Season's Greetings to All!

It seems as though this year has just flown by. Yet at the same time, things that happened during the year seem so long ago that I'm not sure if I'll remember them all. Oh Well! :-)

To start, we made it through the year healthy and happy. Susan has been working out at a local fitness center, and has lost weight while adding muscle tone (looks great). I'm the same (only greyer). Lady (our horse) is doing well and is on her annual winter break. The only weak point in the link is our old cat, Gretchen, who is now on twice a day thyroid pills, and has only a few of her original teeth left. Thinking about her age (~18) she's actually doing pretty well. She gets around and grouches whenever we're either paying too much or not enough attention to her (that would be all the time). Most days she follows the sunshine around the house, sleeping until the shade gets chilly and then moving to the next sunny room. Lady on the other hand had a very busy year, lots of trail rides and lessons and in the fall, Susan and Lady entered in their first Dressage shows. A local schooling show and then a regional event. They brought back ribbons from both events (Susan was nervous, but I was confident that all their hard work would find success).

We were lucky this Spring to have Susan's Mom and Dad visit us (around the end of May). There was lots of picnics and some sightseeing. As always Dad had to keep busy; so our yard and flower garden looked better than it has in years. I stopped him when he talked about bringing in top soil to fill in the low spots. We really enjoyed the visit and hope that they return soon.

Susan went out to New York early in the year, (March, I think) to Spring Clean for both her and my mother. Well, more visiting and reminiscing than cleaning, but she was only out there for ten days (not enough time to get every thing done).

We both made it back to New York this Fall (end of September) for her cousin Walt's wedding. We had a good time, visiting with old and new family members. This trip was only a long weekend, so there really wasn't time to do much.

Susan, fortunately got to go again (end of October) when Darthea Hill (one of her friends from Church) wanted to go back to western New York for her brother's retirement. This gave Susan the perfect excuse, and she left for another long weekend.

The major change in our life this year, happened this July, when we found a local Internet service provider that offered a flat fee for unlimited access. We now "Surf the Net". After the first couple months of complaints that no one could call us because our telephone was always busy, we did get a second phone line. It seemed that every month we would log more online hours than the previous, but in November we set our current record of 302 hours (we ate and slept in shifts) on the Net! Obviously, we both love it. I'm continually amazed at the breadth and depth of information available there. And we found the Internet Game Zone (http://www.zone.com) where you can play various games online with real people. Mostly I play Bridge, while Susan plays both Bridge and Hearts. Spades, Chess, Checkers, Go, and Reversi are also available. And the software and access is all free! Imagine playing cards with a partner in Australia and opponents in Denmark and Hong Kong, live in real time. This actually happened to me! Susan has a regular Friday night date to play Bridge with a partner in Montreal. We've never met these people, but do consider them friends. The Internet certainly helps to make the world a small place.

E-mail us at psstom@dwave.net
Or check out my home page at http://www.dwave.net/~psstom
If you visit the Zone look for "Stemo" or "Olean" (our "net nicknames") in the Bridge room.

In other local news, our friends Jeff and Carol Reitz had a baby boy (their second) in May. Jackson has red hair and a sunny disposition (always smiling). Boy they grow fast at that age! Jacob is 3 and has more energy than we can keep up with.

My job at Powder Technology is still going good. Our business is steadily expanding. We've bought the property and building next door to us and are adding on to our current building at the same time.
Susan spent most of the summer working a second part time job for the City of Wausau. First to cover for the secretary in the Water + Sewer Department, who was on maternity leave for two months. Then Susan stayed another two months as City Court Clerk, while a permanent replacement was located and hired. Wisely she turned down the full time position (too much responsibility, too many hours). She returns to the Treasurers Department for the tax season from mid-December thru February. Her main part time job as "administrative assistant" (church secretary) for the Bethany Baptist Church keeps her more than busy enough. They have continually increased her hours as the Church grows. This year they added on to the Church building, with more office space, a new Sanctuary, and more meeting/class rooms. They have accomplished a lot this year, and have a lot of work to do this coming year.

Best Wishes for this Joyous Season!

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