God Jul og Godt Nytt År, litt sent.
When I posted the 2008 holiday letter to http://notes-fromthe-john.blogspot.com on December 3, 2009, I promised that the 2009 letter would be coming soon and it would not be as late as 2008. True to my word, it is not as late as 2008. I’m getting better but still litt sent, as they say in Norway. No promises but if I follow this trend, I am very optimistic about 2010’s missive.
Ginny and I did our fair share of travel in 2009, mostly in the U.S. and mostly to see our grandson Jack
k, aka Tank. We did a week at the Jersey Shore when he was just one year old last June. He looked like he was going into second grade rather than his second year on the blue marble. Ginny enjoyed herself and we almost took over as babysitters for one day but Kelly took a long look at Jack’s granddad (me) and decided she would keep him with her. Ginny did have the chance to babysit for Jack when Matt and Kelly took a night off from parenthood and went up to Connecticut in February 09, for a night of rest and relaxation. I want to make the point that I would be an excellent babysitter as you can see from the picture below (that is me, helping out as Santa at an office gathering in Dec. 09). We also got to visit with Matt, Kelly and Jack on a trip to Seattle in the summer. We had several days of pure sunshine and warmth and plenty of “Jack” time.
Work at Deloitte has been a challenge this year mostly because of my health/neck problems. I was out on disability leave for the last four months of 09. I had a neck operation to fuse 4 vertebrae. This was long overdue and it stemmed from the fact that I broke my neck when I was 14 (there is a humorous story there that I will post to the http://humorthis.blogspot.blog site in the near future. So almost one year after having my right knee partially replaced, I had my neck put back in order with screws, plates and bone implants. Very high tech and so far very successful but I won't know for certain for another 3-6 months. While I was on medical leave, Ginny and I took a trip to Southern California but not just any trip. We rented a small RV and took the dogs along for a road trip. I didn't feel comfortable flying but riding in the RV was a piece of cake. It was small enough to be drivable and large enough to sleep all four of us comfortably. We got down to Santa Barbara the first night and got a space in an RV park on a hill looking over the Pacific Ocean. Then we had breakfast at a place where they used to film the TV series Sea Hunt (for those of you old enough to remember that). Beau and Jeff Bridges got their start working on that series with their father Lloyd Bridges. But on to Orange County where we visited with my sister Linda and her husband Bill. Gus and Gine got to visit with one of their relatives Kingston (Linda's dog). On the way home we stopped in to see a taping of the TV show Late Night with Craig Furgeson. The show was very funny. But not as funny as our late night episode trying to find our camping spot at Pinnacles National Monument. We arrived at the camp about 2am and got to sleep around 3am. But by 4am an alarm was going off in the RV indicating CO2 problems. So I figured out the electricity was plugged in properly or the electric service wasn't turned on. Either way I fired up the generator and we turned the heat back on but it was almost worthless because I forgot the skylight vent was open (to air out CO2). We got about 1 1/2 hours sleep that night. Funny now, but not then.
Ginny had her hands full last year with the Pacifica Resource Center duties. She was the president of the advisory board and the Executive Director was retiring so with the help of the ED and other board members Ginny spent quite a bit of time working on recruiting, and assisting in any way she could to get the new Executive Director on board. She also spent time with her cooking club, hikes in the coastal mountains, gardening and of course… the dogs.
Kelly and Matt got to go back to the mother land (England) for Christmas. They took Jack back to see his grandmother in London and some of his other relatives (Uncle Tim, etc.). They got out just in the nick of time, leaving London one day before a massive blizzard hit. Those that haven’t been reading these letters for 35 years might not know that Kelly was born in England when we were stationed in Mildenhall, England in the Air Force. Matt was born and raised in England and probably considers himself more of a pure Brit than Kelly (ha). But Kelly is a dual national.
Gus and Gine had a good year and I think in another 5-10 years they might just be well behaved and obey all commands. Gus had six weeks in house quarantine after made a stink about a skunk hiding in a culvert. I found out about it when Ginny woke me up about 1 o'clock in the morning telling me Gus got in a fight with a skunk. I already knew that a skunk was involved because Ginny was nearby when Gus got sprayed and when she came in the bedroom I woke up from the smell which was on her coat. So she ended up taking him to an all night veterinary clinic. They wouldn't let him inside because he smelled so bad. But Ginny convinced them to come outside the clinic and treat his bleeding nose. Evidently the skunk not only sprays but it bites as well. In fairness Gus bit him first, picking the skunk up in his mouth and getting bit in the process. When I saw Gus the next morning, he just looked like "what the heck did I do to deserve this?" Oh the smell…lasted for another several weeks even though we did several of the recommended washes to get the smell out of his fur. Other than that, we love having them around even if the skunk doesn't.
A bit of history, I think we started doing these annual newsletters back in the late 80’s or early 90’s. I would draft a letter full of rants and raves and Ginny would edit it down to a more pleasant holiday greeting. Over the years I have had less and less to rant and complain about so it becomes a challenge for me to come up with something to write about. It probably got easier for Ginny to edit but at the same time she got frustrated waiting for me to do the first draft. Last year and the year before have given me a lot to complain about but I keep thinking that we have it so good, it would sound bad if I went back to my bitter writing. What to do you ask yourself? Well I’m starting to write on two blogs (mentioned earlier) There I can be as bitter and sour as I want. I love that. One more thing to be grateful for...the world wide web.
A hat Trick… from Jack Janes Olney
Have a great 2010, (what’s left of it) Love, John & Ginny
