Year In Review Or The Dreaded Christmas Letter

Christmas letters are often mocked and made fun of. Bad Mom e-mailed hers and was vilified by a total jerk for it. Grandy made up a very funny version of a holiday letter. I'm going on record as saying I love to write them and I love to read them. Just because life may get too busy to keep up regularly doesn't mean I don't want to find out how you're doing--and Christmas cards and letters are a great way of doing that.

Writing a letter is a balancing act--you definitely want to avoid the overly bragging letter, but let's face it, nobody wants to look like a loser either. For me, the fact that my letter is generally positive and everyone is doing well is very satisfying to me. If you grew up in an environment where the Christmas letter might have read like the transcript from an episode of Cops, then normal is actually very gratifying. That's where I am. I have worked very hard to build a stable, fulfilling life and I like to celebrate and share it.

So, read it or don't, but I'm going to keep writing them. Yes, I know it's long, but we do have a fairly large family.

Christmas 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope this has been a good year for you, and that you are doing okay in these tumultuous times. It has been a year of ups and downs for us, and we’re looking forward to enjoying this Christmas together and, hopefully, a less-eventful 2009.

In January, Jenn's sister Lisa passed away from cancer. She died just a week after Jenn, Grownup Girl and T (Jenn and Lisa’s stepsister) visited her; Lisa’s last dinner ended up being a reprise of the traditional Christmas dinner from their childhood. T stayed on to help the family and was an amazing comfort. There was more sadness for our family when our close friend, Tom, also succumbed to cancer in April. Tom was a wonderful friend to all of us and like an uncle to the kids. It was our privilege to be with the family at the end and to be part of his amazing sendoff.

Now, for more upbeat news . . . Social Butterfly promoted from 8^th grade the same day MVP graduated from high school. We were lucky to have Nana and Papa and cousin Matthew visiting from Minnesota for the occasion, as well as Jenn’s Dad down from San Luis Obispo, and to have all the local family celebrate with us at MVP’s Graduation party.

Social Butterfly is now a freshman and is a cheerleader at the high school. She is doing well in school and has lots of friends, both old and new. Her social life eclipses ours by about 20 to 1. For her 14^th birthday she chose a tandem paraglide as her gift—we went to Torrey Pines Gliderport the day after Thanksgiving, and we all got to watch her take a breathtaking flight on a picture-perfect San Diego day.

Danger Boy is a sophomore and has recently finished up the high school Water Polo season. He played varsity, and his team was undefeated in their division and went to CIF, though they lost their first round game by one goal. He has his learner’s permit and is looking forward to getting his driver’s license in March. Anyone who’s taught a teenager how to drive knows what a relaxing time it is! He’s taking a cooking class as an elective—we were initially skeptical, but his Fettuccini Alfredo has made us converts.

MVP is a freshman at Colorado State University Fort Collins and is having a blast there. Jenn and Mr. Fix-it made the 17 hour drive to drop him off in August, and have to say that Fort Collins is one gorgeous place. College tip—if you need a “beater” bike for getting around campus, a pawn shop is the place to go. We got a shock at Thanksgiving when MVP got off the plane disguised as Grizzly Adams—it was “No Shave November” at his school. We sent him back to school with a beard trimmer. He has decided to look into Wildlife Resource Management as a major. In the meantime, there will be lots of snowboarding in the winter and mountain biking in the spring. We were blown away by his poise and maturity when he gave a stirring and heartfelt tribute to Tom at the memorial service—he has really moved beyond adolescence.

Grownup Girl has been busy filling out pharmacy school applications. We all have our fingers crossed for USC, but she could end up at Purdue, or in Chicago or Boston or San Francisco. She and her boyfriend, Music Man, have been living the grownup life in Pasadena since they graduated from Oxy in 2007. Music Man has had a couple of great jobs, but the contracting economy has also meant layoffs. He’s looking for work now, hopefully in the computer/art design field or possibly something that uses his Psych degree. Grownup Girl is working part-time as a Pharmacy Technician for _____, babysitting, and tutoring while she finishes up classes at Pasadena City College. We’re really proud of their independence. Struggling while starting out is a real character-builder!

Jenn has just finished finals (there’s finally time to send cards!) and next semester will be her last before she begins full-time student teaching. This coming semester will include 96 hours of teaching at the San Diego Juvenile Hall Court School and then graduation in May (Yay!). She has also rediscovered her love of writing through taking Literature and Writing courses and has been writing for pleasure—it’s great to revive a talent from the past. 2009 will be the year of getting back in shape. Apparently, she and Oprah fell off the same wagon—though in Denise’s defense she lacked the personal chef and personal trainer Oprah had!

Mr. Fix-it has embarked on a new job, as the Vice-President of Customer Relations for ______ Flooring. It was (again) the shrinking economy that led to the move, but it has turned out be a great opportunity. Whenever one door closes . . . Besides being an excellent company to work for, his office is 5 minutes away from home. He’s doing a fair amount of travel, but they are 2 to 3 day mid-week trips, so we just focus on the frequent flyer miles he’s accruing!

