This is the Christmas letter I sent out to family this year. I’d love to have sent it to everyone – and perhaps next year I will! – but for now, if you want to hear our Christmas tidings, this is what I said. Accompanied by this photo …
Which is not appearing here because the stupid $%^&*ing computer won’t upload it … I’m giving up. I’ll try later!
Welcome
Well it is with great excitement that we are sending out this newsletter! I freely confess that in recent years we have been pretty darn hopeless when it comes to sending out Christmas cards and updates, but this year I have made a valiant attempt, and the results are now before you!
If you haven’t heard from us in a little while, please accept our most humble apologies. We have been thinking of you but we’ve been a bit busy and very disorganised. I am hoping however, that this will be remedied in due course.
The Boys
Our three gorgeous boys have had a fantastic year in 2007. Dory turned 13 in March and started high school. We received his report today and it appears he managed to excel in everything except French, while still being classified as the class clown. He’s hoping next year to be able to concentrate more and clown around a lot less. His mathematical ability is astounding and he has excelled in music. He is learning the bassoon as well as the flute and the tenor saxophone. He is also teaching himself to play the piano. He received an A+ for his grade two bassoon exam in November – the highest award available. He also received a trophy for coming in the top five per cent of a national science competition. He coaches gymnastics at the local gym and is hoping to start taking gym classes again next year. He is also madly saving money to go on a school tour to Japan in 2008. Dory has managed to grow to 181cm this year and hasn’t yet stopped. We’re hoping he stops growing soon as food is becoming expensive!
Picky turned 11 in August and has just finished grade five. Picky is also mathematically amazing and has excelled in all aspects of numeracy this year. While all my boys love reading, Picky is the only one so far who has shown any love of writing. Although at present, his limited typing ability has dampened his enthusiasm. But he loves to come up with creative ideas for stories that I’m hoping he will one day actually write! He participated in the Tournament of Minds this year and his team did extremely well. He is hoping to participate again next year as he got a lot of out of it. He did his first music exam this year and obtained a credit for grade two clarinet. Picky is a devoted soccer fan and had a wonderful season with a fantastic team. He is a naturally good goalie, but as his team annihilated the opposition at every game in the past two years he felt unchallenged and bored standing in goals, so this year he learned to play another position. I don’t know what it’s called but it involved a lot more running around! He is looking forward to going into grade six next year and finishing his primary school years on a high note. Like his older brother, Picky is getting taller by the minute. He is growing into a very tall skinny lad.
Sparkle might be our baby, but in January he turned eight! He took the bold step this year of being accelerated into grade three – in 2006 he was in grade one. The decision was a very good one. Academically he has excelled in all areas of the curriculum despite being a year behind his peers. He was placed in a grade 3 / 4 class and spent most of the year working with the grade fours. His only area that needs some developing and maturity is his handwriting. Next year we’re all going to help him focus on neatness! Musically he is still playing the piano and he received a B+ for his grade one exam in November. He performed in a local children’s musical theatre group for most of the year, but much to his mother’s disappointment, he resigned from it in third term. Next year he is really hoping to do soccer (like his big brother) and maybe drama (because his mum thinks he’s dramatic). Unlike his older brothers, Sparkle seems content to be average sized. Thank heavens! He is also quite comfortable in his role as the baby in the family. We’re hoping he never grows up!
Simone has had a great year this year! She finished her Graduate Diploma of Journalism, after completing a semester of editing and a semester of radio documentary. In fact she loved it all so much that she’s enrolled in the Masters for next year. She has no idea if any of this study will ever lead to career opportunities, but one should never underestimate the importance of diversifying one’s skill base! Musically this has been a fairly quiet year. Simone continues to teach one day a week at a girls school and also took on some flute tutoring at Dory’s high school. Her flute and piano duo, Piccante, had its most successful year to date with many performances around town and they already have two gigs lined up for February next year. Simone also tackled her first singing exam this year and received honours for grade five. Around the house, Simone pleads guilty to a lack of interest and enthusiasm over the past year. To be honest, housework is a boring pastime and really if you think about it, it will always be there in the future. However, as the new shed is finally beginning to emerge, she is starting to feel a little more enthusiasm for the place and even dusted a window sill last week. We are all sincerely hoping that next year will bring forth a flurry of domestic activity that will result in the beautiful home we’ve always desired.
SlowCoach has had a wonderful time in 2007 buying bits and pieces for his new red Fiat 131 Superbrava, after spectacularly crashing his old blue Fiat in February this year. The new one is very modern because it has central locking and electric windows. More importantly, it is running on LP gas, has new 15 inch wheels with low profile tyres, Koni adjustable shock absorbers, and a lot of noise is being made about installing a recently purchased supercharger. Work wise he is still measuring water all over Tasmania. As we get less water, there’s more measuring to be done. He’s certainly looking forward to taking a few weeks off over Christmas and spending more time searching Ebay for obscure Fiat parts. SlowCoach is also looking forward to the opportunity to extend his shed. At present, the old shed has been dismantled and reassembled in a new location, to be turned into a garden and storage shed. In January a slab of concrete will be laid in preparation for the biggest possible shed that we can find to erect on the tiny available space. By this time next year, we are hoping that SlowCoach will be happily pottering away in a much more spacious environment. In the meantime, the entire contents of the old shed are outside the back door …
