Goodbye 2021!

2021 was actually not a bad year for our household, despite my Dad passing away.  I finished my third year with CDOT.  My wife completed her active duty Air Force commitment and returned to the reserve unit and Department of the Interior.  My first born started 9th grade at D'Evelyn Junior/Senior High School.  My second born started 7th grade at D'Evelyn Junior/Senior High School.  My wife and first born maintained voice lessons through summer, but took a break for the fall.  

My dental care has remained stable with no major procedures.  Both of my daughters are now in braces at Kulkarni Orthodontics.

We hosted birthday parties at the Simms Street Center for my second born and hosted a pizza party at the house for my first born.  My wife had her birthday dinner at Arvada Villa Italian again and I celebrated my birthday with my Dad in Little Rock, Arkansas

I traveled quite a bit due to my Dad's declining health and ultimate demise.  I was in Memphis at the end of December, early February, end of April and July for the funeral.  The family did a road trip to Crested Butte in March, flew to Florida for Spring Break a the end of March, flew to Little Rock for Dad's birthday in June, attended YMCA camp near Bailey in September and visited  Southern Utah in October.  My Mom came to visit in September, Ratna's Dad came to visit in October and Neeraj and Ami came to visit in October, Raj and Nancy came to visit in December.

Professionally, I continue to enjoy designing and running ITS projects, but our department has shrunk down to just me and I am underpaid given my responsibilities.  I have been applying for new positions and am starting to get less picky.

My community involvement has stayed low.  There are opportunities to volunteer at the kids school and in twelve step groups, but I have not taken anything on.  I have been significantly more involved in AA and attended 81 meetings and even sponsored a guy for a little while.

In terms of hobbies, it has still been about the Garage Gym build (that has bordered on compulsive as I have added over $1800 worth of equipment, but fortunately selling $700; net investment $1100).  I renewed by Crossfit Golden membership, but train on the weekends and some evenings at home.  I continue to run and bicycle when the weather is nice.

We had 7 ski days. 3 at Keystone in January and February, 2 days in Crested Butte in March and 2 days in Vail in December.

I had (3) days in the Coral Sea including the 4th of July bash.  

I canceled my Boulder Rifle Club membership, but did go shooting one day at Bristlecone Shooting Center.  I also sold all of my reloading equipment and (2) rifles.

I did not play any golf or even go by the driving range this year.  I did not play any poker this year either.

I purchased a Chandragupta II Gupta Dynasty coin from Stephen Album Rare Coins and an 1831 h10c from Jason Flowers.  I also added "Mughal Numismatics: Revisiting Rarities" to my numismatic library.

I did a little more reading this year (compared to (3) books in 2020).  I read (9) books and my favorite was "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir.

In terms of purchases, the best was a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro multisport fitness watch which was a Diwali gift.  Amongst a plethora of gym equipment my favorite were Eleiko change plates.  I also purchased a new scuba second stage as mine was no longer serviceable.

The year was most significantly marked by the purchase of a new home in Lakewood.  We were fortunate to get a great price for our home in Arvada.  The house was move in ready, but we did install some overhead lighting and handyman stuff.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers  won the Super Bowl and the Atlanta Braves won the World Series.  Justin Medeiros and Tia Clair Toomey won the Crossfit Games.

There continues to be a lot of political strife with a terrorist attack on the US capital, vigilantism alive and well in Wisconsin, ongoing police brutality, school shootings with the parents of the shooter being investigated by prosecutors and the whittling away of voting rights and abortion rights.

This post would not be complete without a note on the global pandemic which has completed its second year with the new Delta and Omicron variants.  Vaccines were released and seem to be very effective despite hesitancy on a national level.  Both girls have been in school full time.  Diya is exploring extracurriculars such as Color Guard, Mock Trial and Cyber Patriots.  Nisha has not had as many opportunities, but we have been playing tennis once a week.  The girls did do the AUMC drama camp. I returned to the office in June, but Ratna continues to work from home. 

Best Wishes for 2022!