This is a streak I can fully get behind: four full years of bonus time as of today (read about year one, year two and year three). As the memories of that day fade farther and farther out, I love having this extra “birthday” to reflect on how lucky I am to have more time with family and friends before moving in to my forever home (pictured above).

My overall health remains good, but wear and tear issues are starting to be felt more and more. Heading to see a foot specialist in a few weeks to have my left foot looked at – not sure if it’s a broken bone, arthritis or something else, but it’s not been the same since running the Garry Bjorklund Half in June. That was my first race longer than a 10K during bonus time, but I’m not sure I want to do anything longer than that again (but we’ll see what the doctor says). Rode 500+ miles on the bike this year and have the watch move streak at 905 days and counting, but played a lot less golf this season. Should drop 25 pounds, but that’s been a challenge.

My periodic MRI and subsequent talk with Dr. Tummala was very positive, so I don’t need another one of those for three years. That’s really great news, as I feel ultra-claustrophobic in that machine now. Had a visit with the dentist this week and everything on that front is still coming up Milhouse. I have a love/hate relationship with my glasses – the prism prescription is now probably the best it will get, so I still need to generally wear them for driving and golf. I can get by the rest of the time without them, so that’s an OK compromise.

At the end of the year three bonus time update, I mentioned there was a big change coming soon. That was me leaving U.S. Bank Stadium and joining the pre-opening team for the new Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis. I haven’t written much about my time there, but it was a great learning experience. We opened the hotel on time on June 1 and my last day was June 24. For the first time in my professional career, I voluntarily took a few months off during the summer to recharge and figure out what’s next. I’ll have more to write about that next week, but I have to say the Europeans that get to do this every year are really on to something…

Colleen and I have had a very eventful last 12 months. We went to Kauai for our 30th wedding anniversary, built a new “retirement special” home south of Saint Paul and became pretty big baseball fans, attending lots of Saints and Twins game (hoping we can go to spring training next year too, if Fort Myers recovers). We’ve slowed down a bit with concerts, but still love a good live show. Since the last bonus post, I saw The Rolling Stones at U.S. Bank Stadium, Elvis Costello at First Avenue, Richard Thompson at the Fitzgerald, Diana Ross at the Minnesota State Fair, Florence + the Machine at Xcel Energy Center and another amazing Tenacious D show at Surly. Too bad Duran Duran got rained out at Treasure Island.

Today Colleen and I went to brunch at The Copperfield in Mendota Heights, we drove by my grandparent’s old street nearby (which has a completely different house on that lot now), stopped by Acacia Cemetery and admired the giant blaze maple and will head down to Xcel Energy Center for some pre-season hockey before wrapping up the night checking out the hot new Woodbury restaurant Hazelwood.

Still super, super grateful for the wonderful health professionals who helped me on this journey, along with the amazing support of family and friends – you all rock. Lots of big changes coming up in the next year of bonus time – stayed tuned!

Peace and love, DK