****Photos and stories coming soon.***
Happiest of holidays to you! I hope everyone is living their best lives but also recognize the struggles that so many of you are experiencing or have experienced; may GOD bless you and give you peace.
2023 has been a year of challenges and growth, but I am grateful for the lessons.
Downsizing and restructuring of my division/department led to hundreds of layoffs at Acuity Brands, which impacted me and many colleagues, and friends. While I enjoyed the company, I had found myself not enjoying the work as much as past years and felt burnout, despite great success. I am proud of my results and largely growing one of our brands over $100M in five years, earning 9.8/10 CSAT scores and setting industry benchmarks for customer service/experience, and transforming our culture. I had the opportunity to interview for ‘lower-scale’ jobs, but I was forthright in the fact that I didn’t want to devalue my title, my experience, my knowledge, etc. I was given a fair severance package.
I’ve been busy ‘lean’ consulting for a former CEO with his high-end furniture/textile company for the past few months. It’s been a big shift from working remote (which was lonely at times) to being in an office/manufacturing environment, but I am enjoying the challenge. I am now driving 1-1.5 hours each way to East Los Angeles, starting my drive at 5:30am.
Cathy is doing amazing. I am blessed with a beautiful, loving wife who takes great care of us. She has transitioned out of teaching and plans to return to telecom industry.
Giana is working full time now and loving her work. She has a new boyfriend who is an attorney! We’re very proud of the young woman she has become.
Liam is still doing fantastic in school and earning A’s. He’s been active with drum lessons (learning Ac/Dc to Imagine Dragons to Green Day to Coldplay to Coolio) on Tuesdays, and basketball practice on Fridays and Saturdays, and then games on Sundays.
We bought season tickets (21 games) to the LA Clippers with great seats near the court. It gives me great joy to spend quality time with Liam as he loves basketball. Every single game he meets at least 4 NBA players on the opposing team and always asks them “Who is your favorite NBA player of all time?” and gets an autograph or photo. We’ve gotten some great perks where Liam got to be in the All-Star Lane (next to the court) and meet most of the Golden State Warriors (his favorite team), and where he got to be courtside and high five the Denver Nuggets at one game and then most recently the LA Clippers as they entered the court. We even met Billionaire Mark Cuban twice, who was super friendly.
I saw a few concerts this year: Anthrax, Metallica at Sofi Stadium, Pantera, The Cure (3 shows – San Diego, Hollywood, Salt Lake City), Coldplay at the Rose Bowl, and 80’s Darker Waves Festival (Tears for Fears, Devo, B-52’s, OMD, New Order).
The Cure – Hollywood Bowl
My cousin Eric flew out from Oklahoma to join me, which was extra special. Our seats were fantastic down in the garden terrace section near the front. I was fortunate to get the setlist off the production board, which is always a good thing to have and reflect upon. Some of these songs hit me hard and take me back to darker points in my life.
Hollywood Bowl video
The Cure – Salt Lake City, Utah
80’s Darker Waves festival
We had a great trip to Denver/Boulder Colorado (hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park), a weekend cruise to Mexico for our anniversary (9/10/11), spent a few days at Big Bear Lake, and had an amazing vacation at X-Caret in Playa Del Carmen (incredible hotel!!). We were in Lake Arrowhead 12/20-12/22 with friends.
Denver/Boulder
Cathy’s family all came together to celebrate her sisters graduation in Denver, so we took advantage of the time and stayed a few extra days in Boulder, where we rented a hip Air-bnb near the town center.
Watch video of us hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park, which was so peaceful and majestic. A completely different vibe than most other parks but we loved it. 12k’ can put some pressure on ones lungs and thankfully no breathing issues for Liam, who has asthma.
In October, I flew home to spend quality time with my mom (who is home for the winter) and see my dad who is now in a nursing home in Saginaw as he battles dementia. It’s heart-breaking! I was blessed to catch up with 10 old classmates, my high school teacher Mr. Holem and cousins/aunts/uncle while visiting MSU.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39dFj6lCFbM
With my MSU alumni group (Riverside County Spartans), we hosted 239 guests at our pep rally in Palm Springs for the MSU vs. Arizona basketball game. We raised $6500 to support MSU scholarships and on-campus activities, as well as made 65 cards for hospitalized kids. Liam met Izzo earlier in the year at the Orange County Spartans event! GO green!
Wishing you all a Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year.
Love, Geoff