My wife and I bought a house back in September and it seems that every spare moment in the 6 weeks prior to that and since has been taken up with moving preparations, the actual move, and then renovations. So far we've managed to repaint all the bedrooms but the next job is to remove a wall in the main living area and then remodel the kitchen and lounge area. On top of that we need to remove all the carpets and sand the wooden floor boards back. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
Our house is in Warriewood which is about half way up the Northern Beaches region of Sydney. It's a great location and we are only about 1km from the beach (around a 10 minute walk). I really want to be well connected with my local community and so on top of all the moving and renovating, I also did the Surf Bronze Medallion qualification which lets me volunteer as a Surf Lifesaver at my local beach - Warriewood SLSC. Hopefully this will also come in handy with some other things I'm involved in such as Surf For Life.
On the professional front, the major landmarks were a trip to the US for a week to discuss some higher level opportunities (still hush hush), an editorial webcast discussing the impact of high level software on embedded design, a webinar discussing how ECAD and MCAD design processes can merge, sponsorship and attendance at FPT'09, and creating a wacky NB3000 based Christmas Light Display.
So as 2009 draws to a close, I can definitely say that it has been a very full year and yes, I am very much alive. There are some very exciting opportunities emerging for 2010 that I hope to share with you soon so stay tuned.
Happy New Year.
Marty
