Florida. It's different, but we love it here too. I think in an ideal world, I'd live in Seattle in the summer, and here the rest of the year.
We have a growing social circle now. It's a little slow going, but that's OK. There are a circle of good people I know via work, and I even recruited my neighbor into the company. There are many neighbors with kids around the same age as Simon, so in that respect it's a good fit for us. Our circles expand via Diana's contact with other parents of kids with developmental delays, and through volunteering at GKTW. I'm gradually (though not as much as I'd like) getting more active in the local developer community.
Close friendships still don't come very easy to me, but I'm fortunate to have moved to where my best friend was already living. I can't even quantify how much easier it is to move to a place where you have a kind of personal guide like that. And if that weren't enough, she babysits Simon gratis, and engages with him in a non-trivial way that he responds to. She invites Diana out to do stuff. It's fantastic to have someone you can count on like that.
Once again, we managed to see all kinds of people from around the country as they passed through Orlando. That continues to be on one of my favorite parts about living here. Everyone gets here eventually. Our friends from Chicago were here in the spring and we cruised with them. A great many friends will be here in January for a wedding, too. I'm super excited about that.
This might be the year that I started to back off a little on gadgetry. While I did (as planned) replace a laptop and tablet, I didn't replace my desktop, which has been relegated to the family room, and mostly Simon's use. Not saying I won't replace it next year, but relative to my normal year, this was good. I didn't buy any camera gear at all. I got to the end of the year without replacing my phone, and I waited more than a year for an Xbox One, and then only because the discounts got super deep (and I'm a Halo junkie).
I've backed off of the Internet a little, too. Sure, I post as many photos of my kid and my darling wife as possible (for family, of course), but I've tried to back off a little on overall content consumption. I think I realized at some point that I was too engaged in too many things that largely did not improve my life. It's probably most obvious by the way I've had less to write about on my blog.
Of course, there was one surprising entry into our technology portfolio: An electric car. It happened quickly, but it was also premeditated. Ever since I rented a Nissan Leaf back in the late spring of 2013, I was super interested. Between that and the Tesla Model S, it seemed like EV's had really arrived, at least for commuting purposes. So when Diana's car blew a coolant hose to the transmission, allegedly ruining it (the dealer replaced it under the 100k drivetrain warranty), we decided to get into the EV game on a 2-year lease basis.
The Leaf is a really fun car to drive, and we're spending under 3 cents per mile on energy for it. Range is a non-issue, because it's hard for us not to be a two-car family, and the other car is a Prius V. I'm so not a car guy, and certainly don't care about auto-as-status, but electric is pretty exciting to me.
I feel like I finally took a little time to rediscover some of the things that I love to do. I busted out my cameras a lot more than I have in recent years. Sure, it was mostly to photograph my kid, but I realized when choosing some photos to frame for my office that I've had some really great moments that I'm proud to have captured (only three of those framed photos fit that category, but the point is I reviewed a lot of photos). I'm reminded of something a college professor told me that feels true as ever: Great photos have nothing to do with gear, it's mostly frequency. Sometimes you get lucky. After having glass in my hands for something like 25 years, I can certainly say that I'm experienced, but the best of the best that I've shot happened because of the sheer volume, and not so much intention. The more you shoot, the more likely you'll capture something great.
Similarly, I thought more about video than I have in the recent past. After getting a professional credit in 2013, for the first time in about seven years, I realized that I missed it even though it's a tough business to be in. This year, I spontaneously resolved to just get something recorded, cut and finished in a few hours, quality and technique be damned. That exercise resulted in a short I did about a typical night with Simon, and the guy who wrote the song I used featured it on his YouTube channel. (It's still hard to let go of everything technically wrong with it.) Later in the year I volunteered time and gear doing some shooting for the Dr. Phillips Center For The Performing Arts, which was fun because it required little more from me beyond taking direction. (Small world: The creative director at the time was a producer for Blair Witch Project, and we both got started in earnest with non-linear editing using Media100 systems.)
I don't diversify my leisure activity enough, and maybe part of the issue is that I strongly prefer to create things as a result of that activity.
It's hard to believe, but we returned to Ohio three times this year. Two of those were to Cincinnati and Kings Island, the first for media day, the second for a CoasterBuzz event. We had a shockingly good time in both cases, staying at the beautiful Great Wolf Lodge. It's crazy how much that park has improved in recent years, and Simon loved it. Banshee is a fantastic ride.
