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Happy Holidays!!!! Maggie &
Bruce will spend the Christmas/New Year's week in La Jolla with Jay and Catherine--who
Jay decided to expand his horizons. When Catherine chose UCSD and then discovered apartments were very expensive
near the campus, the two of our kids decided to split the costs of a 2 bedroom
apartment--only a few hundred dollars a month more than a 1 bedroom apartment.
Catherine spent much of late June & early July apartment hunting and found
something both she & Jay would like. One criteria was a place which
would allow pets. Jay took one of his 2 cats (Zoey) to La Jolla to join Catherine
and her Siamese cat Jasper. Jay's other cat (Hera over water bowl) stays
Maggie and Bruce took a 10-day vacation in June
to Maui using accrued charge card points for free roundtrip flight. They
stayed for 3 days in a Kapalua condo with spectacular
views of ocean, golf course, and the island of Molokai.
Maggie still likes the challenge of doing speech/language with preschoolers and with K - 8th graders at ANSER Charter school. She had two moves this year (different preschool site, & the Charter expanded at a new location), so all of her accumulated teaching materials had to move. Maggie says moving is awful! She enjoys work with autistic kids and attended two conferences on the "social thinking" approach to treatment. The spring conference was in Vancouver, Washington.
Bruce drove to pick Maggie up from her Vancouver conference on an April Friday afternoon having spent several hours that morning exploring the area where he grew up in St. Helens, Oregon--finding the house where his parents lived when he was born. Bruce & Maggie then drove up to Tacoma, Washington to spend a few days with Fran Bovinas Cheatham.
Summer also got us to the Sacramento area to catch up with family. We joined an annual family reunion hosted by Mag's cousin Bill and his wife Charlotte Sandberg. We stayed with Bruce's cousin Margaret and her husband, Joe Harling. Bruce's brother Brian came up from Gilroy for a mini-family reunion. Bruce is part of the Idaho Golf Association team to rate USGA golf courses and traveled extensively throughout Idaho and into Wyoming rating and playing many golf courses.
Happy prosperous 2010 New Year to all our family
and friends!!
are splitting a 2 bedroom apartment in University Town Center near UC San Diego. A special thanks to all family and friends who supported the Cure JM fundraiser. Due to your generosity, Catherine and we were able to raise $2,310 which far exceeded her initial $1,000 goal. Cure JM photo at bottom.
Catherine began her upper division work at UCSD this fall quarter. Jay moved
to California in August, transferring to a La Jolla Starbucks. Maggie continues
her good health and working at 2 new school locations doing speech-language
therapy. Bruce still works at BanBury Golf Course and plays a lot of golf
when he isn't working or keeping up our home--cooking dinners, cleaning &
such.
Catherine completed her
lower division requirements at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. We all
attended her graduation in May. Catherine wants to major in Political Science,
minor in Earth Science/Geology, and she wants to teach high school. She applied to 4 California schools with theses options--UC San Diego,
UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, & Cal State University Long Beach. Then had the
hard choice to make when she was accepted by each of the four schools. The weather, proximity
to friends, and where she lived the past several years made San Diego her
choice. Early June Bruce and Catherine looked at a number of condominiums in
and around the La Jolla area. However, with almost 1,000 condominiums in foreclosure/short
sales in University Town Center alone, apartment rents seemed a safer expense
than smaller monthly payments on a condo.
behind in Boise with Catherine's cats left behind when she went off to college Ebony and Apollo (aka PC and
Sausage). Jay packed most of his belongings in a U-Haul trailer which Bruce
towed to La Jolla in August. Jay began working at a La Jolla Starbucks the following
week. This fall he was trained to be a shift-leader and was transferred to
another Starbucks near the Pacific Beach area of San Diego. After receiving
his 1st paycheck with a raise in his new position; he commented,
"It is nice to get a raise." Jay has been studying this fall to take the GRE..which he took recently and is now awaiting results.
He plans to (maybe) return to school in one of the San Diego area universities.
He is establishing California residency for whatever eventuates.
Most of the nearby condominiums
were vacant--Maui was clearly experiencing a depressed economy. They ate dinner at the Ritz-Carleton Hotel in Kapalua in an
almost empty dining room. Bruce didn't take golf clubs--United
Airlines charges a lot of money to haul extra bags and especially golf clubs. But he rented clubs and
played 2 courses in Wailea area near the Kihei condominium right on the beach where they stayed
for last 7 days of the trip (beach photo thru trees taken from our condominium deck)...same condo as when the kids were small & we
vacationed a few times in Maui. Hiked the Iao Valley...drove to Hana...window
shopped in Wailea, Kaanapali, Kihei, lots of shops (many, many vacant)...swam & snorkeled...watched
windsurfers...walked on many beaches...took lots of photos...visited Maui Aquarium...drove
to La Perouse Bay...walked through a number of spectacular gardens...did a lot
of tourist things. Both wished the trip lasted longer than 10 days.
Our family website will have this letter as well
as the past 14 years of holiday letters. We'll probably include pictures
from our Christmas trip to La Jolla and maybe pictures when we celebrate our 37th anniversary later this week.
