Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas! After nine holiday seasons here with no snow, one would think I’d get used to it and could find the spirit of the season some other way. Alas, no! It just doesn’t feel like Christmas!!! A snow trip is in order, don't cha think? Those of you in snowy climes need to build a snowman just for me! And while you do that, I'll jot down some highlights of our year!

Our house no longer has any believers—at least not in the secular sense of the word! I think that means I’m old? Yet, even though I have two old enough to drive, neither one of them does. Luckily, their friends do, and, equally lucky, I only drop off/pick up at two schools this year instead of four. It’s so liberating!!! After getting my children to school, I head to their former elementary school where I’m the librarian. It’s just 20 hours a week this year, for 1000 students, but it’s still a job I love. While Christmas shopping for the first time yesterday, I ran into three of “my” little ones. The adulation is so sweet!!! Likely, everything else that keeps me busy is the same sort of activities and tasks that keep you dashing.

Greg loves his dog and his job—not a lot of new there. Via Liesl, he and the boys have discovered Dr. Who episodes this year, though. That’s new. And he’s had a couple "promotions" (with no raises :( ) this past year which means a lot more travel. He did get to go to some new places, such as scenic Amarillo, TX, and he has more opportunities to learn about different parts of the nuclear weapon complex. He also got to go to Germany this year. Without me, naturally. No fair! When he first told me he was going, I was excited for him. When he mentioned it again, I said, "Now, you're just taunting." One of his trips necessitated Rhiannon playing “father” to Ralph at back-to-school night since Ralph had familiar teachers and Hans didn’t. Just now, Greg walked Champ to the door to show him that no one was there and his baying was misplaced. Greg’s a very indulgent dog owner!

Liesl graduated!!! She’s now a student at a local, highly regarded community college while she decides what she really wants to be when she grows up. She doesn’t like her dad’s uptick in travel since that means a two-hour train+bus commute to school instead of a 30-minute ride with him plus a short bus leg. So she’s been practicing her driving skills in a local high school parking lot with us. Just gotta find the right incentive!!! The days she’s not at school, she nannies two adorable little boys. And she makes lots of money house-sitting. She and her best friend just attended the San Francisco Ballet’s “Nutcracker” performance in the best non-box seats, followed by a fancy dinner in the city, and dressed to the 9s. They’ve been planning it for a year and had as much fun preparing as attending!

Rhiannon’s in the midst of that grueling junior year with two zero period classes, one seventh period class, plus four AP and French 3 classes in between. Luckily, choir is a highlight of each day! And while it has no official homework, there are so many performances!!! Since she wants to miss no part of the high school experience, she spends what spare time she has dating (finally 16!), attending sporting events, playing Powder Puff football, and hanging with friends. Plus, she still loves singing. She was Belle for her school’s Beauty and the Beast production and is part of the Modesto opera’s chorus. “He_ _ Week” for The Mikado is next month—which is also rehearsals for the school musical, two family birthdays, a trip to see West Side Story, and rehearsals and performance for honor choir—but that’s nothing compared to “he_ _ week” for Carmen which is during AP testing this May. Niiiiice. Not.

Ralph came in to read this and thought I’d misspelled “nice” in that last sentence. He’s the mathematician/scientist in the family and likes things just so in some regards. When one of his siblings was complaining about math, Ralph asked how anyone could hate it, how anyone could miss the beauty of always knowing when an answer was right! The rest of the time, he’s on cruise control. He is the stereotypical California beach kid (who only sees a beach once each summer) with his bright blond curls and his mad soccer skills. His team is ranked top 20 in Northern California and has climbed levels steadily over the years from bronze to silver to gold and now to premiere. It’s been fun watching these boys grow up together. Right now, he’s trying to decide which high school to attend next year. Older friends (and siblings) are, naturally, lobbying for their schools . . .

Hans is adjusting to the middle school better than I even hoped! The 6th grade GATE teacher beloved by Liesl, Rhiannon, and Ralph retired this summer, so the new teacher was a complete unknown. Since Hans is unencumbered by a need to please authority figures unless he really, really, really likes them, this was a huge concern. Thankfully, he loves his new teacher; gratefully, so do Greg and I. Hans is enjoying his new band teacher, too, and has actually learned to play his drum this year. And he’s started to like P.E. and Scouts as well. Better yet, he just signed up for the drama club, so his passionate side will get an appropriate venue. Leo and Ohotnik (“hunter” in Russian since he’s a Russian gray), our two new cats, are his constant companions.

Other highlights of the year? Touring three national parks this summer (Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef), spending 24 hours on a working farm—complete with horseback riding—with a dear college roomie and her family, enjoying the Lion King in Vegas, celebrating another Carlson family reunion in Spanish Fork Canyon, visiting with family and friends while in SLC, and attending the last (sob, sniffle, sigh) Harry Potter midnight IMAX premiere with our California “family.” No glorious trips abroad, no shopping sprees, no honors or awards—just life in general. The lowlight? Greg’s losing almost all of my photos from the southern Utah portion of our trip. You know me. I cried. And cried.

Luckily, those were pretty much my only tears of the year, so my blessings have been duly noted and appreciated. You all—and our experiences together even now—are definitely on my thankful list. I hope you are happy—enough—and healthy—enough. If Facebook is any indication, you are. It’s such a treat to keep up throughout the year with many of you. Please come visit any time you’re in the San Francisco Bay area. That would be such a delightful treat! Until then, may your Christmas be merry and your New Year happy!!! With all my love to you and yours!