Ah, the annual Christmas letter.....
The Browns Top 9 Updates for 2009
1. Travel update: In March, Kathy boarded a plane for the dreaded flight across the ocean in order to spend a couple of weeks with Tom at OZ100 in Amsterdam. She got to experience the “community” first hand, as well as sight see around the city and in Cologne, Germany with Tom as her guide.
2. Gardening update: One new venture this year has been attempting to grow edibles in our yard. Our square foot gardening boxes looked beautiful in the spring, but the vegetables fizzled due the shadiness of our oak tree canopy. In the summer and fall we concentrated on planting three citrus trees and eight blue berry bushes (which are supposed to grow in partial shade). We’ll see…..
3. Work update: Jim has made a job change this year-cutting back on private practice and starting a paperwork job for Social Security Disability.
4. Biking update: Jim continued to ride his bike, and then in late September it happened. He took a major spill. He was riding along a busy seven lane thorough-fare when his bike tire caught on the curb and he was thrown full length on to the sidewalk (at about twenty-miles-per-hour). His bike helmet was cracked; he had some major road rash; and he was very sore for a long time. But thankfully, there were no broken bones or major damage (that we know of-he refused the suggested scan). Near the end of November, he actually went out on the bike again.
5. Tom update: Tom finished his year at OZ 100 in Amsterdam in late June and headed back to the States. He has been living at home since then. When school started he became a substitute teacher and has had many interesting adventures in the Duval County School System!
6. Kati and Steven update: Kati became a permanent resident of Canada in late December, 2008 and became eligible for Canadian healthcare in January, 2009. She also became eligible to work in Canada and began a job as a nanny for their pharmacist. Steven continues to work for a small computer business, Memory Lane. Jim visited them and got to see their first “owned” house in April. He also met their cat, Bella. We are looking forward to having Steven and Kati here for Christmas this year.
7. Cat update: George and Hallie, our indoor cats, are working on accepting a newly adopted yard cat, Ginger. All the cats are worried about the five young raccoons that frequent our patio and muddy our fountains.
8. Music update: Kathy stays very busy practicing piano for Worship Team at church and voice for the JSO Symphony Chorus.
9. Home improvement update: In October we started a flooring project that involved the whole downstairs and required that we move out of the lower story. For about six weeks, we were in chaos. Kathy still hasn’t recovered. Ask her in five years if it was worth it. We did get some much needed weeding out accomplished in the process.
We look forward to celebrating the birth of our Lord and to hearing from many of you as we move into the year 2010 (and maybe even seeing some of you if you venture into coastal north Florida.)
1. Travel update: In March, Kathy boarded a plane for the dreaded flight across the ocean in order to spend a couple of weeks with Tom at OZ100 in Amsterdam. She got to experience the “community” first hand, as well as sight see around the city and in Cologne, Germany with Tom as her guide.
2. Gardening update: One new venture this year has been attempting to grow edibles in our yard. Our square foot gardening boxes looked beautiful in the spring, but the vegetables fizzled due the shadiness of our oak tree canopy. In the summer and fall we concentrated on planting three citrus trees and eight blue berry bushes (which are supposed to grow in partial shade). We’ll see…..
3. Work update: Jim has made a job change this year-cutting back on private practice and starting a paperwork job for Social Security Disability.
4. Biking update: Jim continued to ride his bike, and then in late September it happened. He took a major spill. He was riding along a busy seven lane thorough-fare when his bike tire caught on the curb and he was thrown full length on to the sidewalk (at about twenty-miles-per-hour). His bike helmet was cracked; he had some major road rash; and he was very sore for a long time. But thankfully, there were no broken bones or major damage (that we know of-he refused the suggested scan). Near the end of November, he actually went out on the bike again.
5. Tom update: Tom finished his year at OZ 100 in Amsterdam in late June and headed back to the States. He has been living at home since then. When school started he became a substitute teacher and has had many interesting adventures in the Duval County School System!
6. Kati and Steven update: Kati became a permanent resident of Canada in late December, 2008 and became eligible for Canadian healthcare in January, 2009. She also became eligible to work in Canada and began a job as a nanny for their pharmacist. Steven continues to work for a small computer business, Memory Lane. Jim visited them and got to see their first “owned” house in April. He also met their cat, Bella. We are looking forward to having Steven and Kati here for Christmas this year.
7. Cat update: George and Hallie, our indoor cats, are working on accepting a newly adopted yard cat, Ginger. All the cats are worried about the five young raccoons that frequent our patio and muddy our fountains.
8. Music update: Kathy stays very busy practicing piano for Worship Team at church and voice for the JSO Symphony Chorus.
9. Home improvement update: In October we started a flooring project that involved the whole downstairs and required that we move out of the lower story. For about six weeks, we were in chaos. Kathy still hasn’t recovered. Ask her in five years if it was worth it. We did get some much needed weeding out accomplished in the process.
We look forward to celebrating the birth of our Lord and to hearing from many of you as we move into the year 2010 (and maybe even seeing some of you if you venture into coastal north Florida.)