| Welcome to our 2003 Christmas card from scenic Ontario NY | ||
 |
On the Homefront:
On Christmas day last year 12" of snow was dumped upon us, and that trend continued nearly through May, giving us a magnificent snow-filled winter reminiscent of my youth -- apparently the first in over a decade. A major ice-storm in April knocked the power out for 5 days forcing us to sleep in the basement where our wood-burning stove managed to kept the entire house at a cozy 45-50 degrees even though outside was in the 20's. As I told Leslie: "wood stoves are something YULE like in winter". Basement flooding was the only real concern, but no school for a week cures all ills. | |
| With the help of all available dads, the major summer house project was southern exposure ceiling skylights, roof re-insulating and wiring of upstairs lights. The skylights make a huge difference in all seasons we find. Removal of a 2-foot diameter hornets nest was also a good investment. In the fall we added a backyard patio-deck and a hot tub -- finally! (San Diego now has nothing on Ontario). We've also acquired a massive and aged upright piano that we reckon must have been crafted from Ents-wood. |
| |
|
On the workfront:
|
In May Leslie received her Master's degree in Teaching and Curriculum.
By fall she had landed a full time gig filling in as an elementary school
special ed teacher. She'll maintain that post through
the school year. Someone should notify the reindeer
that the corresponding tripling of her salary is likely to make Santa's sleigh a bit
heavier this year .. we hope!. Walt broke into his new lab mentor role by not only bringing an entourage of industrious students to the annual AAPM conference in San Diego, but also finding a beach house for all in South Mission Beach, one block from the surf. After the conference we traveled up to LA to hang out with several of Leslie's too infrequently seen friends: Dd, Mieke and Elise. We continued northward to hike for 2 days in Sequoia Nat'l Park and then spent a few days in Santa Clara nursing the blisters. We were also up in Park City Utah this February at the time of the Sundance Film Festival. |
|
| Perhaps the most memorable experience of the year was Walt's near goal in Rex the Rhino's birthday soccer game. That's he, the first parrot from the left (no, that thing in silver is a Knighthawk. I'm closest to the donut, naturally), as Posture Pete the mascot of O'Dell Family Chiropractic. Other notables were our BME summer softball championship team, the Who Waughs, and a phone call from our astronaut friend Ed Lu from aboard the Space Station. In Wright brothers fashion, Walt flew recently with pilot friend Frank Ferland in a very old and small plane, buzzing all the neighboring towns. The backyard fish were still biting, providing even a taste of fresh Koho salmon. Finally, we "acquired" a new pet, Phil the groundhog, who I "trained' to gorge himself on "undesirables" from the garden. |
|
Hence all is well in our part of the woods! Drop by sometime to see us at 2533 Lake Rd., Ontario NY 14519 Bring a bathing suit. Our new motto: If the lake is chillin', the hottub's even more fulfillin' |
