Sunday, December 25, 2011

Have A Holly Jolly Christmas!



Have a holly jolly Christmas
It's the best time of the year
Well I don't know if there'll be snow
But have a cup of cheer

 It is hard to believe that it is already Christmastime again! To trot-out a saying I came-up with a few years ago: It seems I am still hung-over from New Year’s Eve!

It has been a very busy year and it is hard to believe that it is coming to a close. In fact, if we hadn’t had so much snow over the last week-or-so, it would be hard to believe that we’re already approaching the end of the fall!

The year started with Saga and I happily ensconced at home; she was happy because I continued to play with her and feed her regularly; I was happy because I was loving my new position at Pilat Media.

Have a holly jolly Christmas
And when you walk down the street
Say hello to friends you know
And everyone you meet

Pilat is a competitor of my former company (the one that outsourced my position that I had held for 21 years in 2010) and I am doing here, much the same thing I was doing there. Many of the clients are the same, in fact, much of the work that I have done in the past year is for clients I have known and worked with for over twenty years!

I have had the opportunity to travel some this year and along with building new friendships, I have been able to re-connect with old friends. I’ve also been able to add some ports-of-call to my history.

In July, I finally made it to Australia. What a cool place! The flight is a bit long, though; 21 hours flying time London to Sydney with a two-hour layover in Bangkok. I am not sure I want to do that all that often, but it was worth doing it at least once.

Ho ho the mistletoe
Hung where you can see
Somebody waits for you
Kiss her once for me

I made it to Minnesota a few times, sadly once for the funeral of my Uncle Gene, but also for Dad & Flo’s spring party, and for the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Bergquist Homestead.  It was a HUGE party; three generations of the clan attended. With about 200 of my uncle’s friends, neighbors, and relatives. It was a lot of work to help put on but it was also really quite fun! I had the perfect job to meet people: I manned the grill—burgers, dogs, and chat!

I was afraid that I had missed the beach this year, as I had had to go to Australia the week that my friends were at De Bourdieu. Luckily, the time I had cancelled in the summer worked wonderfully this fall to allow me to fly out to the beach for the week over thanksgiving. This also gave me the opportunity to stop in for a visit with my cousins, the Veaches of Chapin, SC. We had a lovely visit even though my cousin Christopher is still gloating that he beat me at the Wii game we played. (I beat Erik, but you don’t see me gloating, do you? Nya-na-na-na-na-na!)

Have a holly jolly Christmas
And in case you didn't hear

This year is likely to be just as busy. There was a staffing change at the office. The Business Analyst I worked with here in Denver no longer with us and so I am now it! I have picked-up a lot of new projects and there are more in the pipeline.

Hopefully there is a trip or two in the offing; my average over the past 18 months with Pilat has been about one week of ever eight. And that is just about perfect!

Oh by golly have a holly jolly Christmas
This year!

Wherever you are this year, I wish you the very best for your holidays and in the year to come.  Have a safe and Happy Holiday and a Prosperous 2012!

Don Bergquist – December 25, 2011 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

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