31 December 2012

Winding down and gearing up

Today's the last day of 2012, obviously. In a lot of ways, 2012 was one of the best years of my life and I hate to see it go. As I look forward to 2013 it's easy to get overwhelmed.

My sibs, my Mom and me after my brother Steve's baptism in 1969.

My life's about to shift pretty seismically in the next month. I have a new job to go with my new location and until I get up there for real I'm dividing my time between Florida and Pennsylvania. My mind's in PA but my body's in FL right now and it's an odd thing.

Of course I'll miss the parrots and the palm trees. 75-degree January afternoons aren't anything I'll be experiencing after I move and I'll miss them too. However, the career move I'm making isn't something I could have pulled off in Florida, no matter how hard I tried. And Lord how I tried.

Besides, being in PA has me within striking distance of New York and that's never a bad thing.

My contract with Coverings put me on the map and made me show up on radar screens all over the place and I can never thank Coverings enough for the boost they gave me. Similarly, the people behind brands such as Brizo, Blanco, Google, GE Monogram, Bosch, Thermador, Gaggenau, Kraftmaid, Medallion, American Standard, Formica, Henrybuilt, Ceramics of Italy, Tile of Spain, Chevrolet and many more, saw something in me and it was through my dogged networking that I ended up in the position I'm in now. Dogged networking or not, I didn't do this alone. I was helped along and encouraged when about the last thing I wanted to do was to keep plugging away.

All of that paid off in 2012 in a way so big I can barely wrap my head around it. Thank yous are due across the board.

In addition to the brands I worked with, my interactions with my friends on Twitter have proved themselves to be invaluable. No matter how discouraged I got, a half hour spent on Twitter got me motivated again. Though I have a lot of contacts, the number of people I consider to be friends and confidants is relatively small. Bob Borson, Susan Serra, Kelly Morrisseau, Todd Vendituoli, Charlie Kondek, Chuck Wheelock, Johnny Grey, Tim Bogan, Saxon Henry, Veronika Miller, Nick Lovelady, Eric Schimelpfenig, Peter Saal, Gerard McClean, Sherry Qualls, Nora DePalma, Leanne Wood-Newman, Tom Miller, my brother Steve, JD Megargel, Kevin Smith. Brandon Bergman, Tim Howe, Damian Amantia and anybody else I missed played a huge role in all of this too. Thank you.

The new year kicks off with a week in my office in PA and then a week in Europe. How can the year that'll follow be anything but great with a beginning like that?

Thanks too to all of you who read my scribblings and rants, everything I'm up to now can trace its origins back to a December five years ago when I decided to investigate this blogging thing. There was a ditch there and I fell into it. As I always say when I'm speaking, if I could do this anybody can.

In 2013 this blog will remain live and it will be the repository of all the things I stumble upon regarding the design world. My musings about travel, life and anything else will go onto my new blog, Back Where I Started. That new blog is also the place where I purge my Florida demons so be warned.

So happy new year everybody, make 2013 count in a very big way.

10 comments:

  1. You know, you're a pretty inspiring person to know. Seeing you branch out with another blog while you've got a move going and a new job.. well, it makes me pine for when I felt like I had time to blog on my "off time". I suspect that "feeling" like I have time isn't so much the issues, and I should just suck it up and make the time to do it in the new year. I could use the catharsis at any rate :) Happy new year, Paul.

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  2. Wow..congratulations and Happy New Year, Paul! Enjoy the adventure!

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  3. Thanks and best wishes to you and yours Kit.

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  4. Happy New Year Paul!

    You've got changes piling up for you already. And the new year just started. Hope you can get things sorted out soon. Best of luck to you. Happy 5th Year Bloggiversary!

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  5. Hi Paul! It's been too long! I'm so happy for you and just want to thank you for the time you spent "showing me the ropes". Thanks for introducing me to the Brizo folks and a ton of others and thanks for being so generous and supportive. People like you will go far in this world! Can't wait to see what you're up to next and I hope it brings you to Chicago! (oh, and your Houzz rant cracked me up!). Happy New Year!
    -Rebekah

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    1. Thanks Rebekah and I'm glad you enjoyed my rant and I know you can relate to it. Happy new year!

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  6. Bon chance, mon ami. I am thrilled for you. Large cyber hugs.

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