Twas a wonderful and festive holiday season this past Christmas and I absolutely had a blast! I was able to come home and take a vacation and got to see almost all of my friends and family. I even got to see some friends that I haven't seen in at least a year as old high school buddies congregated back to Chattanooga to spend time with their families.
This past year was great for me as a whole. I was predominantly focused on my career and left little time for anything else. The amount of traveling I did was dizzying but fun as hell at the same time. But this past year had it's downs, too. I moved away from home leaving all my friends and family to go on with their lives without me. Relationships changed, friends changed and times have changed. Me? I feel like I'm wiser, older in ways and better off. But socially, I have struggled the past year. It's terribly difficult to start fresh in a brand new city with literally NO roots. It's very difficult.
Christmas was great. I bought myself a new Flat Panel HDTV, and my parents bought me a Washer & Dryer set earlier in the year that counted at my Christmas present. But they still had some awesome things for me under the tree... I got some fantastic clothes and my parents bought me something I've wanted for a while -- Noise canceling Headphones. They are SAAWEET! I thoroughly enjoy them and I'll make great use of them whenever I have to fly. My dad also gave me a firearm which I love. I can't wait to take it to the range and fire a few shots off.
But I didn't stop my holiday spending there. Oh no my friends... I also decided to crawl out from the tentacles of Nextel (now together with Sprint, by the way) and switch over to Verizon. Why Verizon, you ask? Well, quite simply because of this phone. It's simply the coolest phone I've ever owned and I've needed the increasing functionality of a PocketPC for a while. Read a review of the XV6700 here. The only thing this phone lacks that I want is a built-in GPS receiver. These guys have got to get on board. An external BlueTooth GPS receiver costs around $100, which isn't bad, but an unnecessary cost in this day and age.
I haven't made any New Years Resolutions this year. I don't believe in those because 99% of the time, people don't keep them. I can't honest recall a single Resolution I've ever made in the past, so it just goes to show that I certainly haven't kept any of them. However, if I were to make one, it would be to have a more normal sleeping schedule. I get into terrible habits of staying up way too late watching movies and such and then over sleeping in the mornings, which isn't good when your primary focus in life is your career. But I don't need to make a cheesy resolution to change my ways. I just need to stop being an idiot.
Well, time to answer a few emails and voicemails. Have a wonderful new year!