Seasons Greetings

Well I am happy to state it is the fourth of December and I cut parsley from my herb garden yesterday to have with last nights dinner and Christopher is busy working on our new gutters. And yes I still live in the Cleveland area! It probably means there is an evil winter and ugly Spring on the way!

Christopher and I have been pushing ahead on the home front. The living room is painted, ceiling papered, and the fireplace bricks are cut and ready for the new fireplace front. Anne and I have begun work on the stairwell, and kitchen cabinets have been bought for the pantry. We have no walls in the pantry, but we are working on it. We are scheduled to have the barn red floors downstairs and the battleship gray stairs to meet the man with the big sander January 9th. I am so excited to have a real living room, I am beside myself. My furniture is all recovered thanks to my mom, but is currently spread across the state. I am going to have a big party once everything is assembled!!

Due to the construction, time limitations, and general disorder we are not putting up a Christmas tree this year. Talia has learned enough nifty tricks (such as climbing ladders, and using a hammer) that I don’t want to provide her further opportunities. We will be spending Christmas weekend with Mom and Dad in Dayton and intend to share in the beauty of their decorations without the work!!

Talia has grown and changed so much it’s hard to tell you all her new tricks. She is walking, and starting to talk. She has a fascination with buttons, and has become quite apt at changing the TV, using the remote, dialing the phone, and adjusting daddy’s stereo. I have little sympathy for him, due to the fact he thought it was ‘fun’ to let her play with these things when she was little. She loves to play with other children. At the Loewke Christmas party over Thanksgiving, she ditched Christopher and I, to be with all the other little people passing out gifts. When we brought her back to be with us she displayed her perfected Irish temper!

I have a new job teaching fifth and sixth grade advanced reading three periods a day at the local middle school. Christopher is currently working for a company that ties school systems together and into internet . He’s not sure if it’s the job for him or not. I personally think he gets the itch to move in late fall, early winter. My friend Anne, who watched Talia last year, comes to our house and watches her here. She then stays on to help me with the house project of the day.

Christopher was a poop and unwilling to travel this year, so Anne and I left him and Rob (her husband and also Christopher’s best childhood friend), home and went on our way. We went to New York twice, and to visit my parents. I also spent a week with Grandma Loewke while she recoved from knee surgery. It was nice because she had to sit still and I could visit with her! Early in the summer Christopher and I did spend a weekend in Chicago and visited with his grandparents, and some of my friends. Talia and I also spent 10 days out west with my parents. We took Mary Kay to the University of Wyoming, and then traveled to Colorado Springs.

That is all the excitement in Hiram Ohio! We hope your holliday is safe and blessed.