Merry Christmas 2012

The year was fun, interesting...and gone in a flash!

I'm getting to the point where I understand my job at Great-West as Senior Manager of Learning and Development; I'm told by old hands at GWF that tenure at the company is kind of the reverse of dog years - it takes about seven years at GWF to equal a year of experience at other companies, given the financial services sphere and the overall culture. At least I know where the bathrooms are!

After getting back home to Denver, one of the very first calls I made was to my friend Ginger Wilson, one of the best realtors the world has ever seen. I closed on my new townhome in January and moved in after new floors, carpet and paint in March. It's a quiet refuge from the job and I like it almost as much as my former Lowry townhome...although I still have a soft spot for that home since I had that one built!

I've had friends and colleagues over for a housewarming and for some BBQ. During the summer, the deck overlooking the 7th fairway is about as peaceful as it gets.

Being a "swing" state, we in Colorado were drowned in political ads all summer and fall. Over at my friends Bill and Gary's place for Election Night, I couldn't help feeling...relieved...that the election was over, no matter the outcome. Sadly, I think we all have a respite of about six weeks until the 2016 election is all that's talked about on the news.

Probably the highlight of the year was the return to Phillipsburg for my high school class reunion. It's been - ahem - 35 years since we graduated, but among the 40 or so classmates who came together for the Labor Day weekend, I must say that we all looked and acted like it was our 10-year reunion. No doubt we're all aging; it just seems like we're aging at a much slower rate than our parents. We had a blast and it was fantastic to reconnect with so many friends from a high school life that seems like hundreds of years and millions of experiences ago.

At the reunion, we set up our reception at Willers - the former Club II at the golf course where my mom ran a disco (of all things) in the late 70s and early 80s. I got to meet the current owners of the restaurant and commented that I pretty much knew where everything was in the building, since I had waited tables and DJed as a college student on the weekends back in the old hometown. My eyebrow raised when the owners said, "We have an...artifact...from the Club II days and we're not sure what to do with it. Would you like it?"

And that is how I came into possession of the giant mirror ball that slowly rotated at Club II in its heyday. Given that my sister Peggy is an unofficial "curator" of all things O'Neill, I found the world's biggest box, used two complete rolls of wrapping paper, and delivered this year's Christmas present to Peggy and her partner Laurie at their home north of Omaha just today. Peggy was a smidgen surprised, but since my sister has the audacity to own a home with an indoor swimming pool, I know there is enough of Reva in her to find a home for the giant blast from the past!

As I complete a full year back home in Denver, I want to take time to thank all of my family and friends for their support and advice. It's wonderful to be back in the West where I belong, and I hope your holidays and coming year are all that you desire them to be.

Merry Christmas!