Christmas Card Insert

At the very start of 2005, here are 10 things of note from my 2004:

#10 After a couple of years of doing the work, over this summer my boss decided it was time for me to have the title to go along with it and so I was officially named option coordinator of Production Technology & Management. Although it didn’t really feel like a promotion, I guess it was.

#9 Some bizarre combination of my friend Peg, a new computer, and high speed internet at home possessed me and caused me to start writing this blog. It’s been a lot of fun for me, a cool way to keep in touch with many many friends, and a nice outlet for writing. It may even be entertaining – jury’s still out on that one.

#8 This past summer, Marisa got a lighting design on a local production of Big Love. It was a very successful production, with cool people. A picture she took was included with the review in the paper. It may be proof that her staying here with me hasn’t doomed her to an unending list of electrics jobs. My fingers are crossed.

#7 The road from my grad thesis presses on. ESTA spun off ETCP. ETCP absorbed the Rigging Working Group I proposed as a member of the Certification Program Committee and took up the work on a rigging certification. Somehow at this juncture I was named a Theatrical Rigging Subject Matter Expert by some of the best riggers in the country. There should be a running certification program by the end of 2005.

#6 Marisa and I went shopping for patio furniture and came home with two kittens: Bra'tac and Freya. They have been the most fun and I am so glad we adopted them. Bra’tac is slowing turning from all black into something that looks like a panda. Freya likes to sit on my chest and clean my face. Too much fun.

#5 I found a lump on Trinity’s hip that turned out to be cancer. We took her to this whiz-bang Vet that explained I could take her to Ohio for chemo or she could have surgery. We bit the bullet and had the operation and so far it’s a complete recovering with no recurrence.

#4 I have independent testimony that I have almost become nice. I couldn’t tell you if its due to Marisa or kittens or creative pharmacology or whatever, but it is definitely there. Its something that I have been working with and around for quite some time and although I am sure I’m not finished its nice to know I’m making real headway.

#3 My student loans are paid off. They can no longer come and repossess my brain. I wonder if this means it is time to go back to school again?

#2 Marisa and I bought a house. It was both the most suspiciously easy and annoyingly complicated experience. So now I have a place with a yard, a driveway, and a mortgage – and a list of home projects longer than any install notes list. It’s been nice to have a place of our own.

#1 I asked Marisa to marry me and she said yes. What could she have been thinking? We will be married this coming June.

This of course neglects many things, including the health and support of my family, which has been so consistent it never seems like it ought to make a list or a summary or anything. It’s like gravity, but truth be told I should probably write a salutation to my entire family every day.

Now on to 2005