Annual Christmas Report 2007 written January 2008



No! Stop! Do not take us off your Christmas mailing list! The Stomieroski's are alive and kicking. This year, our normal time to write the Christmas letter was severely limited due to long working hours and illness (we both had severe colds within a week of one another). Well, today is the day! We awoke to 18° below (yes below) zero and decided since this was the first day this year that the temps dropped so low, we could stay home and get this project done today.

The past year has been rather busy for both of us. Our jobs have seemed to consume more of our time than we like, but I think I get the prize for working the longer days rather than Paul. While the scope of his job continues to be hectic and somewhat stressful, he does manage to not have to put extra hours in. I on the other hand, have been working 9 to 10 hour days since fall.

As we indicated in our letter last year, I was promoted to a Project Administrator position and by February, was working 100% of my time in the new position. Due to the increase in business, our Division put on an addition, 1/3 the size of the building at that time, which was completed in the spring. By June, our manufacturing was moved into the new space, the parts room too was transferred to its new location and I was in my new office by August. I share a very nice, quiet space with the purchasing clerk. (We have doors that close, our own temperature thermostat and a copier in our office. I think we are the envy of the building.) Then, everything broke loose. The purchasing clerk and my self started helping to pull parts in an effect to keep up, so the work hours began to creep up. Then in October, the parts room guy just decided he did not want to work for L&S any more, and did not show up. So, now the hours are 10 a day plus some on Saturday to keep up with pulling parts and my own work, which luckily was on the lean side at that time. Well, fortunately, a new guy was hired by November, and I could get back to my own job, which by then had increased in volume, so I cut back from 10 hour days to 9 hours. We are so busy… good problem to have. The boss said that our department had increased by nearly half of the number of line items ordered in December from the previous year. And I know I have processed about 50% more sales orders than the same time a year ago.

Well, as to be expected at L&S, it is time for the bi-annual (so it seems) restructuring. This was just announced this past week, and this time is affects our department and me. My current position is being expanded into two and our team is being expanded from a team of four to a team of six. I was offered my choice of the two new positions: one of coordinating the process flow from purchasing through manufacturing and final sale of high OEM items and our inventory stock. The second position is that of a process scheduler for materials flow, manufacturing and shipping. I will be filling the scheduler's position. This is a lateral move and entails learning how to use Microsoft 2007 Project. Just what I wanted at my age… learn some new.

Enough about work. As we have mentioned before, I am very much into machine knitting and as such, attended one or two seminars a year that are offered in the area. At these seminars, participants are encouraged to bring their finished projects for themed contests for each day of the seminar. At the seminar I attended in February, one day's contest was Wearables and Accessories. I submitted a hooded, pocketed raglan sweater with mittens and won!! I could not believe it! I thought it to be too plain and practical compared to the fancy, colorful sweaters others had submitted. My club mentors explained that even though it was a simple design, the type and movement of stitches I used to create the raglan sleeves and the pocket, coupled with the fact that I had added the hood gained technical points over the colors and fancy stitches which are generated by the machine rather than manipulation by the knitter. I must admit, it did give my confidence both a boost and a kick-in the butt. Now I need to build on that.

I was able to make two trips in April and June to be with mother before she passed the end of July. While I miss her presence in this time, I can not begrudge her the new body she has in our Lord now. Right after I left in April, she was put into Hospice. I am ever so thankful to Rose. Sara, and the Hospice crew who enabled her to remain at home until the end. The weekend we held her memorial service was the first time all her children and all her brother's (Scott and Dorothy) children were together at one time. There are 10 children between the two families and 39 years age difference between John, the oldest of 5 on that side and Sara, the youngest of 5 on our side. (Pictures were taken and if anyone reading this has a copy, please send one to me.) Afterwards, many of us returned to the house, now Rose's, where we spent the remainder of the day and evening visiting, singing and eating. Mother, who treasured family get-togethers and reunions, would have been pleased that we were together like this. What a treasure to see some I had not seen in years or even since childhood.

Paul and I took a couple extra days off for this New York trip and gave ourselves a mini-vacation on the way home. We traveled leisurely up through Michigan. As we drive along, we spotted a sign for a wool store and decided to go to Frankenmuth (little Bavaria). When we got there, much to my disappointment this was not a wool store to buy wool and other knitting things, but a store that sold finished wool products, mostly things from Peru. Oh well, as the name of the time implies there was much Bavarian influence present in the old down town, an interesting historical museum that we took the time to go through and a good restaurant for lunch. We later stopped at Mackinaw City to walk along the shore and round the ground of the Mackinac Point Lighthouse. It was so beautiful and hopefully Paul will have the pictures uploaded to our web page by the time you get this. We then drove across the bridge and west along the Lake Michigan side of the upper peninsula. We stopped the night in Escanaba, MI and I was able to visit a former co-worker who now lives there. One more day and we were home. The one thing I had wanted to do while driving through Michigan was to get some Michigan blueberries. We never did see any advertisements for them but when we were about an hour and one-half from home, we did find a place in Wisconsin, selling Michigan blueberries and brought them home.

Not much more to share. The creatures are doing well. No new additions to that part of our family. The horses are at a new barn. They moved there in October, and I have not had much time to go there. Julie, the woman who cares for them, seems to take a personal interest in her boarders as well as her own, which is a nice touch.

Well, guess if I don't close I won't get this in the mail until Valentines. So blessing for the coming year and let's keep in touch.



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