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Holiday Letter 2003
January 6, 2004
Dear Friends and Family,
Well 2003 is behind us and what a year it was. We just finished Christmas here in Tucson with George’s mom Eileen, brother John and his wife Colleen and their kids Kyle (4) and Caroline (6). On Jennifer’s side we had dad John and his wife El out from Mississippi, sister Joelle and cousin Darcy in from Newport, cousins Jim and Margo from Canada/Palm Springs, their son Geoff and daughter Kirsten and her boyfriend Chris. We had friends in and out over the holiday as well, so the house has been a very joy-filled zoo.
Having all of the family together was particularly special this year as, sadly, George’s father Harold passed away in March after a final bout with lung cancer. He is sorely missed, though solace comes in knowing he led a great life, and died peacefully with no regrets. Thanks to all who were able to visit him in his final months and to all who offered love and support. Eileen is adjusting and your support is welcome there as well.
Thanksgiving was family time as well, this time in Palm Springs with even more on Jennifer’s side of things. The big news then was Joelle and Mike announcing their engagement.
The weekend of November 1 wasn’t exactly with family, but with close enough friends that it seemed that way. George’s high school friend Greg Ewald married Shanlyn Jonas and a large number of both high school and college friends were there. George was very honored to perform the ceremony.
While we didn’t take a big vacation, there was almost too much travel to describe: Mardi Gras was a hoot as usual and was George’s first year riding on a float in the Endymion parade. We spent Independence Day at John and El’s recently remodeled beach house in Waveland, Mississippi; friend Ragnar came over from New Orleans to help us light fireworks and such. George got to chaperone a middle school trip to Catalina Island Marine Institute in the spring with a bunch of diver friends and in June spent a weekend in Seattle at a Kappa Sigma roast of Joel Rapp; an extraordinary reunion. Jennifer did a girl’s (17 gals in all) weekend in Vegas in August to see the Dixie Chicks. George also had "boy’s weekend" in Las Vegas in November for the Cigar Aficionado Big Smoke. He and Aaron took the plane and met up with a large contingent from Tucson (a bunch of Junior League husbands) and all had a great time. There was lots of other travel, but it was either volunteer or work related.
Volunteering for Jennifer has centered around Junior League. Her Presidency started in May and ends this coming May. League travel has taken her to Seattle, Bakersfield, Nashville, and Houston for large Association meetings and she has developed great friendships with other presidents of Junior Leagues throughout the country. She has even managed to gain a few leadership skills. She also interviewed and made several steps toward a position with the International organization. Her year so far as President has been stellar according to George. Jennifer has considered this all a wonderful experience, although she does admit to counting down the months until she is no longer "in charge."
George is nowhere near as focused and has continued to work with Kappa Sigma, including a January trip to Denver to facilitate a leadership weekend as well as some more recent work with his local chapter. He does quite a bit with the Eller College at the U of A, and has recently joined the Board for the Child Language Center, a local agency that specializes in speech and language services for young children. He’s also been busy on the Board of Orphanage Outreach and is off to the Dominican Republic in March to spend a couple weeks working with the children there.
As far as work goes, yes we still do work. Jennifer has cut back to 28 hours per week at TMC and has taken on a number of private clients. At TMC she continues to work as a Clinical Instructor with graduate students from a variety of Universities, something she finds very rewarding, as well as her continued work with children with autism and developmental delay.
George is another story and has spent the better part of the year finishing the renovation at 501 E 1st St. It’s hardly recognizable as "Grandma’s house" and he’s likely to become a bit more productive in other areas in 2004. He has done quite a few real estate transactions in spite of himself, and is looking to expand that a lot, including finally putting the word out to all of his fraternity brothers and alums in Tucson that he’s "in the business." His software business is growing slowly and he went to Miami Beach for a dive industry convention to introduce his dive shop software, www.diveroster.com, in October. Expect some road time in 2004 to make sales calls on scuba shops. He taught a few scuba classes last year and will do so again in this year, at least enough to "keep his gills wet."
In our spare time, we continue to read a lot, go to concerts and the theater, and catch a movie occasionally. Favorites this year still include Harry Potter, and we’ve both fallen for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on TV. Jennifer’s books are Reading Lolita in Tehran and The Speckled Monster. George’s are The Tipping Point, The Fourth Turning, and Stephen King’s Dark Tower series (a longtime favorite that’s finally coming to a conclusion).
We continue to feel blessed and hope 2004 brings you much joy.
Love,
Jennifer and George
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