2009 Chrsitmas Letter

I wrote the family Christmas letter again this year. It is not my best work, but gets the point across. Enjoy.

I should start by saying no one died, no one was born, and no one got married or divorced this year. The xxx family is healthy, happy, and still the same as last year. That recap is for the people who normally only read the first one or two sentences of the holiday letter before tossing it in the trash. If you have made it this far, then I may as well tell you the juicy details (and by juicy, I mean mild) about our antics over the last year. Speaking of the past year, why is it we only write letters around Christmas? Why not July 4th? Is it because it is so cold outside that we need a polite way to say “we still care about you…but your friendship is not worth the frost bite”?
Dad (Lynn) is enjoying his 2nd year of retirement where his full time job is holding down the couch and making sure NETV has at least one viewer. He works part time at a local lawn care company office to keep himself busy. Our lawn has reaped the rewards of his new job and he is proud to report that it has never been greener (although now it is all white but I am sure it looks fantastic under the snow). He likes to spend time at the local Library because it is full of free newspapers, free magazines, and free internet (now if they served free food too, we would never see Dad again).
Mom (Sue) has one more year of teaching to go till retirement. Tiffany and Mom both agree the batch kids seem to get worse each year. At least she will get the last laugh when those kids are working to pay for her social security. She continues to travel with visits to Chicago, Washington DC, Phoenix, and Peoria Illinois. While in Chicago, we caught the Musical ‘Cats’ on a whim. Halfway through the show we realized why there were so many tickets available…friends don’t let friends watch ‘Cats’.
Angela and Brad are enjoying their finished basement / game room. It has come in handy for hosting football watch parties, supper parties, and the occasional hide out when the parents want to drop by. Angela has been busy performing new recipes she learned from watching the food network (and Brad is the guinea pig). She curses Rachel Ray for making it look so darn easy.
Tiffany and Aaron are finishing their basement which should be done by Christmas. You could call it a home investment, but really they just needed a way to corral little Ava. Ava celebrated her first birthday with half a dozen cakes (first grandchild on both sides, did you really expect any less). She is walking and using that mobility to empty every cabinet or drawer within her reach. Boston, the dog, is still her favorite plaything, and she enjoys “feeding” him during meal times and letting him lick her face clean.
I (Lindsay) still babysit adults at work and live where it is cold 6 months of the year (I’m getting thermal curtains for Christmas). I dabbled in trapeze lessons (yes the circus kind) for a couple of months but had to stop when I developed lumberjack palms. In September, I took some time off and traveled around the Mediterranean visiting Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt. I learned some important facts like Italian’s don’t believe in customer service, never get on a camel in Cairo, and Jerusalem is not built for wheelchairs. Okay all of those have a long story behind them, so ask me when we see each other again.
That is just about all that can fit into one page for the xxx families. Tune in next year when we celebrate the holidays by getting matching tattoos.
Happy Holidays!