We had our first build party of 2024, people came over and started working on their costumes for some of the conventions that we will be attending during the year.
We ended the night going to a restaurant to share a meal with Gabe before he leaves.
It is always bitter sweet for me to welcome the new year. I always try to remember the good times of the year as the clock ticks forward. I had a lot of great times this year and have made a bunch of memories.
This year is no exception. I had some really great times this year, and very few times that were not fun. Like, how lucky is it that I know I had a couple of not so fun times but I can’t recall exactly what they were and can only think of the good times that occurred. That’s actually really cool. A quick review of the 2023 tag quickly summarizes it all.
For the last day of the year, after chilling out at home and getting some good rest and having late afternoon coffee, we spent some time at Allison and Brian’s for a murder mystery. It was a lot of fun and we finished up about 20 minutes from midnight and we went outside with drinks, did our countdown and celebrated the new year with all the fireworks in the neighborhood.
We just got back last night from our trip to Michigan. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun.
One of our good friends invited us to watch the ballet and it was great. I think there is something about getting older where you can appreciate the arts with a mature mind. The last time when Jaime and I went to see the Romeo and Juliet ballet, I didn’t appreciate it as much as I did this one.
There was a small event preceding several 0ther events, so we took our time, got to the local library convention, then had dinner with our friends, we ended the night at Glendale Glitters and had some fun there.
Several months ago, I bought us tickets to Jake Shimabukuro’s Christmas Special. This time, he was playing at a different venue. At the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts, a place I haven’t been to in many years.
We had front row seats and it was just a great time watching Jake play. He was joined with his friends Jackson and Justin for a few and they did fantastic too. I was really impressed with Jake’s ability to make his ukulele sound like a marching band’s drum. So cool and it morphed into the Little Drummer Boy song.
After the concert, we of course got in line to meet with him again! This will be the third time I’ve gotten to get a photo with him.
One of my good friends, Sona, held a happy hour for my birthday. It was really good to catch up with everyone.
Almost a year planning this trip, for Christmas last year, Jaime and I asked my brother and sister-in-law if we could bring them and their kids to Disney World for my 50th birthday. They were awed, amazed, and accepting of our proposal. We extended the invite to the family because sometimes it takes a village to help care for our nephew and niece.
We flew out bright and early on November 6th with our kids.
As you can imagine we took hundreds, if not about a thousand pictures. Here are just some of them in a random order, lol!
It was the best birthday I’ve had so far, and I guess turning 50 isn’t a bad as I thought it would be. It definitely helps having a lot of friends and family that have a lot of love to give.
I went to the Cybersecurity Summit at the Phoenician, which is in Scottsdale. It’s not my first time at this venue. It’s pretty snazzy. The thing is though, that to get there “on time” I had to sit in about an hour and half of traffic. I’m so glad that I work remotely because if I had to go into the office daily at 8 AM, I would really hate it.
I haven’t had to drive on the freeway for morning commute in over 10 years, and believe me, I don’t miss it at all!
The conference was okay. I met some friends there who were in it for the CPEs and I was more there just to hang out (and also collect additional CPEs). For what it was, it was okay. They fed us, and caffeinated us, so we could be attentive. And I got some more free vendor shit that I don’t really need.
Yesterday, my friend Mariah and I went to the AZ Bao Festival and we ate! LOL
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