Christmas 2009

2009: You can judge a man based on the mail he receives

Our local letter carrier probably thinks I am crazy. This year I have ended up on some very strange mailing lists, two of which I would like to share.

This year we considered buying a house located near high voltage power lines. As part of the process, I bought an Electro-Magnetic Field detector off the Internet to measure how far the electric fields extend from the power lines. Apparently EMF readers are also used to measure “paranormal activity” by “ghost hunters.”  You can imagine the mailing lists one might end up on and the catalogs one would receive. Although we did not make an offer on the house, the meter clearly indicates that our microwave is haunted. I am not sure what we need to do about this. The troubleshooting section of the guide that came with the microwave is not specific on this topic. I am continuing to pursue this issue and will update as more information comes available.

The piece of mail I am most excited about concerns three different letters I have received from the AAUW, which is short for the “American Association of University Women.” I am not sure how I got on their mailing list, but apparently they want me to join with them for some reason or another. I can assure you that when I was at the university 20 years ago, I did not get significant attention from university women as a whole. I am not sure why they would show interest now. Perhaps all of them are starting to realize my complete and total awesomeness. I will take their letters for the compliment they surely represent, but in deference to my wife, I will have to decline the invitation... With that being said, here is the family update...

Margaret, the oldest child, is now thirteen and in seventh grade at Grapevine Middle School. She is active in girls scouts and knitting. Last summer, she went on a week long Girl Scout trip to Savannah Georgia, which was probably the highlight for the year. She also likes to read, but I am seeing some warning signs and am wondering if I should be concerned. Recently, I took her to the library and she assembled the usual stack of books, the top of which was titled “Criminals and Assassins.” Every book in the stack was about unsolved true crimes and other nefarious activities. She assures me that none of these are “how to” books and she has been reading books like these for the last few months. I guess I should be thankful for the fact she is a prolific reader. 

Our middle child, Cal, is a fourth grader at Dove elementary. Cal has slowed down a bit on his inventing activities this year, but continues to be very involved in scouting. He is a Webelo I rank with his sights set on earning all 20 of the activity badges that are available. His favorite badges involve firearms and knives. [That is yet another warning sign.] He is also in the fall play at school, where he plays the role of Santa Claus. He is very excited about that.

Charlie, our youngest, is now a 6 year old in first grade at Dove Elementary. Charlie has grown a lot this last year. The list of achievements is too great to mention them all. Some highlights are that he has started to read books on his own, he now rides his bicycle without training wheels, and he completed his second season of soccer, where he is improving and seems to like it. He is also very excited that his first season of basketball starts in a few weeks.

Laura continues to teach two days a week at the Saint Francis preschool program. One day focuses on early music development and the other is for developing gross motor skills. Last spring, she was the environmental committee chair at Dove elementary. This school year, she is the PTA secretary. All of these things keep her busy. Lastly, this fall, she completed her first 5K running race. That was a good accomplishment.

As for myself, not much has changed. I still work for a robotics company based in California. I have worked from home for the last 3 years. It is working out well. For anyone interested, the company is Adept Technology (www.adept.com).  I also did a sprint triathlon in May. I had hoped to do more, but the rigors of life did not allow. Perhaps fortunes will turn next year, and I will get to do more. We will see.

In September, we added a new member to our family. We are the proud owners of a dog named Mickey. For those who know dog breeds, he is a Malti-Poo-Chihuahua-Dachshund mix. The kids love him and things are working out well.

Have a peaceful holiday season.              Cyle, Laura, Margaret, Cal, Charlie and Micky