Highlights of the year included a ski/snowboard trip to Big Bear with T’s family, a couple of more day trips for snowboarding, a Mammoth biking trip for Mr. Fix-it and MVP with Mr. Fix-it’s brother J’s family, and a week in Mammoth with the _____ (bittersweet without Tom, but still a lot of fun) where Social Butterfly surprised us all by wanting to ride the mountain almost as frequently as MVP. Lisa’s ex-husband Mike and Gangsta-Boy (our nephew/cousin) moved back to San Diego from Vancouver, WA in July, and stayed with us for a couple of months before getting an apartment. We also had some Brazilian Water Polo players visit again—for a few days this summer we were a household of 10. Thanksgiving was wonderful with everyone home for three days and Music Man’s family as well as Gangsta-Boy and Mike joining us for dinner. For Christmas, Gangsta Boy's brother M and his girlfriend will be visiting from Washington, GuG and MM will spend a few days at home and MVP will be home for a month, so we’ll have another full house—which is the just the type of house we love to have!

We are looking forward to everyone’s cards, letters and pictures and are wishing you all the merriest of Christmases and health and happiness (and employment and rebounding 401(k)s) in 2009.

The Juggling Life Household

Comments

[kcinnova]

Perfect! Not bragging, just sharing of your year.

Mine is scheduled as tomorrow's post. :)

[Reluctant Blogger]

I always feel a bit of a hypocrite about Christmas letters. I don't like the idea of them at all and yes, I moan about them and scoff at them. BUT when one arrives, I unfold it with haste and read it all. I bet most people are like me - they pretend not to like them (not sure why - I've never tried to analyse it, I just make fun of myself for being that way!) but are actually pretty keen in secret.

I think maybe some people do go over the top in bragging - or only giving one side of the story but you most certainly did not do that. I loved to hear about your family and your year.

Have a lovely Christmas, Jenn.

xx

[Cheri @ Blog This Mom!]

I love Christmas letters too.

[Jen on the Edge]

I save the day's cards and letters and then settle in on the sofa to fully savor them. Yours was a wonderful read.

[Suzanne]

I love it. And I agree, if your childhood could have played out on an epiosde or two of cops, there is a lot to be thankful for. I loved reading yours and all the ones I did get this year, but I did not do one this year myself. I just did not feel it for some (many) reasons. I will get back on the wagon next year..you have inspired me.
Take care-Suz

[Baby Favorite]

I love Christmas letters. Yours is written much like mine.

Very nice job!

[Just Jamie]

What a year indeed. Fortunately, those of us who read your blog already knew most of that. You didn't mention your mad blog skills in there.

Many warm wishes to you Jenn. It's been great getting to know you this past year.

[Smalltown Mom]

You are a great writer -- falling off the same wagon as Oprah? Snicker.

[Janet]

Was the choice of Wildlife Resource Management a direct result of the Grizzly Adams beard? ;-)

And oh my yes, please to the rebounding 401(k)s!!! I made the mistake of looking at mine recently *shiver*

[Trooper Thorn]

Merry Christmas and thanks for all the readers you did bring over Jenn.

Good news about Mr. Fix-It. I hope the economy can affect avryone that postively in the new year.

[Don Mills Diva]

Wildlife Resource Management - HA!

This was a great letter - not bragging at all.

I love Christmas letters - it's nice to hear how everyone's doing.

[Deb D]

I love Christmas letters and I didn't write one this year. I got a guilt trip from Engineering Dad's aunt when she mentioned in her card how much she loves my Christmas letter. I guess I'll be doing a year end letter instead.

Merry Christmas to you and your family. I really enjoy reading your blog.

[shelia]

I love Christmas letters! Yours is awesome!

[Green Girl]

A) Great letter!
B) I'm amazed by your kids & all they've achieved and how successful they each are.
C) Merry Christmas!

[Mary~Momathon]

I love long Christmas letters! But I'm not sending them this year because I just sent out birth announcements and in a few short months I'll be sending two graduation announcements. Fairly easy to figure out what we've been doing from all the announcements.

[Jason]

Congratulations on your normal life. You've earned it!

But I know better; your life is better than normal!

[stephanie (bad mom)]

Lovely & sincere with a satisfying amount of humor :) Very merry Christmas to you all.

[CC]

Student teaching at Juvi? By choice? Actually, I heard from someone who did that before that it was the best and most well-behaved group of kids EVER. I guess having guards next to the students is very useful for classroom management! ;)

[Angela]

Nice letter. I bet you also going back to remember everything.

And now if you forget when that happened you can just look back on your blog.

[JCK]

That's a great, newsy letter. And fun that we had read about most of it throughout the last year!