Christmas Newsletter 2017
Merry Christmas 2017!
I enjoyed going back and reading what I had written about
2016, so I thought I’d try two years in a row, more for myself than for anyone
else. Goals and all that.
2017 has been another year. Yup, it sure has. Lots of stuff
has happened in 2017. Lots of stuff. Stuff I’ll now tell you about. Yep…because
I totally can remember everything.
Rob. Rob has a job. Rob’s job at the beginning of the year
was a lot more stressful than it is now. We like improvement. He was super-duper
crazy busy and was even counting down the months before his one year mark where
he was considering pulling the plug and moving on. Thankfully though, before
something drastic like quitting became reality, his workload was reduced to a
more manageable and sane level. He still works really hard (the project he is
on is ridiculously demanding, far more so than any others there at the
company), but he’s finding his stride and things have been much, much better in
the last half of the year, so yay! Happy husband is much preferred over
stressed husband. Outside of the office, he is still working with the 12 &
13 year boys at church and loving that. Camping, so much camping! He loves it
though and is totally content. In his free time, he…hahahaha! Free time? That’s
funny. Naw, with the little free time he can eek out, he does actually enjoy
some quality YouTube watching, focusing mostly on his beloved geopolitics and
backpacking. He’s an eclectic guy that way.
Shannen. That’s me. I’m is still doing my thing, driving kids
hither and thither and whatnot. Some things have changed a little though. Last
year, I hated waking up at 6:30 to start driving kids to school. This year,
6:30 is looking so much better, since I now have to wake up at 5:25 to drive
kids to seminary. Ah, how I miss those lackadaisical 6:30 days of yore. I had
hoped that my 16-year-old would take over that particular task, but as of yet,
that has still not happened. Said 16-year-old isn’t very interested in driving,
and Mom isn’t very interested in fighting her on it. So, for now, I suck it up
and start my days off at a stupid early time. The only other big change in
Shannen’s life this past year (outside of the basal cell carcinoma carved out
of my face in the summer, but I’m going to gloss over that unpleasantness) is
that I got a new job at church. Whee! No longer in the Primary Presidency, I’m
now ecstatic to work with the 16-18 year old girls as a Laurel advisor.
Woohoo!! Seriously the best calling there is. Hands down. I think it’s my
reward for the years I did the Cub Scout thing in one capacity or another. I
love working with the girls and having Riley in the group with me. Makes one
feel young again, a nice perk considering that a certain redhead turned 40 this
year. *tears* Speaking of me being so old now, Rob and I celebrated our 20th
anniversary this year! Whoa! Hard to believe but true. We enjoyed a week-long
“land cruise” up in Washington in July, our second trip to the Emerald State in
as many months (the first was with the kids and was for Rob’s grandfather’s
funeral). We ditched the niños one more time then again in October
when we took a weekend trip with some friends to San Francisco. Three plane
rides in one year for me? That’s a first and definitely welcome to repeat
itself at any time (though no more funerals, if you please).
Riley. Our dear sweet Roo celebrated her Sweet 16 in June.
As mentioned earlier though, she has opted to not enjoy all the benefits that
this magical age brings. She hates driving. We did manage to get her to get her
permit in July, but the practicing has been few and far between since then.
Mostly because Dad’s not around much and Mom doesn’t have the courage. Let’s be
honest here and place the blame where the blame truly lies, at scaredy-cat
Mom’s feet. I totally own it. We have a silent agreement – I won’t force her to
drive and she won’t force me to let her. Someday though, someday it will have
to happen. But for now, this is where we are on that front. Outside of the
driving stand-off, Riley is keeping busy with her schooling. A junior this
year, she is enrolled in all AP/IB classes. One of those classes is also a dual
enrollment, so technically you could say she’s also a college student. But we
won’t actually say that because it makes Mom feel even older than she already
feels. Our girl is managing these harder classes very well and is already
looking forward to the pay-off next year as a senior when her workload and
school days will be much easier and shorter. College is looming ever nearer on
the horizon. PSATs were taken earlier this year and foundations for the future
are beginning to take shape. It’s all wonderful and horrible at the same time. I
don’t know how she would feel about me sharing her free-time interests, so just
don’t tell her I told you. When she’s not in school or doing tons of homework,
this girl can be found engrossed in Korean variety shows and/or KPop. Dude…so
totally NOT my fault! I mean, sure, she’s been exposed to it for years, but she
never took to it until this year. She and I like totally different groups
(though we do agree on the merits of the other’s favorites – no fan wars going
on in this household or anything like that). And I rarely watch variety shows just
for sheer lack of time and availability. I mean, they’re cool and all and a lot
of fun, but there are plenty of dramas out there that need watching and only so
many hours in the day, you know? This girl though is a total sponge and absorbs
crazy amounts of information. She’s become Mom’s go-to gal for any and all
KPop-related news and information. Just when I was getting out of that world,
the kid drew me back in. It’s a lot of fun though sharing a shared interest
with your teenager and having something to talk about for hours on end. Judge
all you want, but a mother-daughter bond is a mother-daughter bond, whether
wrapped in makeup/clothes/boys or KPop/variety/singing & dancing boys. Last
year I had been bemoaning the fact that I had no one to enjoy my hobby with, now
I have a live-in K BFF and it’s awesome. In addition to picking up the best
“hobby” possible (heehee!), Riley started piano lessons this year. She takes
them from a sweet lady who used to be in our ward and used to be one of her YW
leaders. Jessica is one of the few people that Riley feels comfortable with, so
I was so happy to find out she had a spot open up. It’s been a good fit for
her. I wouldn’t say she “loves” it, not many “love” piano lessons after all,
but she enjoys it well enough and is doing good there. Since the kid refuses to
use her talents in singing (she’ll hate me forever for mentioning that too),
this is a great alternative for her.
