Merry Christmas Everyone! Years ago, Garrison Keillor started his weekly monologue on “A Prairie Home Companion” with the line “It’s been a quiet week in my hometown.” We traditionally start our Christmas Letter with “It’s been a busy year in our home” – and this year is no different. First, a few general events, common to all four of us:
In March, both boys had spring break the same week, so we
were able to enjoy a spring break trip to Florida on March 8-15. (Pro tip: Don’t fly east the day before
daylight savings time starts – we doubled our Jet Lag) Over our 7 days in Florida, we were able to
spend a day on the beach at Hollywood, drive to and from Key West, take an
airboat ride in the Everglades and have dinner with Patrick’s Aunt Sharon and
Cousin Vicky. We also completed our
first escape room of the year.
Both boys were home all summer, with John working and Joshua
taking classes. But we were able to get
an extra-long weekend August 14-19. We
never stopped moving, it seems – flying into Phoenix mid-morning Arizona time
and driving up to the Grand Canyon. The
next day we drove across northern AZ to the Four Corners and spent the night in
Farmington NM, where we completed an escape room. Then it was on to Tucson where we checked
into a hotel, and then drove down to Nogales AZ, where we walked across the border
to spend the evening in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. (Dinner was excellent, and 19-year-old Joshua
was thrilled to find out the legal drinking age in Mexico is 18. He reports tequila has “Quite a kick”). Bright and early the next morning we left our
hotel in Tucson and drove to Tombstone to see the sights, then back up to
Phoenix to have dinner with Patrick’s Aunt Barb and cousins Diane and Denise
and Diane’s daughter Liz. (Sadly, Aunt
Barb passed away in late November).
Since our flight home was not until seven hours after check-out time from the hotel, we
took the opportunity to drive west on I-10 and add another state to our
list. Lunch in Blythe, California was
not nearly as spectacular as dinner in Mexico . . .
In the meantime, we were able to complete 5 more escape
rooms in Central Illinois. It’s become
something the four of us enjoy doing together.
Individually . . .
Joshua has completed his requirements for his associate’s degree except
for an internship. Officially his
internship starts January 12, 2026.
Unofficially, he’s already working two days a week at Legacy Pointe
Eatery. They’ve even let him work on the
hot line twice. This isn’t his first
high-end restaurant; he worked February through May as a Garde Manger cook at a
restaurant called Loukinen’s across the street from the Illinois Governor’s
mansion. (He worked right up until the
last day the restaurant was open and still considers Chef Loukinen to be a
mentor.) Joshua worked as a chef at Lincoln Land Community College’s “Bistro
Verde” restaurant in the Spring Semester.
He had two “Chef’s Specials” featured by the restaurant: “Pasta
Puttanesca” (you should Google what that means) in January and a full three
course lunch (Caprese Salad, Shrimp Bisque and Cannoli) in April. On August 5, even through he hasn’t finished
his degree, he finished his professional certification and so he is legitimately
“Chef Joshua.” This fall he worked as a
”Culinary Assistant” at the college (Tuesday and Thursday mornings doing prep
work and dishwashing for the culinary classes and Thursday nights and Saturday
mornings assisting in teaching community cooking classes). He’s looking forward to completing his
internship. . . and to the extra course he’s sneaking in: “Beverage Management”
– he’s hoping to learn to make great cocktails for when he turns 21 next
December.
John spent his Spring Semester at ISU before discovering he
was a little behind in his general ed classes.
When he looked at the difference in tuition between the state university
and the local community college, he decided that a semester living at home and
taking classes at LLCC was a pretty good idea.
He spent his summer working as a Gamemaster at Amazing Xscapes Escape
Room in Springfield and after school started, he returned to working at the
Subway in Chatham. He’ll be commuting
to ISU in the Spring semester and continuing to work weekends at Subway. A rite of passage for John’s dad was John’s
decision and ability to pay cash for a 2013 Volkswagen Passat (from a garage
sale, no less!) in October. It’s high
mileage, but he thinks it will do just fine at least through the end of college. He’s still studying Political Science and
Legal Studies, and on track to be a certified paralegal at the same time as he
starts law school.
Karen has adjusted to no longer working. She hates admitting
that she is on disability and prefers to call it “early retirement.” The Idiopathic Intercranial
Hypertension/Pressure continues to take a toll on her health and well-being.
However, between multiple MRIs on her brain, and medication changes, she can
manage her condition. On days she feels well, she enjoys doing yoga. This has
been good for her, as she has lost almost 30 pounds since May.
Patrick is still working at the Illinois Department of Transportation, still supporting financial software and doing Disaster Recovery planning (Completed for over 500 separate pieces of software to date). He’s also still administering Commercial Motor Vehicle Law Enforcement software . . . and now is also assisting in the training of two junior programmers. He’s continuing to work hard on weight loss and has now lost 60 pounds since August 2024. He is the proud wearer of a brand-new hearing aid in each ear. It’s stunning the number of things he wasn’t hearing.
Merry Christmas from Tanglewood Drive.
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