Silent Night, Holy Night. I’ve really appreciated some of
the recent Christmas songs that have pointed out that the night was likely not
silent or calm, given that a birth was taking place, so maybe the rush of the
season is in line with the first Christmas.
As I rush about this December trying to get everything done at home and
at work, it is hard to quiet myself even to write this letter to friends.
Laine and I will be leaving for Michigan in a few days,
stopping off to see friends in Ohio along the way. We greatly enjoy our holiday
travels and the opportunity to see family and friends that live far away, or
maybe I should say I enjoy the travel. Today Laine declared that flying is
better than driving and Florida is better than Michigan. I tried to point out
all of the things that she could do in the car and she quickly countered that
she could do all of those things in an airplane. Clearly I have met my match.
(Although, once she realized that she wouldn't see Elizabeth, Harper, Sidney or
Chandler in Ohio, driving became a bit more appealing.)
Laine turned 4 this year and we have already visited one
potential school for next year, yes that’s right, she is starting
kindergarten. While it is shocking that
I’m filling out application forms, it has been a delight to watch her learn and
grow and I’m sure she will excel in the new environment. One of Laine’s proudest accomplishments of
the year was learning to spell Tinklenberg; I told her that many adults cannot
do it. Laine continues to enjoy
gymnastics. She did her first ‘flying
burrito’ on the uneven bars (swinging from the top bar to the lower bar and
then swinging off) and a forward role on the beam. She also enjoys art, music and all things sparkly. She is truly a girly girl who prefers dresses
to jeans and sandals to sneakers. Today
when I asked her if she was spoiled her answer was, “of course.”
I did not see some of the change I anticipated this year at
work. The change I did not anticipate
was my boss moving into a new role and then not having a boss for most of the
year. So while my role stayed the same,
I got a look behind the curtain as I worked with the other regional leaders to
keep everything in technology running smoothly.
Now that new leadership is in place I do expect that my job will take a
slightly different shape. Fortunately,
my new boss is open to ideas about how things will look.
During the year we had the opportunity to travel to see many
family and friends. When we were leaving
for Michigan in August, one of the daycare teachers asked if it was Laine’s
first time on an airplane, I replied, “It’s her third time this summer.” In May, we celebrated the wedding of my
cousin and spent the weekend in Wisconsin with my grandmother, aunts, uncles
and cousins. In June we were once again
blessed to gather with several families from our China travel group. I’m grateful for the relationships that have
grown out of that shared experience and the kinship that Laine has with the
other kids. We traveled to see my
parents twice, once in Michigan over the summer and then in Florida this
fall. Grandpa and Grandma had Laine to
themselves for a week, while I had some work travel and then I joined them for
Thanksgiving. They all seemed to enjoy
the time together. We also did some day
and weekend trips to see local friends, but there never seem to be enough
weekends to see everyone as often as I would like.
As we look forward to 2012, I look forward to my 4th
week of vacation! We also look forward
to Laine starting school (the extra vacation days will come in handy with all
of the school holidays!) I’m sure that
next year will bring many new adventures and challenges and I look forward to
tackling them with a pretty amazing kid.
Love to you and yours,
Julie
