2008 wrap-up

There isn't a good way to start one of these year-end letters so I'm just going to jump right in. I apologize for not staying in touch with everyone. I tend to forget about the rest of the world when I get wrapped up in my daily routine and then suddenly another year has gone by without a single word leaving my own fortress of solitude. 2008 was no different and came and went in a flash for me, but I'll try to summarize the highlights. In general you can peek in on recent events on my flickr photostream here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/deviouspics

January - February 2008: Kat took me to see her childhood stomping grounds (Bend, OR) while there was still snow on the ground. We stomped around town and then in snowshoes on Mt. Bachelor. We had a couple snow days in Eugene during February and we got outside to play in it a little bit. Kat and I always enjoy playing hooky together. At some point during this time we upgraded our old CRT to a new 42” Plasma TV. It's really the only way to go for playing old-school console video games on. Oh, and lesson learned: don't put the TV on the same circuit as your dimmer switch for the outside lights, the buzzing can be quite maddening.

March - April 2008: Kat and I headed up to Washington to see everyone for Easter. It was great seeing everyone out at Grapeview before we had to run and catch the last ferry over to Seattle. We had a great time just exploring the city and getting more familiar with it for the next couple days. We did a fun little underground tour, laughed at some silly roadsigns, and ate some really amazing food. After we got home it was almost time for the kitties' 4th birthday. Kat planned and threw a fantastic sushi party for Gryphon & Phoenix and our friends, which went over very well. In April my folks took us to see “Sweeny Todd” in Portland which was the first time I had seen it on stage. It was very impressive. Also in April, Kat and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary together and I turned 32. I have to say, being in my 30s has turned out to be very excellent.

May - June 2008: Not satisfied with just replacing all the ceilings, floors, outlets, light-fixtures, and wall colors in the house the year before I decided to take on another home improvement project. I upgraded my hot water heater to a solar assisted water heater system, complete with two large collector panels on the roof of the garage. After tax rebates I plan to get back this year the system will have run me about $4K. Over the last 6-months I've seen a consistent 33% savings on my electric bill. I'm pretty happy about it. We went down to see “The further adventures of Hedda Gabbler” in Ashland and spent some time with Kat's folks, and then again later in Bandon, Oregon, they took us to pet the really big kitties as a gift to Kat. In June Eugene became a sports mecca as the Olympic trials were held at Hayward field.

July - August 2008: Our friends from board-game night started a cover band called “Rockness Monster” which eventually morphed into the original band “Half-shark Half-Jesus”. By this time HSHJ was doing very well and getting gigs in town. They've continued to play very well and add to their playlist and add venues to their gig list. We've been loyal groupies all this year. During the Summer Chris, Toni & the kids came back to Oregon for a long visit and they finally got a chance to come down to Eugene and check out all the work we put into the house. We only got out camping once last year, which is a shame because we generally have a great time doing it with friends. We did get out hiking a few times, including a hike at Silver Falls where we had a very frank but hypothetical discussion about getting engaged. Kat's 10 year high-school reunion was in Bend so we headed back down there again. I enjoyed being a tag-along and chatted up the other non-Bendite significant others while Kat caught up with her old schoolmates. A good friend of ours, Austin, had moved away to Portland during this time so a bunch of us went up for a visit and called it “Austinpalooza”. Once again my folks were kind enough to send Kat and I to see “Phantom” in Portland the next weekend. We'd both seen it before, but it's always good to see again. I finished up the Summer by taking the train up to Seattle with my old buddy Sunny and spending the weekend at a geek-fest called “Penny Arcade Expo”. It was great, but we were both exhausted by the time the train got back to Eugene on Sunday.

September - October 2008: Kat and I started making plans and saving money to go to Mexico in October instead of spending all that time and money on another huge Halloween party. That didn't stop us from splurging and buying a new mattress together though. We also started shopping for swimsuits. Lesson learned: retail stores don't carry many swimsuits in the “off-season”. Apparently people don't swim in the Fall. We also started sun-tanning in preparation for our trip. I got a bad burn from the beds the second time we went. They don't give refunds. I felt like Tim Allen from “Christmas with the Kranks”. Kat's sister, Molly, came to town for a visit over her birthday during this time. She also turned 32 last year. Then it was time to go to Mexico. We flew to Cancun and then were bussed to our four star resort on the Mayan Riviera. It was the wet season there, but that didn't stop us, we just glad it was warm rain. The musty smell of our rooms reminded my faintly of my time in India. We were very busy while we were there and had an outing planned for just about every day. I found a decent time during one of the day-trips to get down on one knee to fetch a mood ring cleverly stored in a locker and ask Kat to marry me. She was pleasantly surprised and said “yes” before she could come up with a clever retort. When we got back it was time to make our costumes for Halloween. Kat had been working on her Link from the Zelda games costume for about a year now and it was finally complete. I learned to sew in a few days and made myself a Cardboard Tube Samurai costume, which confused just about everyone who had not gone to PAX with me. We got dressed up and went to a HSHJ show and enjoyed the efforts of others and attended their parties.

November - December 2008: Kat and I celebrated our engagement with friends by shooting each other with laser guns at the local pizza and laser-tag joint. Then we excitedly watched the election with friends the next night. Kat's folks rented a place for us in Yachats, Oregon, so we went out there for a nice romantic weekend. The next weekend we celebrated Kat's 29th birthday by invited friends over and playing party games on our N64. Then it was time to get ready for turkey-day. I'd invited both Kat's folks and my own to our house this time around. We had a nice visit with everyone and ate a ton of food. Kat's friends Kara & Aaron visited us briefly that next weekend. In December, Kat finished up her school preparations and had her last day working for Planned Parenthood. She got to have almost an entire month of break before the beginning of her Masters of Education program at Pacific University here in town. During that time we had a mock holiday party with our game night friends, a week of snow days, and Kat found a real engagement ring that she really liked. Then she was off to Mexico again, this time with her parents and sister to spend the holidays together. Mom & Dad drove down to Eugene to pick me up and take me with them back to South Carolina to visit Chris, Toni & the kids. We had a hard time getting out of Portland with the icy weather and ended up spending an extra night in Houston on the way over. I spent a week with everyone in South Carolina away from the first white Christmas in Oregon for years. I was glad to get back to Eugene and see Kat again before the new year, but I soon fell ill and spent the first week of 2009 with a fever.

That pretty much gets us caught up to today. I hope you all had a great 2008 and here's hoping I get to catch up with you in person before another year goes by.

Cheers,
Jeff, Kat, Gryphon & Phoenix