Christmas, 2004
So, here we are in yet another Christmas season. Jon and the kids have just finished building the train platform that goes under the tree. Every year it gets more and more complex. All I want is a simple oval that runs around the tree. You know, like the one I had as a young girl. Back then the Wise Men, their camels and a few random sheep would take the train to get to Bethlehem every Christmas.
Now, we have a layout that looks like Union Station in my living room. And instead of giving the Nativity guys a ride, Jon has a flatcar with Zambonis on it. You know, the little cars they drive around on ice rinks to resurface the ice. How’s that for festive?
So, here’s what’s happening with my family. Bill is a junior in High School and is doing extremely well. In addition to a bunch of Honors and AP classes he is the co-captain of the Ice Hockey team and is finishing the requirements for his Eagle Scout award. His current plan is to major in Applied Mathematics at a yet to be named University. He is not sure where he wants to go, but I would like him to stay within five hours of DC to make the commute easier. We are doing the college tour over spring break. I suspect that trip will narrow his search down quite a bit.
As I am writing this, Bill is sitting at his great-grandmother’s piano and playing some beautiful classical piece that I think is Bach. (Jon tells me that it is Pachelbel’s “Canon in D”. Shows what I know!) Nevertheless, it is beautiful and I love to listen to him play!
Allison is our five-foot two-inch fifth grader. Her basketball coaches love her. She is playing on two teams and doing great. It is fun to watch her sprint up and down the court. She shoots so many free throws at our hoop in the driveway that she is almost an automatic basket at the foul line.
She is doing pretty well at school, although she does need to remember to bring home the appropriate books to do the assigned homework. (I wonder who she inherited that trait from.)
Jim is just about to finish his first semester at Carnegie Mellon. He is studying Engineering and earned an NROTC scholarship. He seems to be enjoying himself and has made the transition from High School to College without missing a beat. Me, on the other hand, I missed quite a few good night sleeps during that transition. There is something about sending one of your kids off into the ‘real world’ that makes a Mom sleep less soundly.
Speaking of Moms, Nanny is less than a month away from turning 80! You would never know it by how she gets around. She must be up and down the stairs a dozen times each day: carrying the laundry, getting the mail and helping around the house. Although she probably feels like she has retired now that we gave away Lucy Fur, the devil dog. Before a friend took Lucy to live in the country, Nanny must have let the dog in and out of the back door fifty times a day. Although the kids miss having a dog, I am sure that Nanny doesn’t.
Aunt Winnie is also doing fine, although her legs are bothering her a bit. She is not getting around as well as she would like. When we finished voting last month, she informed me that for the 2008 election she would be mailing in her ballot rather than standing in another long line.
Jon is still Jon. He is playing and coaching Ice Hockey as well as mentoring a group of High School students that build robots to compete in regional and national tournaments. This summer, the “Dead Robot Society” (as Bill named this group) won the DC regional competition and went on to take sixth place (out of fifty) in the national tournament. They came home with two 4 foot tall trophies to commemorate their robotic design skills. Just what I need; more stuff in our already too-small house!
Speaking of which, Jon decided that we need to get a new house. We are in the process of building a new home in Herndon. We are designing the basement as an in-law suite so that Mom and Aunt Winnie will have a little space that they can call their own, but that I don’t have to drive to when they need groceries. The house really is quite beautiful (or will be once it is built) but I haven’t totally gotten my mind around the idea of moving away from Fairfax. We have lived here since Jim was born and I really have felt at home here. Sigh! No one ever said change was easy.
Try to have a wonderful, blessed and relaxing holiday. (Or, at least try for two out of three!) As always, if you are ever in the northern Virginia area, please call or stop in.
Happy Holidays from the Grasmeders!