Christmas Letter Hit Parade 2002
“A good newsletter is never nearly good enough but a lousy newsletter is a joy forever.” -Garrison Keillor
Don’t write “Christmas letters about your grandkids and your prostate, with snapshots of yourselves at your condo overlooking the golf course at Plaid Pants Village.”
-Garrison Keillor
Merry 2002 Christmas Friends and Family!
Basically, life is good at our house. Regis and I are at the same jobs, the children who are of an age where they can legally be employed, are… and anyone who is legally required to be in school, is. We’re going to take Garrison Keillor’s advice again and spare you the darker details. We will, however let him help us tell about the other stuff. He writes better than both of us do.
“A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.” -Garrison Keillor
Tiffany is a senior this year. She’s making plans to go to college next fall… at least she’s planning to buy a car for college. A CD player and a sunroof seem to be top priorities. She is thinking about MSU in Mankato and we’re all happy about that. We don’t want her to go too far from home right away. She keeps busy now with work at Econofoods, choir, photography, and Connor (the boyfriend). Whoops. Spoke too soon about MSU. Now she’s added UMD (Duluth) to the equation.
"Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head."-Garrison Keillor
Peter transferred to Mankato West this fall. I’m not sure the experiment was a success as he wants to come back at the end of the semester. If they would only offer a class on skateboarding! He’ll be 16 in the spring so he’s looking forward to a driver’s license and a job. Well, he isn’t really looking forward to a job but his sister reminds him daily that she was cut off from the allowance gravy train when she turned sixteen and she expects the same to happen to him.
“Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.” -Garrison Keillor
Our grown children have jobs (Bob at Target and Regis at Ameripride in Mankato) and girlfriends (Emily and Shana) and lives that don’t involve us much. They come around when we need help with heavy lifting, cleaning out the garage, digging raspberry canes, and cutting Bert’s claws. They also come around for family birthday parties and holiday cook-outs…pretty much anything that involves a good meal.
“Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting their eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted.”
-Garrison Keillor
I’m still teaching at the Hoffmann Learning Center. Most days are fine…some days I would rather be the Avon lady in New Sweden. The last few summers, I have been doing staff development on writing with my friend, Jill. We have a gig lined up in Thief River Falls in July and I just realized how far that is up north. Regis says it will take three days and two crying jags for me to get there. If you have ever traveled with me, you know it’s true.
“Don't mess with a writer as he can immortalize you in ways you might not find pleasant.” -Garrison Keillor
Regis enjoys his job at Slumberland in Mankato. He sells a lot of beds, gets a kick out of the customers, and brings home a good deal once in a while. We had a near disaster this fall when he almost took a job with Mattress Giant. He spent an hour on the phone with his boss while I nervously bid on cream pitchers on eBay. He stayed with Slumberland but the cream pitchers arrived daily for the next two weeks.
“They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad to realize that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days.” - Garrison Keillor
Regis’s choice for the Garrison Keillor conclusion to the Christmas letter…
"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function."
And Teresa’s choice…
“Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.”
Merry Christmas all!
Don’t write “Christmas letters about your grandkids and your prostate, with snapshots of yourselves at your condo overlooking the golf course at Plaid Pants Village.”
-Garrison Keillor
Merry 2002 Christmas Friends and Family!
Basically, life is good at our house. Regis and I are at the same jobs, the children who are of an age where they can legally be employed, are… and anyone who is legally required to be in school, is. We’re going to take Garrison Keillor’s advice again and spare you the darker details. We will, however let him help us tell about the other stuff. He writes better than both of us do.
“A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.” -Garrison Keillor
Tiffany is a senior this year. She’s making plans to go to college next fall… at least she’s planning to buy a car for college. A CD player and a sunroof seem to be top priorities. She is thinking about MSU in Mankato and we’re all happy about that. We don’t want her to go too far from home right away. She keeps busy now with work at Econofoods, choir, photography, and Connor (the boyfriend). Whoops. Spoke too soon about MSU. Now she’s added UMD (Duluth) to the equation.
"Beauty isn't worth thinking about; what's important is your mind. You don't want a fifty-dollar haircut on a fifty-cent head."-Garrison Keillor
Peter transferred to Mankato West this fall. I’m not sure the experiment was a success as he wants to come back at the end of the semester. If they would only offer a class on skateboarding! He’ll be 16 in the spring so he’s looking forward to a driver’s license and a job. Well, he isn’t really looking forward to a job but his sister reminds him daily that she was cut off from the allowance gravy train when she turned sixteen and she expects the same to happen to him.
“Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.” -Garrison Keillor
Our grown children have jobs (Bob at Target and Regis at Ameripride in Mankato) and girlfriends (Emily and Shana) and lives that don’t involve us much. They come around when we need help with heavy lifting, cleaning out the garage, digging raspberry canes, and cutting Bert’s claws. They also come around for family birthday parties and holiday cook-outs…pretty much anything that involves a good meal.
“Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting their eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted.”
-Garrison Keillor
I’m still teaching at the Hoffmann Learning Center. Most days are fine…some days I would rather be the Avon lady in New Sweden. The last few summers, I have been doing staff development on writing with my friend, Jill. We have a gig lined up in Thief River Falls in July and I just realized how far that is up north. Regis says it will take three days and two crying jags for me to get there. If you have ever traveled with me, you know it’s true.
“Don't mess with a writer as he can immortalize you in ways you might not find pleasant.” -Garrison Keillor
Regis enjoys his job at Slumberland in Mankato. He sells a lot of beds, gets a kick out of the customers, and brings home a good deal once in a while. We had a near disaster this fall when he almost took a job with Mattress Giant. He spent an hour on the phone with his boss while I nervously bid on cream pitchers on eBay. He stayed with Slumberland but the cream pitchers arrived daily for the next two weeks.
“They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad to realize that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days.” - Garrison Keillor
Regis’s choice for the Garrison Keillor conclusion to the Christmas letter…
"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function."
And Teresa’s choice…
“Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.”
Merry Christmas all!
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