For anyone who didn't receive our annual Christmas letter, but who'd still like to know about things happening from the past year...
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2008 – A Year in Review
Sitting on a plane as Mary and I fly to Maryland for my company’s annual holiday party (which is when I tend to write these letters), I realize that yet another year has come and gone, and quite quickly at that. A lot has happened in the past year so let’s get right into it. Owing to my usual style, I’ll be sure to use as many words as possible!
2008 wasn’t a bad year for Mary in terms of school. She finished her second year of graduate school at Texas in May and then spent a good bit of the summer studying for her comprehensive exams in August. When I say “comprehensive”, I mean just that - two days of essay exams at eight hours apiece. And they are important. Without passing them you can’t go on to the next part of the program, your dissertation. She was allowed to bring in whatever supporting materials she wanted, but with no idea what questions would be asked, the outcome was anything but certain. Mary is a good student however. She studied hard and it showed. Her grades were among the highest you can get. All she has to do now is write her dissertation and how hard can that be? I’m thinking three, four more years, tops…
Talking about Texas makes me think of college football, where another season is sadly drawing to an end. While Mary isn’t the biggest college football fan, we still have a deal. Owing to her Baton Rouge roots and my love of the Florida Gators, either LSU or Florida is supposed to go to the National Championship to represent the SEC. And by golly, it’s worked the past two years (sorry, Ohio State). So with LSU’s unfortunate collapse this season (They gave up 30 points to Troy!), it looks like it is Florida’s turn again. With a pretty solid performance against Alabama in the SEC championship game, Florida is off to Miami for a game against Oklahoma on 01/08/2009. And yes, I’ll be there. I missed our victory against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl two years ago and don’t want to miss this game. Hopefully I’ve picked the right year to go! For my Texas friends, let me just say that I think Texas should be our opponent instead of Oklahoma, but we’ll leave that to the pundits to debate. Go Gators!
No major trips to report this year, nothing as exciting as Alaska, that’s for sure. But there have been a number of smaller ones worth mentioning. [1] I managed to get in my annual golf trip with the boys, Dave, Dave, and Chuck. This year we descended upon south Florida, Miami and Key West. I even got to see my good friend Ligia and her family, though it was only for about 10 minutes at a rest area (as we traveled the Florida Turnpike in opposite directions). [2] Mary countered with a trip to Phoenix to visit a good friend from high school, Karen. Her trip was pretty exciting, visiting Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, even Sedona. Rumor has it she was really there [Sedona] to be vetted as a potential vice president for John McCain, but I guess Sarah Palin was just the stronger candidate. Oh well, maybe 2012... [3] I managed a trip to North Carolina to visit my friends Dave, Ashley, and their son Matthew. [4] We both made it to Maryland on several occasions, a good friend’s wedding as well as my company’s holiday party. [5] We enjoyed a great trip to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving, spent with Mary’s mom, her brother Charles and his girlfriend, Katie. Charles and Katie are quite the chefs and we enjoyed a terrific Thanksgiving meal, topped off with chocolate pecan pie and pumpkin spice cupcakes! [6] Mary’s on her way to Washington, DC for another friend’s wedding at the end of December. Fortunately, we won’t have to travel for Christmas this year – my parents and brother are actually coming to us. Christmas in Austin – now that has quite the ring to it…
Speaking of Austin, we continue to enjoy our lives here. We’ve grown more comfortable with the church we’re attending and have made several friends within the young adults group there. Mary continues to enjoy the music scene and we’ve made it to a number of concerts over the past year. Mary’s mother even came in from Baton Rouge to attend a Ben Folds concert with us in October. I continue to putter around the house, though it’s debatable whether I’m making things better or worse. We finally got the new sprinkler system in last year, along with a back yard full of sod. That has paid tremendous dividends, as evidenced by the many pictures we have of Annie and Riley rolling around in the grass. I also recently began a remodeling project in the guest bedroom and office, though that was sort of put on hold when my vacation was canceled due to a last minute business trip to Mexico. And while some of you might laugh, yes, it gets a notable mention here; single-stream recycling was introduced in Austin this October and I like it! Now you can almost recycle anything, which further enhances Austin’s reputation as one of the greenest cities in the country. I don’t know where we’ll end up when Mary eventually graduates, but hopefully it will be a place as nice as Austin!
One final note before we adjourn for those who may not yet know… We’re expanding the family in the New Year, thinking that Annie and Riley could really use a playmate. They’re each about two years old now so it’s probably a good time. Of course there is a lot to consider when making a decision like this - another mouth to feed, toys, medical bills, a new bed and other furniture (this one might just get its own room). We’re very excited and think Annie and Riley will welcome the new addition, scheduled to arrive sometime in late July 2009. And no, we’re not talking about getting a new dog… ;-)
We hope you have enjoyed the last year as much as we have and that you have a wonderful Christmas! Best wishes for health, happiness, and prosperity in the New Year!
Merry Christmas!!
