1. My desktop is littered with different todo lists (Work, Home, Consulting, etc…). I’m going to get these cleaned off my desktop and into a comprehensive list where I can then focus on completing one of these tasks at a time.
2. The open source community has a saying “Release early and release often”. I’m going to take this saying to heart but in the form of communication. I’m going to communicate early and often. Expect to see a lot more blog posts, tweets, status updates and the like from me in 2011. My goal is 1 blog post and 3 tweets a day.
3. I want to work more. This seems like a strange goal since most people make resolutions to work less. I plan to work an extra 14 hours a week for the next 4 months. There are a couple of really simple explanations for this goal:
   • We are in the process of building a new house and I want to make sure to cover the expenses until our old house is sold.
   • I have a couple of personal projects that I’ve been meaning to work on but just haven’t found the time to do.
   • I want to finish up some of the projects I’m working on so I can focus on my next resolution.
4. Spend more time with my family is always a perennial resolution for most people and it’s made my list as well. If I can pull off my previous resolution then I’ll have more free time. That free time is going to be spent with my wife and kids. I’m going to take those extra 2ish hours a day to play with my kids.
5. I’ve lost close to 40 pounds before. I’m about 15 pounds heavier now then I was after that first weight lose. My next goal is 4 fold and must go hand in hand to achieve it.
   • Walk on the treadmill at least 3 times a week.
   • Eat at least 2 fruits and vegetables a day.
   • Decrease my portion sizes by 1/3.
   • Lose 40 pounds by the end of the year. Sticking with these first 3 goals will get me down those 40 pounds. That would put me on or about where my original weight lose goal was.
6. At this point in my life I’ve been a smoker longer than I haven’t been. Once we’ve settled into the new house and things have calmed down it’s time to come up with a working quit plan that I can stick with.

These are some lofty goals for the next year, but they should be eminently doable with a strong commitment on my part and support from friends and family.

I contacted Mediacom to find out if service was available for our new home. They responded that our house was not serviceable. The image below (from connect iowa) illustrates why this is so frustrating. The red square is the lot we are building on. The red/pink overlay is where cable is available. I bet there isn’t a thousand feet between the two.

This time around, we’ve decided to do something kind of fun. We are going to keep the name a suprise

To me two images of you come to mind. The first is a vision of you as a retired farm wife always working in your garden. A woman who was a bit stubborn, but had to be. Your children to a fault inherited that stubbornness. The image that sticks out most clearly for me though, is one of you at our family gatherings. Gathering at first in the basement of your house. Then meeting later in churches and halls when the family had grown too big. I can picture you smiling and laughing as we enjoyed a meal. Do you realize all your daughters laugh like you? A funny thing to realize that I can pick out my mom or aunts just by the sound of that laugh and that they all sound just about the same. It’s a picture of you and the rest of the family on Christmas Eve opening presents. You sitting on the right hand side of grandpa. Aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings all in chairs lined against the walls.

This is a scene I’ve missed in recent years and will now forever miss, but it’s also the one I always come back to when I think of our big/giant extended family. This Thursday will be our final chance to say goodbye to you and I’m going to do it in the best way I know how. By helping carry you to your final resting place.

Love,
Rich

Here he is just getting started.

This is our first experience with falling. Which he now has a lot of experience with.

Getting the hang of it.

Since I’m in the social media business, it really made me think about the situation. I belong to somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 different sites. What is the appropriate thing to do with these profiles when someone passes away? Do you leave it open and allow people to continue to post to it? Do you close the profile completely, or do you turn it into some sort of memorial?

I think I lean toward leaving the profile open and allow people to continue to post to it. What are your thoughts?

Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click post.)

1. I make my living as a software engineer, however, I’m mainly self taught.

2. I’m currently working 3 jobs and putting together an estimate for a 4th.

3. I hope that I will not lose any of my jobs due to the current economic conditions. Although, I’ve been in this industry for over 10 years and I have never felt like my job was safe.

4. When I was a teenager I used to do odd construction jobs with my dad. I’ll always be grateful for him teaching me about a strong work ethic, how to hammer a nail, dry wall a room, or try to do something even when you don’t know how to do it.

5. I hope to instill the values in my sons that my dad instilled in me.

6. I regret the fact that I’m not closer to my dad, but I can’t imaging every hugging him or telling him that I love him.

7. I still have lead in my leg from being stabbed with a pencil in the first grade by Jennifer Tyler.

8. I believe that I was a fairly broken person after dropping out of college and finding Rachel saved me.

9. Rachel is the love of my life and I hope to spend all my remaining days with her.

10. I have an INTP personality type and I’m proud of it.

11. I grew up in the country and I’m ready to move back there so my children can have the same experience I had.

12. Rachel and I have bought 2 acres out in the country, but because of the economy, we are debating when to build our new house.

13. My most embarrassing moment occurred when I was swimming at Lake Ahquabi. A female life guard was pulling me up onto the raft, and my swimming suit fell down around my ankles. I don’t think I came out of the water for the rest of the day.

14. My favorite quote comes from the poem Ode on a Grecian Urn. “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;”

15. I’m a huge fan of mashups, the stranger the mashup the more I like it. I especially love “Acoustic Rap”.

16. I don’t really have a favorite movie or song anymore. It’s sad but for the most part I listen to podcasts or watch new releases on Netflix.

17. I’m registered as an independent but most of my political leanings are more libertarian than anything else.

18. Yes, I will cry at sad movies. I even cried a little at the end of Wall-E. Other than right now, I will never admit to it and you need to erase this fact from your memory.

19. I played football from second grade through junior high (middle school). In elementary I also wrestled, played basketball, and baseball. Football is the only sport I’m still a fan of and like to watch. I’m not a sports junky and I could care less about watching ESPN.

20. I’ve never felt like I was a good big brother. I sometimes wonder if the issues Randy has faced come from that fact.

21. I wish that I was closer to my siblings. It’s funny Chris is the farthest in age from me, but I’ve always thought I had the most in common with her.

22. I always have faith that things will be okay. Whenever, I’ve struggled with an issue I’ve held onto that faith and things have turned out to be okay.

23. While I was in college: I was a founding father of a Fraternity, I was the sergeant at arms, I was the recycling chair and president for my dorm floor. However, I was never able to make it to my class.

24. I’m a procrastinator. Why do anything today that can be done tomorrow?

25. I hate talking about emotions or myself. That has made putting this list together extremely difficult.