Dear Sisters,
This is the final Christmas activity, and my favorite. Lauren is heading back to college tomorrow morning (as always, way too soon) which must mean the holidays are really over.
On the whole, it has been a pretty good year. Our cat, Athena, died in November, but we had adopted a younger cat in May so the hole she left wasn’t quite as big. And the kitten (Nova, or Terror-Nova as I call her) had added some interest to Athena’s life.
I graduated in December with my Transportation Management degree!!!! It was a busy year—I interned part time at the North Shore Scenic Railroad this summer, and learned about running a tourist railroad. Got to ride in the locomotive with the engineer and fireman. The best part thought, is I was able to find a job here in Duluth, working for a trucking company. It is really different not being an expert at my job, but I am learning a lot, and so far it has been a great company to work for. Remember—anything you use moves by truck at some point!
Claire has joined the ranks of licensed drivers—and says it is lonely driving by herself. I, however, do not miss waiting for her in the parking lot, in January, after the hockey games! She is beginning the college search—her current criteria are 1) archeology program and 2) not in Minnesota. It will be interesting to see where she winds up. She is still playing lacrosse in the spring, participating in Mock Trial, and tutoring through NHS. I enjoy her company--when Rich is gone on business (which this year has been often), we have developed the tradition of making fudge and watching “Bride and Prejudice”.
Lauren graduates from Colby in May, which will mean a trip to Maine for the rest of us. She will head back to Dartmouth in September to finish her engineering degree, and then who knows what after that. Ultimate Frisbee is her sport of choice currently—playing has provided a nice social group on both campuses.
We tried something new this fall—we hosted a Russian student for two weeks through the Sister Cities program. Sophia is from Petrasovosk, near Finland. She is about Claire’s age, and went to school every day with her. We lucked out—her English was the best in the group, and she fit into the household nicely, but she did get a little homesick the second week—this is one instance where I am not sure the ease of access around the world was beneficial (although it was cool hearing her chatter away over Skype to her mother in Russia). Given the opportunity, I’d definitely host another exchange student.
Rich continues to ride his bike like a maniac—10,000 miles last year. Our basement looks like a bike shop. But then, there are lots of worse things he could be doing. Hopefully, with my new found free time I will be able to make some of those rides with him this year.
Another thing finished in 2010 was a counted cross stitch Christmas stocking I have been making for Claire for 11 years—it had become something of a family joke (there is much more to the story). Anyway, this stocking had become a psychological albatross—I felt it had to be finished before other projects could be started, and I have no idea why I felt that way. Now that it is done, I have so many things I want to do—knitting projects, books to read, taking a cake decorating class, clean out the clutter in the house. I am really looking forward to 2011.
On that hopeful note I will close. Take care of yourselves. I’ll be coming to the Cities more often now, to look in on my parents…if anyone is ever up for a Saturday lunch date, let me know.
Love,
Lynne
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