2013 In Review

2013 has come and gone.  As always there is so much to do and so little time.

I have continued making apps. I came out with one app this year, a popular card game among poker players called Open Face Chinese Poker.  Even though it has poker in the name, there is no betting.  It is just a regular card game that you play to score points. When I started making apps I told myself I would not make a server based app because the maintenance would be too much work, but I didn't listen to myself.  I missed coming first to market on Android by just a week or two which kind hurt.

The good thing is that I made money this year.  For a SAHM working very part time, with completely flexible hours it was decent money.  For a freelance software developer it wasn't much.  My two free apps (Learn to Read Lite, and Kids Christmas Patttern Game) have been downloaded quite a lot.  I don't feel like conglomerating the exact data at the moment, but there have been around 200,000 downloads between the two of them on all the platforms they are on.

For next year I will be taking on some contract work from my dad for his consulting business.  I would love to release another app or two as well as get my pattern game apps on the Windows app store, but between that work, and updating the OFC app it will be difficult to find the time.

Running wasn't much of a focus this year and I did a horrible job keeping track of my mileage.  I've been logging onto Everymove this year, which is a fun site that gives you gift cards and coupons for exercising.  I even won an Xbox Kinect from my insurance company and them.  It says I ran 354 miles, but that was only starting in April, and if you don't record your exercise within three days then it doesn't count towards your rewards, so I know there are lots of runs I forgot to enter.  I feel like I was pretty consistent at about 15 - 20 miles a week.  So probably between 700 - 800 miles for the year, but who knows?

My sister and I got out for two hikes this year.  We did Mt. Si, since that is a classic around here, but neither of us had done it.  Then we did Lake Bl
anca, which was absolutely gorgeous--never had I seen a lake so blue.  It is a popular, but tough hike. There were more than a few people who we came across who were really struggling physically and it was worrisome if they were going to make it.

I did a little bit of sewing, but not as much as I would like.  I made a soft structured baby carrier for Selena's kindergarten teacher who had a baby at the end of the school year, bibs for my nephew, Halloween costumes, and helped Selena sew herself some clothes.

Selena finished kindergarten and has started first grade.  She is doing well in school and learning a lot, but finds waking up in the morning and being quiet all day kind of hard.  She has been taking gymnastics and played a couple sessions of soccer.  It has been fun to see how much she has improved.  She loves to draw and write, and is constantly making picture books.

Allie finished her first year of preschool and is onto her second.  She also has been doing gymnastics and soccer and is awesome at both.  Allie loves to draw and create and makes around 30 masterpieces a day, and cuts up about 5000 pieces of paper a day.  Allie also enjoys playing on the computer, phones, and tablets and is very tech savvy.

Floyd continues to play poker and do well.  He has mixed it up this year and has played some Pot-Limit Omaha in addition to No Limit Holdem.  He took two trips to Vegas this year (and one of them I joined him for a couple days), but did not do the WSOP Main Event. The highlight for the year was placing 3rd in a pretty big tournament.  He continues to run.  We got to go to a couple Sehawks and Sounders games this year and we always enjoy that, even when they are wet.

2013 was a good year and I am sure 2014 will be as well.