This blog is 15 years old now—and if you count the previous iteration on the old ryanglanzer.com, it’s actually 20! But the days of having the free time, energy, and willpower to regularly write on daily happenings is unfortunately a thing of the past. Luckily, I am in the midst of 10 straight days off work, so I think I may actually have a spare moment this morning to do a proper recap.

January

We awoke on January 1, 2023 in none other than… Alamogordo, New Mexico? Yes indeed. Our holiday trip to New Mexico was nearing its end, and we began our journey back to Austin on New Years Day.

January 2023 was devoted to another keto diet, and again was a rousing success, dropping from 262 lbs. all the way down to 239 by month’s end. From there, I spent the next 11 months slowly gaining it all back. But I maintain that reset is worthwhile.

It was a cruel month for our sports teams, as the family football teams—the Chargers, Vikings and Dolphins—were all eliminated from the playoffs in a 24-hour span. Ouch!

February

It was the most eventful month of the year, and one Texans won’t soon forget. February greeted us with the worst ice storm in Texas history, weighing every tree in town to the ground with limbs snapping and crushing roofs. It knocked out power, internet, water, etc. and completely shut down the city for days. It was, without question, the most catastrophic ice storm I’ve ever seen!

As the weather warmed, the ice began to melt, trees snapped back into position, and power began to be restored, we deemed it safe to proceed with plans to travel to Nashville over Lauren’s birthday weekend with Alex and Ann. Aunt Alice flew in and watched the kids. There’s more to that story, of course, but we’ll never forget Aunt Alice’s heroism!

When we returned, the cleanup began. We piled thousands of branches and limbs on the curb, and tore down the old tool shed. Tree crews worked to tear down three entire trees from the backyard that were badly damaged in the storm.

March

John’s new spring baseball season began, and I coached the team—the Marlins. Work began on the house as we installed new siding, doors and windows, badly needed and necessary home improvements. I traveled to Fort Myers, FL to Twins spring training camp with some of the old Minnesota gang for the first fantasy baseball destination draft since 2017.

April

I attended both the CMT Music Awards and a Timberwolves-Spurs game at the new Moody Center within a span of a few days—the latter of which escalated into the beginning of a friend’s sobriety! We spent Easter with the Plumpes at a vineyard, followed by the Super Mario Bros. movie at the Drafthouse. By month’s end, our house had a shiny new coat of paint.

Mid-month, I flew to San Francisco for the Iterable email conference. While there, I paid a visit to Oakland for the A’s-Mets game, my 18th current MLB stadium and 22nd overall. The kids and I joined the Plumpes for Disney on Ice, and later that night began a terrible stretch of insomnia for the rest of the month.

May

The month began with a quick work trip up to Dallas which featured a legendary night of karaoke in Grapevine. The Marlins’ baseball season concluded. Lauren and I joined the Plumpes for a stage performance of To Kill a Mockingbird. We celebrated Mother’s Day with the Novaks at The Oasis. We put a new roof—fully covered by insurance thanks to the ice storm—on the house to close out the external home improvements.

The biggest thing of the month was yet another Glanzer-Plumpe event—a Memorial weekend beach trip to Galveston. On the way home, the family stopped in Houston for a Twins-Astros game.

June

The summer from hell kicked off! From June through October, we surpassed 105º something insane like 45 times. Lauren and I took in the ATX Television Festival and saw live performances from Cheers and The Righteous Gemstones casts. I made another work trip up to Dallas with the entire Lifecycle Marketing team, featuring lots of brainstorm sessions and dinners, and a trip to the Rangers-Cardinals game. Upon return home, the Plumpes joined us for a Weezer concert at the Circuit of the Americas.

After that, we hit the skies! It was off to Minnesota to visit for a week, where we stayed at an Edina hotel. Lauren and I worked remotely while the kids took in day camps in Edina. As usual, I made it largely about baseball. We toured Target Field where John met Hall of Famer Tony Oliva, and later John and I joined the Ahrendt boys for a Twins-Brewers game. The family enjoyed a fun day at Nickelodeon Universe at the MOA, otherwise the rest was reserved for Poulter family time!

July

We celebrated the 4th of July at home before Edie and I departed for South Dakota on the 6th. We spent a few days on the farm before Lauren and John flew in and joined us. Lauren and I worked remotely the entire trip, but we made plenty of time for fun in the evenings including a fishing trip on Alex’s boat. One of the highlights was meeting the new twin cousins Jack and Betty Lou!