We also went back to Cleveland for the GKTW Coasting For Kids event at Cedar Point. The event was supposed to be Sunday, and we were staying three nights over the weekend, with a generous comp room no less! That Friday night was both Coastermania and the Luminosity kickoff party. It was such an amazing night, and it felt like a homecoming to see everyone. Unfortunately, early the next morning, the Great Water Main Break of 2014 happened, shuttering the park for the weekend. It was really heartbreaking, especially for Simon who loves the park even with Magic Kingdom in his back yard. We were fortunate enough to do a whirlwind of rides that Monday morning before flying home, thanks in part to our friends at the park.
For Thanksgiving, we finally made it back to my in-law's North Carolina cottage in the mountains. The drive was much longer than I expected, but otherwise it was such a nice getaway from our routine. I didn't have to take time off because I simply worked from there. It was a little chilly when we left, but they have such a cozy place. We had not been there in almost two years, going for Thanksgiving 2012, then leaving Simon with Nana and Papa as Diana and I did a Disney week.
We took three cruises this year, all the same three-night itinerary leaving from Port Canveral. I can barely wrap my head around that. We did one early the year before, which seemed largely experimental at the time, and this year we went kind of nuts, as we were vacation starved leading up to the house purchase. Aside from the obvious fact that we enjoy these trips, there are a lot of reasons they make sense.
Living in Orlando means the port is just an hour down the road, and that's low-stress. There are Florida resident discounts. And frankly, the value is extraordinary compared to a lot of other options. If the three of us fly anywhere, we've spent a grand before we've actually done anything or put our heads on a pillow. Add a hotel, food and activities, and you're flirting with two grand. The itinerary we've been doing is often around $1,400 and includes everything except alcohol. I wouldn't call that inexpensive at all, but there isn't any travel that I've ever done that's as worry-free and makes me feel so well taken care of.
All of our cruising has been aboard Disney ships, and that will likely continue. It's not because of the mouse (really, outside of proximity, I'm not sure I would classify us as "Disney people"), but more because the quality of the experience has been awesome and we're racking up loyalty perks. When we're in port with three or four other ships, the thing that is so striking is that there's a certain classic elegance about the Disney boats. They invoke a feeling of sophistication or something, with elements of fantasy. It's hard to explain, but you know it when you step into that atrium for the first time.
I will say that we definitely have more fun on the cruises with friends or family. The first one in 2012 was with family, and this year we did one with our friends from Chicago. I'm not saying the Team Puzzoni-only cruises aren't fun, but it's even better with others.
This was an ugly year for news. The politics were as awful as usual, and we had our share of scary things like terrorism (primarily overseas), disease, catastrophic weather, race issues and xenophobia... it really felt like the world was falling apart at times. I think what bothered me the most was that people are just so determined to hate on other people. I don't understand this insatiable desire to classify people in some way, and then tear down that group. Homosexuals, immigrants, African-Americans (still?), the poor, the rich, Christians, Muslims, even rape victims. Why are people so hell bent on going to war with someone? Everything is a versus situation, and must have winners and losers.
Younger me would have jumped right in and gotten involved, but I just don't have it in me lately. The more obvious reason is that my immediate zone of influence is far more important to me. The less obvious reason, and the one slowly becoming more clear to me, is that I've evolved to a degree into this third party that holds contempt for any two opposing views. It's like I see self-labeled Republicans or Democrats tearing down the other based on really stupid shit when there are perfectly legitimate and constructive reasons to criticize. Why aren't we having those conversations instead?
It's exhausting to argue with people who don't want to be challenged or think critically on their own, so why bother? I hate that this results in apathy. To be continued.
For as long as I've been doing these annual retrospectives, I didn't start asking this question until 2010, which was one insane year. In 2011 I candy-coated the ending where we mistakenly moved to Cleveland, and in 2012 I was like, yeah, that was stupid, but at least I worked from home and had a great home life. Then there was great decision to move to Florida last year, and here we are.
Happy means a lot of things, but it doesn't mean a constant state of euphoria. What it's really about is whether or not the general course of your daily life gets you out of bed. While the stress of the house purchasing definitely put me on edge, the net result of the year is that I'm probably the happiest I've been in my entire life. Seriously, I thought hard about whether or not I could really make that claim. Even with the self-awareness of things I'm not crazy about, this is the best place I've ever been mentally and emotionally.
I would like next year to be even better, but I'd settle for as-good. I'm not sure I can realistically expect it, but I'll do my best. I'm pretty excited about 2015.
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