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Holiday Letter 2002
31 December 2002
Dear Family and Friends,
Happy Holidays!
Another year and two thoughts leap to mind: 1) Wow, that was fast! 2) Wow, we’re behind on our Holiday Letter. We should hardly be surprised anymore.
2002 started with the Bowman wedding in Wisconsin for George; Jennifer chickened out because of the cold so of course the weather was warm and beautiful. This set the pace for the Keller wedding in Boise in June (George flew the plane there), and then the Alcantara nuptials in Tucson in July. They were each terrific, completely due to the people getting married and to those who came to share it.
Speaking of terrific fun, we went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans in February. Bubbie (Jennifer’s dad) and friends Carl and John are all members of the Endymion Krewe and we went to the formal Endymion ball at the Superdome on Saturday with El, Pete, Ginger, Jimmie (all kin), and many friends. The parade ends there and then 10,000 people party ‘til dawn - tough duty. While in N.O. we also hung out with friends Ragnar and Neil (and Trent Reznor, but you’ll have to ask for that story). We’ll be back in 2003 as George has joined Endymion and will be IN the parade this year. We’re going to stay with Ragnar in his new house though, as Bubbie and El sold the N.O. condo and moved 45 min. away to a beach house in Waveland, Mississippi.
In March George spent nine days in the Dominican Republic working and playing with www.Orphanage-Outreach.org. In other volunteering, he gave 16 presentation at nine AZ high schools in the Spring for Making It Count, facilitated three retreat weekends during the year for Kappa Sigma’s Brothers in Action program (at Dallas, Long Beach, and Alberta, Canada), and did entrance interviews each semester at the U of A for the Eller College of Business.
Jennifer, however, really shone with volunteering this year. She organized a very successful golf tournament in March for the Junior League of Tucson. She was also Volunteer Coordinator for the Susan G. Komen Southern Arizona Race for the Cure in April (over 500 volunteers and over 10,000 runners). To top it all off, she was chosen and is serving as President-Elect for the Junior League and will begin her term as President in May of 2003.
In the déjà vu category, we are now living at 501 E 1st St. That’s right, George is back at Grandma’s house. We decided this spring to move into it, so George began extensive renovations, pledging to do most of the work himself. We sold our house in June (sooner than expected) and moved in before everything was done (surprised?). We’ve added an awning to the front, extended the patio, and are planning a two-car garageport. Most of the interior is done including a completely new kitchen and master bath, plumbing and electrical upgrades, and lots of paint. There’s quite a bit of finishing work left as well as some built-ins, but we’re getting there. It is great to be back in the house that Grandma bought in 1947; once we do manage to have children they’ll be the 5th generation to live here. Maybe by then we’ll stop calling it Grandma’s house…
In June we attended George’s 20-year high school reunion. The Mingus Union bunch hadn’t changed much and it was big fun. July saw George hitting the Bay Area for a Kappa Sig leadership conference, then in August we each took Labor Day trips. George flew the plane to Northern Nevada to spend 5 days camping in the desert at www.BurningMan.com with friend Jim, while Jennifer went East to Waveland to hang out on the beach with family. We’ll do Burning Man again, together in an RV; 2002 was something of a scouting trip. Almost immediately after we got back to Tucson from those jaunts, we headed for Vancouver to see the Canadian cousins. We went boating with Jim and Margo off Vancouver Island and even got to see Geoff and Kirsten in Vancouver. In Seattle we saw friends Joe and Jeri, and briefly saw the Pollocks, a preview of things to come…
In early November George ducked out for a quick weekend at Magic Mountain with Tucson friends Aaron and Tina, but the big news was at the end of the month. Just after Thanksgiving we flew to New Zealand for 13 days of fun and occasional sun. We toured the North Island for part of it, and Jennifer even talked George into going with her over a 23’ waterfall in an 8-person rubber raft. But the highlight was seven days on a 41’ sailboat in the Bay of Islands. We joined Brett, Jeff, Ragnar, Joel, Jay, and Doug and Heidi Pollock for incredible sightseeing (including both orcas and dolphins, right up close), great sailing, diving, and even some partying (shocking, we know).
We spent the Christmas holiday in Sedona with Harold and Eileen (George’s parents), and got to see John, Colleen, Caroline, and Kyle in Phoenix on the trip up there (George’s brother and family).
In case you wondered, we both do still work, although it’s tough to tell with George most of the time. He’s been doing the renovation thing, and teaching scuba at Desert Divers and in Mexico, has built up a small base of personal coaching clients, and has sold 6 houses in his first year as a real estate agent. His focus in on building his real estate business and continuing work as a software developer. www.DiveRoster.com is on the market now and 2003 should be big for it.
Jennifer actually works harder, but her job description does not require extra pages. She continues at Tucson Medical Center, coming up on her 14th year as a Speech Pathologist. She loves the kids she gets to help and the progress that they make. She also continues teaching graduate students, and has just seen one take a job with a very good friend.
No room for books or movies, though there have been plenty. We did make it to Harry Connick, and Jennifer saw Sheryl Crow; both were great. We continue to hold season tickets to Arizona Theatre Company and the Theatre League, and now that we practically live downtown we do a lot of walking there, to and around the U of A, and up and down 4th Avenue. We really love our neighborhood.
Like you, our "quality" time is that spent with family and friends, and needless to say we try to make all of our time quality time. We need to note though, as Joel very ably illustrated with a story he told our first night together as group in New Zealand, the friends that we are blessed with truly are family.
Love,
Jennifer and George
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