Happy new year everyone.  2009 was interesting and I have some big things planned for 2010.  First I’ll review 2009.

I feel like I’ve settled into the dramatic org changes at IBM.  I had 2 new bosses and 3 new jobs, but the project I am on currently is solid, engaging, and promising.  So IBM is good.  I started off reading a great deal at the beginning of the year.  And I finally squeezed more fiction into my selections.  But I stopped reading around summertime.  Not sure why.  Also stopped blogging in the fall.  Previously, I’d been blogging 2 or 3 times a week – inside the IBM firewall – for a couple of years.  No doubt several factors came into play but one of my 2010 resolutions is to start blogging again.  Of course, I’ll innovate and writing on WordPress is my effort to mix it up.  I kept up my guitar lessons all year and might actually be learning to play.  I can’t believe I went 46 years without ever playing an instrument.  It’s a kick.

I hooked up with 2 longtime high school friends.  Rob Graham moved to Grand Junction this summer.  We ran together on Track and Cross Country at Round Rock HS.  Rob is a professional trainer and master hiker.  We hiked several peaks in Colorado including my 1st 14er – Pike’s Peak.  This led to me getting in better shape.  I dropped a few pounds, decreased my caffeine and alcohol, and have dramatically increased my running regime.  Then, on a business trip to Atlanta, I met up with Mike O’Neill.  Another HS buddy – we hadn’t seen one another in over 10 years.  Both Rob and Mike are doing well and it was incredibly cool seeing them again.

My proudest moment of the year was watching my teenage daughter perform as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.  I hosted a little soiree at my neighborhood sushi joint after her 1st night to celebrate.  Another biggie for the year was building an office in my basement.  I’ve been working from home for over a year now and really needed some real estate to myself.  Now for 2010.

I am starting the new year working on my vacation – which sort of sucks but it’s a decent project so I don’t mind.  My resolutions for the year include fitness and financial control.  I finally am in the mood to run road races again.  I love racing and am running consistently enough to aim for some 5Ks and 10Ks this spring.  Financially, I am taking my savings back from my financial adviser.  Nothing personal but I demonstrated to myself I can put the requisite time into it.  The 1st site I visit every morning is my Fidelity 401K to monitor its progress.  I actively managed it – reallocating at least once per quarter – and finished the year up 30.5%.  I was 401K day-trading the 1st quarter until I received a nasty cease-and-desist letter from Fidelity.  I feel I’ve developed the discipline to stay on top of my retirement and the kid’s custodian accounts.  I’m currently googling financial SW for the Mac OSX.  Most of it runs only on Windows.  I want to learn how to use those Chinese candlestick charts for buy and sell signals.  I plan to trade stocks rather than mutual funds.  Wish me luck.