Christmas Letter 2010

Happy Holidays ! As we prepare to celebrate our second Christmas in New York, we reflect on what an incredibly boring year it has been. We didn’t move, we only hit a few squirrels (no deer),we didn’t have any emergency surgical procedures, and we didn’t do any major house renovations that could have caused awesome disasters or catastrophic financial loss. While these are all very good things, being boring makes it hard to write a catchy Christmas letter. Next year, we hope to make our lives a little less boring by doing a few crazier things. First, we just got our passports renewed and thought it might be great to visit Canada in the winter (what could go wrong?!?) And, just to make it even more fun and increase our chances of hitting yet more deer, we’re FINALLY exiting the Eastern Time zone and heading 2700 miles southwest to Point Mugu, California. We’re also moving there. The fact that Monday Night Football will be over by 10pm makes the drive worth it. If we actually had cable, this would be even more exciting for us! We also managed to get orders to the only place in the country that actually has higher taxes than New York. See, it’s already less boring and it hasn’t even happened yet!

Okay, so a few interesting things happened this year. Todd’s awesome news for the year is that he completed his first Marathon in 4:21:40. Other than surviving another cross-country trip (to Idaho and back), Kelly really didn’t do anything truly spectacular this year.

Amanda, aged 13, is the house teenager. She sleeps late and gets irritated at everything her siblings do (including, but not limited to, breathing). Blank stares of incredulity are often seen from her when requested to do anything. But, this is unfortunately something we see in all the kids (and even the dog). Amanda is happy to be an 8th grader and seems to be looking forward to high school next year (but not as much as Julia is looking forward to her being in high school…more on that later). She proved that she should NEVER be allowed to play ball sports (think Bella in the Twilight series), she’s getting quite good at swimming (even if it is very tiring and boring and cold!), and she’s been improving her unique brand of sarcasm. Amanda feels okay about California, but is a bit worried about earthquakes. When we showed her pictures of the beach, she quit worrying about it.

Julia, age 11, is the house blonde. She will point out that while mom looks blonde, she’s actually more gray. Sadly, this is true. Julia started middle school this year, and she is daily lobbying for her own cell phone. She uses the arguments of, “Because…”, “Everyone else has one”, “They are cool”, “Amanda won’t let me use hers, and she’ll be in high school next year”, and “What if I get hurt?” Guess which one she’s focused in on? For fun, Julia played some more softball this year. Then, she switched to something that didn’t involve things larger than gnats flying at her head: Running. She ran her first cross-country race and first timed mile and seemed to really like it (especially after she quit feeling like she was going to throw up). An interesting factoid about Julia is that all her teachers LOVE her! They will even introduce their own children to her happily and not with uncomfortable reactions of fear and/or loathing. Her school life revolves around friends, reading, playing clarinet, singing in chorus, and saying just about anything she can to you in German. Most of the time, she doesn’t know what she’s actually saying but this doesn’t seem to bother her in the least.

Allison, age 9, is busy as usual trying to do every activity there is. She does intramurals (which she initially referred to as “extra gym”), plays the clarinet, pitches for her softball team, and hopes to play any other sport that is available (like football). It bothers her that she is not old enough to do more. It bothers her sisters that she tries to do everything that they do. An interesting factoid about Allison is that she is reasonably sure that she could take over driving for me should anything happen on one of our cross country trips. After careful observation, she knows which pedals to hit, how to steer, and what to say if cut off by a bad driver. Allison is disappointed that we didn’t move to Italy, but decided that California will probably be “okay.”

Matthew, age 6, has asked if he can drop out of school. He loved kindergarten, but the rigorous schedule of a 1st grader has really made him dislike the whole idea of school. Instead, he feels that he should spend his days playing Wii. Specifically, Super Smash Brothers Brawl. He tried his hand at baseball this year. His fielding skills were legendary, especially when he’d RUN the ball all the way to first base only to throw it at the unlucky player’s head when one foot away. He also developed an ingenious technique of digging holes in the infield. Coaches originally believed it was a way to trip base runners, but it turned out to be the result of extreme boredom and being 6 years old. He is learning to swim (or, at least do cannonballs) and is really, really looking forward to living within driving distance of Disneyland.

Bucky, age 3, has again kept our home safe from the many vicious squirrels, deer, and other woodland creatures who normally menace our neighborhood. However, he is actively trying to injure Kelly in a plot designed to keep her home all day. His technique is to trip her in the middle of the night so she falls and busts her face or breaks an arm. He is quite careful to minimize the damage to her lower extremities so that he can still get in his daily walk. His latest hobby is collecting tics, growing them somewhere on his person, and then leaving them on the floor for us to find. I guess it’sbetter than consuming “stuff” he finds outside or rolling on other “stuff”. But, not much.


As our time in New York comes to a close, we will try and see what we can of New York, the Northeastern US, and Canada. If you find yourself in the area, have some urge to watch the Buffalo Bills lose in person, or just want to check out the splendor that is New York during winter (now until approximately July) then give us a call and you’re welcome to stay :) Have a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Todd, Kelly, Amanda, Julia, Allison, Matthew, and “Bucky”

A few more lessons learned in 2010…
#441: Never go to the dentist for your child's tooth extraction when you have been exposed to someone with the flu, haven't eaten a whole lot, and then stand for 45 minutes in a fairly warm room. Did you know that standing for 45 minutes with plummeting blood sugar can make you faint? Yes, faint, as in cold sweats, dizziness, tunnel vision, and ending up in a dentist chair with you feet in the air. Yes, it was that much fun!

#442: Do not allow you dog to sleep under your bed with his legs sticking out for you to trip on in the middle of the night. Unless, that is, you want to smash your face in...

#443: Be careful what you have on television - little boys are very observant!
Example: While at the grocery store, Matthew spotted a case of Labatt's Beer. It
featured the new Labatt "Blue Light Refreshment Duo" on the box. He exclaimed, "Mom, those are the girls that can save us!"

#444 - It's never a good idea to use vanity lights to warm up your shirt. One
bonus of this lesson is that the kids now know where the fire extinguishers are.


Potpourri…
* While watching television, there was a line in a show that I had to explain to Julia referencing "Theodore Bundy." I said, "Ted Bundy. He was a serial killer." Julia thinks for a second and says, "Why does he kill cereal?"
* Today Matthew asked me when he would get to ride on a dolphin. I said right after I got to. So, he said, "You're going to ride on a dolphin? Can I come?"
* Matthew just told me that my job as mom includes being able to unclog any toilet AND being able to slay any vampires that get into the house.
* Matthew came up to me holding my phone and appeared to be searching through the phone book. I asked him what he was doing, and he replied, "I want to talk to the boy Grandma. Th one with the dog." (That would be Grandpa Terry).
* While passing the baby spinach at the dinner table tonight, Amanda wondered aloud, "I wonder what the senior spinach tastes like."
* Todd has a new method of school-related civil disobedience: Every time we have to sign a reminder for something that our kids should be responsible for (but are forced to make us sign), he signs it "Arghhhh". So far, nobody has noticed...