Josh. JTDubs. Our baby boy started high school this year.
Kill me now. AGH!! How did this happen?!? Ugh, I don’t want to even talk about
it. But I guess I have no choice, what with this being a newsletter and all.
Boo. So yeah, high school. He is doing the Cambridge program this year like
Riley had done, which is basically the accelerated classes. I was a little
concerned that he wouldn’t put the time required into his schoolwork, but he’s
risen to the challenge and is doing well. Most of his world revolves outside of
school though. Girls, friends, girls, fishing, girls, scouts, girls, TKD,
girls. Oh man, he’d hate me for saying that, but let’s face it, kid is his
father’s son. ;) So yeah, fishing. Let’s focus on that one for a minute. The
past few months, fishing has become his obsession. Every spare minute he can
find, he’s at the lake or looking for new spots to check out. He has apps. He
watches how-to videos. He’s doing all he can to become a great angler. He
inherited his great-grandfather’s tackle box from 1956 as well as his fishing
rod. He loves it and can usually find some buddies to go along with him which
is nice. If friends aren’t available though, he can sometimes convince Dad to
go along. It’s so fun to watch him learn and engross himself in a new hobby.
He’s still doing the taekwondo thing on the side and is nearing that 2nd
degree black belt. We’re thinking April will be when that happens, though that
hasn’t been confirmed with his master, so we’ll see. He is in the review phase though,
so at least there’s that. It means that he’s learned all that he needs to
learn, now he just has to put it all together and remember it all. Easier said
than done, let me tell you. Learning it all the first time is the easy part,
remembering it all is where the real work comes in. Kid’s memory is seriously
impressive. I used to be able to keep up but I got lost along the way a long
time ago. And then there’s Scouts. Even though he is now in the Teacher’s
Quorum after hitting his 14th birthday in May, he still enjoys the
privileges of being a Deacon’s Quorum alumnus due to Dear Old Dad being a
leader there. These privileges allow him access to all the Deacon camp-outs, so
he’s still busy one weekend every month doing that. Their scout camp this past
year was insane! They did a high adventure-type camp that was pretty intense
physically but was an amazing experience for the boys and their leaders. It was
the camp of legends. We love that he gets to enjoy all these cool adventures.
Abby. The dog. She’s never had a spot in the newsletter
before, but I had space and figured, why not? So Abby has been our furry family
friend now since January of 2006. That’s a long time. She’s getting up there in
years and may not be around for many more Christmases, so let’s give her her
shout-out now. Hey Abs! Who’s a good girl? This is the first time in all our
lives that we’ve had a geriatric pet like this. There are moments when I look
at her and think “oh no, the end is surely near” and then other times when the
old completely vanishes and she’s like a young pup again. Her vision and
hearing are both going out and she’s more stubborn than she ever was before,
but we love her. Josh has become her main human. They’re roommates and buds.
He’s the lucky one that she’ll wake up in the middle of the night to go
outside. Even if someone else is already awake and right there by the door. It’s
so cute, though a sleep-deprived Josh would probably disagree.
And that, dear folks, is the long and short of our
happenings this year. Nothing seriously new to report, just us getting on with
daily living. Life is good. Kids are good, parents are good. Even the dog is
good. We hope all is well with you and yours and that the New Year brings you
great things and many blessings.