I was a little spoiled this year by being privileged to not only have Christmas with my family but to have it with Emily’s as well. “Christmas” to me is both a holiday for family and leeway into a new year, meaning I tend to think of Christmas-time as that time between December 23rd and January 2nd (or about).

After an ordeal getting to Shreveport on the 26th, I actually ended up in Shreveport on the 27th, choosing to spend my night in Baltimore instead of the Houston airport. We spent time with Emily’s parents, grandparents, and friends before leaving for Nashville to spend New Years Eve with her sister and fiancé.

Unfortunately, we had to come home which meant traveling on New Years Day — driving the normally 11 hour but instead 13 hour snow, ice, and accident filled drive back to Baltimore. Arriving at about 4:30am, we made it safe but many others weren’t as fortunate.

I really enjoyed the fact that I made a goals list the start of last year. I’m not sure I’ve ever done that before. It was a wonderful reference point into my mindset and thinking at the start of last year. Now I can look back and see where I focused my time and energy and how it differed from what I thought it would be. My goals from last year:

1. Purchase house
2. Renovate and move into house *
3. Come up with a new idea for a web application and execute it for Fusion Bay
4. Launch Gift List It a little before Thanksgiving 2007
5. Successfully climb a 5.11 rated climb
6. Begin 5.12 climbing
7. Successfully climb a V7 boulder problem
8. Do some bouldering outdoors (which I have yet to ever do)
9. Go backpacking at least twice **
10. Try snowboarding

* The renovation process was much more extensive than originally planned. I’m nearing the end but this has actually become a 2008 goal
** While I only backpacked once, I had some other great vacations!

Now that I’m back and things are resuming their normal pace. Like many others, I’m expecting a fresh start on things. One that I’m looking most forward to is a new MacBook Pro which I’m set to receive any day now. I’ll finally be able to run iMovie and create some cool videos. My old computer was too slow to run iMovie so it wouldn’t even install! Stay on the lookout for my year 2008 goals list.

I really need to order my gifts for everyone this year before it is too late to order anything online. I’m not sure how much longer Amazon’s free super saver shipping will work for but I suspect not much longer. Therefore, tomorrow is the day I designate to be gift buying day. I know what I’m getting Adam and my Dad but beyond that I’m lost on everyone. I guess I’ll have to actually start using GiftListIt to buy some stuff and not just have fun looking at what everyone wants for Christmas.

My major drive at work recently has been GiftListIt. It has been exceptionally fun adding features to the application. I stopped focusing on features the other day and started doing some better design to the site. That’s always a little tricky since I’m not actually a designer. It’s slowly getting better, and hopefully not only better in my mind. I plan on writing a bit more on the features and updates I’ve made on Fusion Bay’s blog so look there for an update soon.

I got a package at the office the other day from REI. I’m not sure what it is but I’ve decided I won’t open it until Christmas because I know I didn’t order anything from REI, therefore it must be a Christmas gift. I do have a guess as to who it is from though, considering most people don’t know my office address. *cough* moule *cough*

Adam gave me a pair of Vibram Five Fingers for Christmas. I was really excited to try them out but they were way too big. The odd thing was that he ordered me european size 41, which should be somewhat smaller than my actual foot size. I’m a US 9 for those wondering.

I sat on them for a while because Adam couldn’t find his receipt and I figured Vibram’s policy would be no receipt no return, however after contacting them last month they graciously exchanged the shoes for a smaller pair, a set of women’s european 40.

Unfortunately, I still can’t use them because the 40’s are entirely too small. I had forgotten about righting this situation until I read an article on how modern shoes really aren’t that good for our feet a few moments ago. I’ve initiated the email support process with Vibram who I hope will continue to be as great as they have been in the past and help me figure out what has gone wrong.

My initial thought is that the first pair was improperly manufactured and the sizing was wrong. The 41 was about 3/4 inch too big on my heel. That is pretty significant. The 40 is about half an inch too small (although estimating this is hard since I can only hold the shoe against the bottom of my foot) and ends up making my toes curl. There must be some sort of in between!

The other possibility is that somehow my feet just aren’t cut out for the model I’ve received. I think I could deal with a shoe that is too large if I had a strap across the foot like one of their new models, the sprint. At least with that model I’d have the strap as well as the heel chord holding my foot in.

I hope I can get this straightened out soon. I keep forgetting about it and placing it on the back-burner, but it would be so wonderful to take an outing in these shoes that seem to get such rave reviews everywhere. If you have a pair and enjoy them, I’m curious if you felt the sizing was true-to-size.

Update: Through Vibram’s great customer service I was successful finding a pair that fit perfectly. Thanks Vibram!