As is usual for me at the end of the year, I’d like to write a bit on my reflections for this year.
Life is good! I’m beginning to understand what people mean when they say that you catch your stride in your 30’s and begin the most productive years in your 40’s. At 38, I think I’ve finally begun to catch my stride (after years of errors).

So I’ll break this down a bit, beginning with the most important: Family.

I met Kaori last year, and we got married this year. There wasn’t a ceremony. We just went to the City Hall and filled out the paperwork.
We moved into her family’s spare house at the end of last year. It’s been nice to not have to pay a massive amount of rent. We do have to deal with the yakitori (chicken on a stick) restaurant on the first floor (it’s not as awesome as I thought it would be).
She got pregnant in May, and things have been pretty chill since then. I’ve been drinking significantly less, and am probably in the best overall health I’ve been in years, although I haven’t been exercising recently.
My relationship with my father is still pretty great. We visited this year and had a blast. It’s good to spend time with him. I wish I could more often, but with all things being what they have (pandemic, war in Russia causing prices to go up, etc), I have to be happy with what I can get.
My relationship with my mother has even taken a positive turn. That’s all I’ll say about that for now.

Second, work.

Oh yes, work has been… interesting. It’s been crazy busy. By that, I pretty much mean that I’m always working. Officially, I work 8 hours per day, 6 days per week. But reality is rarely the same as the expectations. I pretty much always work. And don’t get me wrong about it. I’m not complaining. I’ve had some pretty amazing opportunities. First, my program is doing really well. In the first full year of operation, we’ve signed on over 70 schools. I’ve trained around 100 teachers, and we finally hired my first official subordinate.
On top of that, I was able to negotiate a contract with an amazing American program teaching coding for children that gives us exclusive distribution in Japan for 3 years, so I guess I can add international contract negotiation to my resume.
And last, we signed with a third coding program, so a lot of my time has been working to Frankenstein it all together into a singular program (still ongoing).

Finally, service.

Most of my service this year focuses on Toastmasters. Anyone in the states who has seen me speak will know that I am terrified of speaking in front of crowds. Even after all these years in Toastmasters, it never gets any easier. While the nervousness and fear never really go away, practice makes it easier to deal with. I am happy to say that I can speak in front of a crowd without breaking down.
This year, I was elected to the Public Relations chair, which is a glorified social media manager. Anyway, not by my doing, but I’m happy to say that we’ve already gotten 4 new members in the last 6 months. I plan to participate in the upcoming contest. We’ll see what it’s all about when I get there.

So there it is. It’s my run-down of 2022.

If I had to sum it all up in one word, it would be “Busy.”

I’m really beginning to understand the value of time. Cherish every moment, because when it’s gone, it’s gone.

Have a happy New Year and see you in 2023!