We weren’t home for long! In an concerted effort to bypass the very worst of the summer heat, we escaped to New England and Canada for two weeks of blissfully mild weather. We stayed with the Novaks in New Hampshire, and spent nights in Bar Harbor, Saint John, Halifax, Charlottetown, Portland and Boston!

August

Much of that trip spilled into August. By the time we got home, it was time for John to start 4th grade and Edie to start her final year of preschool at Four Seasons. I celebrated my 41st birthday in unusually subdued fashion, with Lauren traveling for work. I think we chalked a lot of the Canada trip expenses up as birthday presents. John celebrated his ninth birthday with his first real big sleepover, though there was very little sleeping to speak of as he and his buddies pulled an all-nighter.

September

In September a new baseball season began for John and me (as coach), this time as the Cardinals. Edie made her teeball debut with Lauren assisting Mr. Plumpe as coach of the Pirates. I celebrated my 5-year anniversary at work. Lauren and I took in an NHL preseason game in town, and I cheered on the Twins as they won a division title. We joined the Plumpes for a fun Comal River float for Chris’s 42nd birthday. While on the river, I received a call from work that I had received a promotion to Director!

October

The Twins snapped their historic 18-game playoff losing streak, highlighting my month. John and I even attended Game 1 of the ALDS in Houston. Edie celebrated her 5th birthday with a pizza party at Aviator, and a few days later had a group party with several other October birthday friends at a trampoline park. I broke a major pipe in an ill-advised plumbing mishap, and the kids brought in mass candy on Halloween.

November

The kids’ baseball seasons wrapped up. We enjoyed a nice cooldown weather-wise, and even saw a decent amount of rain. Grandma Marcie and Grandpa Dick visited for a few days, hoping to see the kids play baseball, but after a rainout we instead toured Hill Country and rode on Texas’s only alpine coaster. I ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, and we celebrated the holiday with—who else?—the Plumpes, where dinner was followed by board games and drinks and culminated with the entire family sleeping over.

December

Early in the month I visited Las Vegas for a long weekend with Walsh, Luke and Nick for the Vikings-Raiders game. Back home, we hosted a holiday karaoke party at Common Interest, took in the Trail of Lights, and enjoyed other holiday get-togethers locally. We celebrated Christmas on the 22nd before returning again to Minnesota for a holiday with the Poulter family. Lauren and I met up with the Aherns for the Christmas Eve Vikings-Lions game—my second Vikings game of the month, amazingly. And we spent the few days after our return to Austin enjoying nice weather and playing with John’s new basketball hoop.

To Sum It Up…

Wow, the was quite the year, eh? They surely do seem to go by faster and faster. It seems impossible that a year ago from this minute we were touring the Breaking Bad museum in Albuquerque!

The lowlight of the year was surely the destructive weather, from the historic ice storm to the historic heat, which really wore on me. The highlight, of course, was the travels, with the big Canada trip the most memorable.

My job, and I think Lauren’s job, continue to go well. Within the realm of what I’m qualified to do, it’s the best situation I could really hope for! The shed continues to prove to be a wise investment, and those home improvements were hugely needed. No one got particularly ill or got badly injured in 2023, with the exception of John’s thumb needing a brace.

Oh, Baxter is still alive, too.

Looking Ahead to 2024

Our attention must turn to internal home improvements, now. The bathrooms and kitchen are badly in need of updates, regardless if we’re staying here or putting the house on the market.

We’re going to get John into more activities—basketball starts next weekend, he wants to give flag football a shot, and he’s just beginning piano! Now that Edie is 5, she qualifies for a lot of the camps and activities like gymnastics that she’s longed for. I would be shocked if Baxter survives the entire year! He barely gets out of our bed as is, but he continues to prove me wrong.

As for travels, who knows! Lauren’s 40th is in February and we’re planning a getaway to Mexico with friends. Spring break coincides with an Anaheim work trip for Lauren, so maybe we’ll head that way. I have grand visions of a baseball stadium road trip to Pittsburgh and either Cincinnati or Cleveland. I’m sure we’ll get up to SD/MN again at some point.

Wishing all of the loyal readers of this blog a healthy and happy 2024!