Well, it’s mid-December, Susan and her friend Nan are busy baking Christmas cookies, the house is all decorated, Lights, Tree and the works, (first time since we moved to Wisconsin that we’ve decorated), and Christmas carols playing in the back ground, so it’s time to compose the annual Christmas newsletter. Oh and what an eventful year it’s been! Lots of good things happened and some not so....but life like food is more interesting when you vary the spice from sweet to sour occasionally. One of the big news items is that we moved! Yes Susan finally convinced me to buy a house. We started talking and looking early this summer, drove the Realtor crazy, and found a nice place that we could agree on in July. We closed the end of July, took our time painting and cleaning, (took our time!?! We worked our butts off!) and moved the weekend after Labor Day. It’s three months later and we’re still unpacking, the garage is full of stuff that we haven’t decided about yet, so we’re still parking both cars outside. Oh Well! Like I tell Susie “we got the rest of our life to get settled.” Oh, and don’t worry I didn’t change our mailing address until the end of September, so yes your Christmas cards are being forwarded (Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bill, yours was our first this year! Thanks.) But make sure to update your address books for next year. Oh that’s right I need to let you know what the new address is! (6310 Setter Road, Weston, WI 54476) Telephone numbers and e-mail are the same. Even though the town changed from Schofield to Weston, it was only a five-six block move. And thanks again to all our friends who helped before, during and after the move, especially to the cooks that kept sending meals over to us. It’s a three or four bedroom house (actually for now the fourth bedroom is our computer center) in a quiet suburban setting. And luckily, even though we’re right in town (close to everything,) there’s a protected wetlands area (swamp) behind the property, so there’s only neighbors to the sides, nobody behind us at all, if you don’t count the deer that occasionally wander through the neighborhood. And yes, I did put pictures of the house on the Web: ( http://www.dwave.net/~stemo/house/ ) Oh, to illustrate how busy I’ve been, these pictures were taken with the Realtor (she’s in the last couple pictures with Susan) on the walk through, just before we made the purchase offer. Some time (?) I’ll get pictures of the interior on the Web. Susan has decided it’s time that we at least make an attempt to do it right (she watches a lot of Interior Decorating shows on TV,) so she’s even painted the light switch and receptacle covers Hunter Green (the “theme color” for the kitchen.) It actually looks good with the brick face walls.

As I write this she’s reminding me of all the different things that happened, this may not be a newsletter, it may be a news book. And I just got to test the first batch of cookies. Peanut Butter Kisses, keep checking the web page, I’ve promised to get this year’s recipes uploaded soon. Oh no! Bourbon Balls next...I hope they don’t start testing them, they’ve got a lot more cookies to make. I think they’re talking 36 dozen...we’ll see. Back to the letter.

This Spring, my old buddy Harry Stayer got in touch with us to schedule a visit to Wausau. We jumped at the chance (Hint! Hint! We welcome visitors!) Harry and Linda came for a long Memorial Day weekend stay. We loved it. Plenty of cards, good food (Harry please send me that salmon pastry recipe, I should of written it down while you were making it. Delicious) and sight seeing. I was surprised that there were sights to see here in the Wausau area, but we stayed busy for fours days; even found the Wausau Railroad Station from the Wausau Insurance ads.

Two weeks after we moved, Susan’s parents, sister Sadie, and niece Aiko came to welcome us to the new house and to celebrate our twenty second wedding anniversary. An enjoyable break during the moving and settling in process. And for the anniversary fete, we had a real party; fifteen family and friends to wish us well on this special day. (Oh and thank you Susan for putting up with me for that long, I appreciate you more and more every year.) Side note, Susan’s parents celebrated their fiftieth anniversary in August.

Then ten days after their visit, Susan drove back to New York; her mother was having a second cataract surgery after the first didn’t work at the same time that her father went in to the hospital up in Buffalo for emergency bypass and valve replacement heart surgery. Big scare, but both of them are doing well now. Susan even came back via Pittsburgh to see her sister Sadie’s home

This Spring we both went back to New York, in mid-May for an pleasant visit ( I was going to say uneventful, but I remembered that Susan’s dad was in the middle of tearing down his two story barn [it had a pretty serious lean] by himself, just did not want to wait a week for both his sons to come and help over Memorial Day. He had it completely down with all the lumber neatly stacked before they got there.) Then our second trip home this year was for Thanksgiving. The day before we left, my mom found out that she had a chance to move into a front apartment in her building (easier access.) She called to ask if we could stay longer and help with the move. Susan (I should say “Saint Susan”) volunteered to stay as long as she was needed . We spent the weekend packing getting ready for the move; I left on Monday (we had driven both cars), the day before the move, to get back to work. “Saint Susan,” her sister Rose, and friends of Rose and of my brother Jake moved everything on Tuesday evening,. “Saint Susan” then stayed till Thursday, helping my mom unpack and settle in. Mom’s happy with her new place. New carpeting, fresh paint and the furniture arranged so that she can get around better.

This Fall, Susan’s brother Herb announced that he and Sheila are getting married over the New Year’s weekend. And while we were home over Thanksgiving, her sister Sadie announced that she and Tyler are getting married this Spring. Best wishes to both couples. If Sadie and Herb are anything at all like their sister Susan, then Sheila and Tyler both can look forward to many interesting years of support and happiness.

After her trip home in October, Susan, even though she loved her work at Bethany, realized that it was time to leave the job. Though I had hoped that she would enjoy the leisurely lifestyle at least until this spring, she’s already reading the “help wanted” ads, looking for some interesting full time possibilities; like any “old campaigner,” she’s not happy unless she’s harnessed and being hooked to the wagon. Guess it takes a special knack to be able to enjoy doing “absolutely nothing;” I can only hope that I get a chance after we get settled. But that may be a while; even though the basement here is already finished. (Paneling, carpet, and fireplace) It is very dark, and the drop ceiling and carpet are showing their age, and that dreaded word (the bane of my existence) is creeping back into Susan’s vocabulary; yes, you guessed it, she talking about remodeling. (Shudder!) When we discuss different plans and ideas, the accuracy of my personal motto is proved over and over:

In June, Powder Technology, due to a business slump, decided that it was necessary to make some sweeping changes. They fired both my boss (and best friend) Jeff Reitz, and the second shift chemist, hired a new lab manager and moved me to second shift. They felt drastic changes were needed to turn the company around and that the changes needed to start in the Lab. Morale has plummeted since then; the QA department has been completely replaced, with Production people wondering who’s next. For now, my job is secure, I’m cheerful and helpful every day. Upper management comes to me to handle problems. I only hope PTI can stay in business another 817 weeks, I need sixteen more years before I can afford to retire. Oh don’t worry about Jeff, he’s hanging in there. Some of his ideas, if they come to fruition, have exciting potential.

Our horse, Lady, is doing well, enjoying a new stable. The previous stable was sold just a couple weeks before we moved, so Susan had to scurry around to find a new home for Lady too. It worked out well. With Susan off work and the weather staying nice, the two of them got to explore a lot of new trails this Fall.

And we have a new addition to the menagerie. Last week we got a cat from the local shelter. Maximilian is a 9 month old (now neutered) male tiger. A big guy (twelve pounds) who is satisfied being a lap ornament. He also likes to prove the scientific observation that a cat can sleep for twenty two hours a day.

We hope you will be filled will the fullness of Christmas as you celebrate this year.

God bless.

Paul and Susan