Seeing as though it's the start of a new year, it's as good a time as any to say something here. This post needs pictures. Maybe I'll add them - but I know if I wait to get them all together, this might never be posted. So here goes.
2011 was a pretty cool year. It started with coming to Boston from a short & sweet visit in Denver. I came out to Beantown for a contract job with Ciclismo Classico to do sales & marketing. I stayed with a really wonderful host family in January, house-sat in February and by mid-March was back in Denver only to pack my stuff and come back to Boston permanently.
How'd that happen? I'll never know exactly. I guess it has a lot to do with just going with it. Never thought I'd end up in Boston. Always wanted to be back on the East Coast since I'd lived in the Albany area, but Boston didn't ever occur to me. Even when it was time to come to Boston, I wasn't particularly looking forward to it. Who moves to Boston in January and enjoys it?
I found I liked the endless snow of January more because of the novelty and it didn't make things all that much more difficult considering the buses and my living situation. This year, I'll admit, I'm glad the snow is holding off.
Early in February, I dropped into the Ride Studio Cafe for the first time - a place that quickly became my weekend home--a place that generously supplied me with bike rides, friends and community. I'd been fortunate to befriend many of my co-workers, too, so I didn't get lonely or stir-crazy during the winter. I also enjoyed my job, so that made it easy to be content.
In March, I had a terrific visit with family & friends in Denver and it concluded with my packing my car and driving it and my mom across the country back to Boston. The time with my mom was the best we've had in recent years. We got to get all caught up and reconnected. I've now road tripped with almost everyone in my family at this point (individually) - and each trip was significantly great with each person. That much uninterrupted time to talk is valuable and almost impossible to have this day in age.
Mom had a great time in Boston - she knows the place better than I do now. Having her enjoy it here meant a lot to me and it helped me feel that I was making a sane choice in coming here.
April meant the Boston Marathon in Boston, Patriots Day (it's a huge holiday here) and a visit from good friends who were here for the marathon.
May found me traveling to California for the final stage of the Tour of California in Thousand Oaks. Yeah, that's about as cool as business trips go. Riding through Hidden Valley in picture perfect weather was sweet.
June was spent riding long miles in prep for the Brewery to Brewery ride, the longest ride of my life at 150 miles, completed in a little over 8 hrs. One of the century training rides leading up to the B to B was in the top 10 of my favorite rides ever. I also made it back to Denver for a long weekend. It was intense, quality visiting with good friends and my family. It was a perfect time to be back in Denver.
July meant a bit of racing, just to keep it interesting. I discovered that I still enjoy crits, even after all of the long Italian races. Nothing like racing to spice up life a little.
At the end of July, I had the real treat of visiting my Aunt & Uncle & cousins in upstate NY. It was the longest I'd spent with any of them, ever, and it was such a great visit. I visited other cousins at the same time, reconnecting with them, too. Short, but precious time. So glad those visits worked out as they did.
August found my bro and uncle here in Boston. We had a blast exploring Boston, we rode around, ate good food and just had a fun visit. When we're together, we're all kids.
After the first weekend in August, I began prepping for my new life - as the curator for the Ride Studio Cafe. Since then, I haven't paused for much more than a moment. I work (though it's hard to call it work) a lot and I love it. Finally, I found what I should be doing that makes sense for me. Finally I'm on the path that I've been searching out my whole life. So many things make sense now that didn't necessarily add up before during other times in my life. September, October and November were full of events at the RSC. December was just as busy, but for non-event reasons. I learned how to pull a shot of espresso and make coffee drinks in December. That was a highlight of the month as well as Christmas that, once I got through it, was the icing on the cake in proving to me that I am where I should be and in a place I am very much in the middle of making my new home.
2011 ended on a nice note and I wouldn't have wanted to spend it any other way. Today, 2012 started great and ended even better. I sealed the day with a trip to the bookstore for some uninterrupted magazine time. Finally, I'm getting into a groove and getting to a place where I'm living the way I want to live.
Cheers to a happy, healthy & fun 2012!
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