The good:

• I got to attend my sister Elizabeth's medical school graduation in May.
• I had a great time at LevelUp 2024 in Atlanta in June, where I led a session on the value of mindfulness meditation.
• I attended my paternal grandmother's 90th birthday and Elizabeth's 25th birthday celebrations in LA at the end of June and in early July.
• I had a blast in Po'ipu, Kaua'i, Hawai'i to celebrate my 40th birthday for two weeks in July with Chase, Chad, Vicki, Christopher, Morten, Ann, Olivia, and a surprise attendance by my dad!
• Brit and I hit a major milestone in our project.
• I wrapped up my employment at Ookla and started working for RP Strength (Renaissance Periodization) as Head of Product for Diet.
• I attended my sister Jacqueline's baby shower in September.
• Chase and I went to Avatar: The Last Airbender in Concert for his 28th birthday, and it was so amazing that there was scarcely a dry eye in the audience, least of all ours.
• We welcomed a new member to the Wolfden, Thor, a 4-month-old yellow labrador retriever. He's a very fast learner and a very good boy who gives Max all the terrorism that he deserves!
• Murrby started spending nights in the main part of the ADU (our apartment / in-law suite).
• Aaron Bilger and Kelly Elmore came over for dinner in early October, and it was nice to reconnect with them.
• Chase's dad came to visit, and we went rock climbing at Staunton.
• I attended a grandkids luncheon for our grandmother Bella in LA in mid-October.
• After 7 months of the parts' sitting in the garage, Chase and I finally installed the ceiling rails in the garage for the storage totes and reorganized our living space to be less cramped.
• I successfully finished a modest cut and got my ab veins back.
• I got to help the program that was providing Chase with his Single-Pitch Instructor climbing certification by acting as a mock client on their examination day (and I had a great time climbing and learning a few new things). Chase passed his exam!
• I had a blast at Charcon 6.0, where I presented my talk, Meditation: Who Needs It (which went pretty well), and where James Ellias's presentation on induction was the highlight of the formal talks. I enjoyed spending time with Christopher, James, Daniel, Laurin & David, and Doms & Lex in the Airbnb we shared, reconnecting more with Kelly Elmore, and getting to know Carrie-Ann Biondi better. Seeing long-time friends and making new ones was great, and I also got to see Nick Shaw and Sherri Beckman while I was in Charlotte.

The bad:

• A severe lightning storm in June knocked out power, fried some electronics/circuits, and damaged some well pump components, and in trying to diagnose the problem, I made it worse and ended up requiring the services of a professional (and then he figured out that the actual problem was something I could have even fixed with parts and tools I already had on hand).
• We're still struggling with the plumbing in the main house.
• We're still struggling with some of the electrical wiring and issues in the ADU.
• Max is still struggling with some fear and behavioral issues.
• I'm still struggling with irritability and feeling overwhelmed, especially with being patient with Max. Probably relatedly, I'm struggling with my sex drive.

The ugly: I'm pleased to report that nothing seems "ugly"...overall, things are pretty good and on an upward trajectory.