Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Minneapolis MN Update: Emily


Happy Holidays!

Hope this letter finds you and yours doing well!  Our family has been busy this year, as always, it seems.  A brief recap:

 Tiffany is 15, and a sophomore at Edina High School.  She’s really enjoying high school, although not the increased homework level!  Her subject courses this year are Chemistry, Advanced Algebra, Enriched English, Advanced Placement World History, Japanese, Orchestra and Photography (to be replaced with International Cooking next semester).   

She took drivers' ed before school started, and we've been practicing her driving together, at least until the snow fell!  She's also still playing Suzuki piano, violin and is participating in the church youth group.  She’s taken some TV/film-oriented acting classes (which included a photo shoot, two photos of which I’ve included), and is busy with a long list of social activities.  A creative writing project for National Novel Writing Month, which called for writing a 50,000 word novel during the month of November, competed with homework time.  Tiffany has done a bit of traveling this past year--Washington, D.C. with her 9th grade Government class, Orlando with Emily for an acting workshop/audition trip, and a trip to California to see her cousins.

Ott is still working as a stockbroker.  Although the Stock Market is coming around, it continues to be a challenging business.  Ott’s creative side comes out in the songwriting he likes to do in his spare time.  He's had about a dozen songs recorded in Nashville and L.A., and he is trying to market them to an up-and-coming female artist.  Ott’s also been writing poetry for quite some time, and he published a book of his poetry last year.  His music is at www.myspace.com/suspendedspidersongs, and his book is at www.ottlukk.com.

Since my mom passed away a year-and-a-half ago, I’ve been spending has been spending a lot of time with my dad. He’s doing pretty well at age 89, with short-term memory problems being his only issue.  He's living in an assisted living facility five minutes from me.  He loves it there, is happy as a clam, and all of the staff really like him.  With my only brother, Bruce, having passed away four years ago, I feel very blessed to still have my dad with me.  Family, including two cats, take up most of my time.  That involves lots of chauffeuring, errand running and coordinating of individual and family activities.  A little reading, going to Let’s Dish (preparing and freezing family dinners), and get-togethers with friends occupy my free time.

Best wishes for you and your family this holiday season, and for the upcoming year!

Emily

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