THE CHRISTENSEN FAMILY CHRONICLES
On the upside,
if the world ends on December 21, as scheduled, this is your last one of these approximately
true newsletters.
Eagle
Bend Achers - Crop Report 2012: next topic…
Things
That Are The Same: Uh, our names?
Things
That Are New: Social Security Checks, the air conditioner
(again), his suit, the technology used to produce this letter…
The Seniors – The year began as all good years do around
here with the annual “Lord of the Rings” marathon on New Year’s Eve and
morning. For those who missed it last
year, it’s a back-to-back big screen video Dolby stereo surround sound and food
extravaganza not for the faint of heart and/or stomach. The theory is if we can survive this
everything from there on will be aces.
We have noted it’s taking a little longer to recover than it used to but
once recovered we can officially begin the new year goofing-off adventures with
confidence. These activities began in earnest on January 21st with our departure from these here parts to the Eastern Caribbean aka the Virgin Islands, with before and after stops in Puerto Rico. We jetted, jetted I tell you, down to San Juan to stroll the beach and walk the streets for a day or two prior to getting on the big white boat. Once settled aboard the good ship big bucks, we set sail for and visited such exotic places as St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, and Old San Juan for another day or two after the cruise. Ate a lot of stuff we can't pronounce.
In February we celebrated, celebrated I tell you, our 42nd anniversary of not being single, can't remember what we did but I'm sure it was fun. In April one of us competed in the first annual Scott County beans and cornbread cook-off wherein all the Mayors and the County Judge Executive brought their best game (beans and cornbread) and vied by the coveted title of "best beaner". Not being one to drop names or "toot" my own horn but there is an engraved bean pot on my desk at City Hall that nobody else in the county has...April also saw us out at keenland with the Toyota folks to watch the Bluegrass Stakes races. No my horse did not win but thank you for asking, would you like to pour a little lemon juice in my paper cut?
May began as all
Mays in Kentucky do, with the Kentucky Derby.
This year we booked tickets on the Belle of Cincinnati, one of the three
participants in this year’s Great Steamboat Race. We took my mom and her Dad along for
entertainment. Our boat lost the race
but the Belle of Louisville cheated – standard practice I’m told at this
race. May also saw the first of several trips
to count kids in Michigan, this one over Mother’s Day. A good time was had and much food was
consumed. Part of us traveled with Chief
Grandmonster KT to Utah in August, mostly for the fair and rodeo but also to
tour the new Brigham City Temple, and yes, we checked on Grandma Bonnie and ate
at the Oaks.
We celebrated
Sandi’s big day this year by attending the “Pompeii” exhibit at the Cincinnati
Museum of Natural History. A really
interesting experience. Additional cultural
adventures this year include attending Glen Campbell’s farewell tour and seeing
“Jersey Boys” in Louisville, not to mention multiple trips to Buckner
Elementary to observe the two most talented kids in the school. Also, Sandi is the new Queen Bee in the local
Homemaker’s Club and is teaching religion to college kids every Thursday night. Pa continues to lead Sadieville into the 19th century and serve on pretty much every board and committe in the county. Through no fault of his own, December saw him
elected as VP of Governmental Affairs and President-Elect of the County Chamber
of Commerce – who knew… Had a great
birthday trip this year as well. Sandi
lined up a sleepover at the historic Boone Tavern in Berea, Ky. We had a great down-home kind of meal and the
discovered a place called Tater Knob Pottery WAY, and I do mean WAY (remember
the movie Deliverance?) out in the country. It took some hunting and exploring, but we
finally found our way there. Did I
mention it’s out of the way? An understatement but it was more than a little
interesting and capped off a great weekend.
Tyler & Thompson Inc… In
what is for us a quick turn-around, we returned to Michigan for a trip in late
June and early July where-in the Toddster and Nissa, two of our favorite
offspring, took us on a guided tour of some of the best scenery to be had on
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Ate smoked whitefish
and salmon, took a boat out to see the Painted Cliffs, had sticky buns at a
monastery, and generally did our best to leave the local economy in better
shape than we found it. While we did
have to cut the trip a bit short, I’M JUST SURE THAT IF WE CAME BACK UP THERE
THEY WOULD LOAD US UP AND HELP US FINISH THE TRIP… The Michigan younglings are all doing good
and making their respective ways toward adulthood. Paul is wrestling (on purpose this time) at
school and running track and the Aubster is delving into the performing
arts. I’m told both attend class from
time to time as well. KT is finishing up
at the local college and is everybody’s favorite associate at Office Max.
Marx & Co. – Lost count of the trips to LaGrange to protect our kids from their kids. No regrets though, as each visit was filled
with adventure and either BBQ or pizza.
All is well there in the land northward (from Louisville). While their parents are aging at a much
faster rate than are their kids life seems good. In November, Pilot PA took Hayden up with him
on his most recent flying escapade. The
boy did well and enjoyed giving instructions to the tower through his headset
and observing all of the “little houses and cars” out of the window as we
buzzed over Louisville and a little bit of Indiana (probably going to have to
do that again). Princess Bailey loves
her new school and seems to have her classmates pretty much in line with her
way of thinking. She and the little
professor seem to like going to school, just not the getting
up to go part. Mom is overactive in
local schoolish and baking activities, and is even substitute teaching some
these days. Dad continues to be the
cutest soccer ref in the southeastern region soccer circuit when not otherwise Inn-keeping
at the Hyatt.
Jacob Ltd. – The “J-man” enjoyed some professional
progress this year. His employer
realized what a slice of heaven it is having him work there and bumped him up a
notch or two in the food chain. He
continues to write, read, and blog, attend the various theatrical productions
in the area, check in with the home team from time to time, and explore the out-of-doors
assets in central Michigan. He escorted
his aging parents to a production of “Ebenezer”, written by a friend of his, in
Williamston, Michigan, in December, scoring “present of the year” honors this
year, at least so far. He even managed
to sneak in a vacation and a camping trip or two, not to mention scoring a VIP
trip to the NASA flight center.
Okey Dokey, two
pages and WE’RE OUTTA HERE! Thanks for
hanging in there; it speaks well for your ability to concentrate. We hope you had the kind of year you
wanted. Now, please go overindulge on something
and enjoy the Holiday Season. Don’t
worry about us, we have a plan…
The
Christensen’s !!!
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