Obama!

Finally the Obama years have begun.

Its so amazing how much enthusiasm there is for a President. But I guess, its now down to business. Hopefully he'll fulfill his promises. But with all politicians, I'd like to see what they actually do, rather than what they actually say.

So here's a nice website that is keeping track:
Obameter

So as January is coming close to an end, how about those resolutions?

To compare from last year, I didn't too bad.

• Golf - epic fail. Didn't even go once. I blame the fact that I don't have any golf buddies, nor a car. I did get to play on a couple simulators, but no 9 or 18 hole action.


• Ride my bike - success! Got it fixed. Had a couple of weekends during the summer when its all I did!


• Read more - success! Read 7 books as promised. It came close to where I thought I wasn't going to finish. I think the best book that I really enjoyed was Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The classic, 1984, by George Orwell was pretty good as well.


• New Skill - Salsa and French. And in fact, continuing with it this year. Taking level 2 French currently, and went Salsa dancing this past weekend!

As for this year, its going to be hard to top last year. But here it goes:

• Continue to read - Let's push the limit and bump up the goal to 8 books. I know that's lame, but I have to leave time to study French!


• Be culturally aware. What does this mean? I think just trying to go to exhibitions, plays, shows, and "experience what London has to offer" type of thing. I started this with a membership to the Tate Modern. We'll see how often I take advantage of this.


• Be Financially disciplined - explains itself


• Sleep earlier - I stay up late all the time, I need more Z's!

As the month is coming to an end, its been a very busy month. A couple of surprises this month that were very memorable. A visit from my sister, and a surprise birthday bash! And now this weekend, a childhood friend and family are coming to visit for the first time, so its been a great start to the year so far.

Hopefully it will continue and I'll have may more things to write about.

Congrats again to Obama and hopefully he'll steer America in the right direction once again.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009!

Ringing in 2009 was a unique experience. I think almost symbolic. This is the first year I rang in the new year with people in my life that do not have any connection to my hometown Chicago.

I can't say it was strange, but it was definitely out of the norm. I'm usually surrounded by old friends I've known for ages, or close family members. But this time around, I spent it with people that are important in my life here in London.

The past 3 years since I've moved, I'd come back to Chicago to celebrate the new year and it was just like old times. But this time I spent it here. At "home." It was unique, unforgettable, and different, in a good way.

What was also different was my visit to Chicago. Perhaps it was the hectic schedule with my recent visit in September, maybe it was the arctic temperatures I was experiencing, but this visit, I took time for myself and specifically my family.

I usually run around and schedule lunches weeks in advance, dinners, coffee's with as many people as I can, trying to sync up with old friends and family. But this time around I took the opportunity to just chill. I still went to a couple Christmas parties, and I did catch up with old friends when I got the chance. But I didn't constantly go out as much as I use to when I come to visit. Instead, I spent time with the parents and sister, and had family dinners as much as possible. Its weird, but as I grow older, I'm really realizing how important it is to spend as much time as possible with your family.

So what's in store for 2009? I think the new year's resolution post should be coming up soon. It will be interesting to see how I did from last year. For this year, I have a few, but I think my top one is to see if I can beat my post count of "30" from 2008, especially since I found out over the holidays that I still have avid readers! You know who you are. =)