THE CHRISTENSEN FAMILY CHRONICLES
Circa
2017
Hi There. Read and Remember as There Will Be A Test
Later…
WE THE FEEBLES…
Why is it that as
we age the clock seems to move faster?
Enquiring minds want to know… It
seems like the ink is just barely dry on our last update to you. Not to mention that next month I have to do
the taxes…again… On that happy opening z,m,’salvo,
we begin this year’s update. Be not
faint of heart.
Vegetable-wise
(the garden, not the author) we had a fairly productive year, growing a small
but tasty harvest of the world’s most expensive tomatoes and some nice herbs
(the vegetable, not the neighbor). Got
some top-notch salsa out of the deal and oh yeah – Claude 1 – Deer 0. Thanks to the green thumb of a neighbor, we
had a good supply of zucchini and he perfected, perfected I tell you, his
zucchini bread baking skills. There is still
a loaf in the freezer if memory serves… (I must make a note of that).
While the grass
kept re-growing regardless of how often he cut it Sadieville’s First Couple had
a fairly full cultural agenda. Trips
hither and yon yielded entertainment encounters to and including: Another
Eagles encounter – this with the 2017 version (added Vince Gill and Deacon Frey). They still don’t miss a beat (corny but had
to be said). Also, we went to see Ronnie
Milsap on his Farewell Tour; Neil Diamond on his 50th anniversary
tour; Mama Mia (again) and Credence Clearwater (for some reason we had a
particularly good time at this one).
December included a real corker to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert
in Lexington. We also took the
grandmonsters to the Wizard of Oz and a couple of the Harry Potter Concert
series performances. Travel also ensued
but I’ll cover that shortly…
He completed his
term as President of Kentucky League of Cities and moved on to his new
assignment as Immediate Past-President (this is akin to being a pair of brown
shoes in a world full of tuxedos). It
was a busy but productive and enjoyable year.
He traveled over 9200 miles and visited 36 different Kentucky cities at
least once; Testified a time or two before the Kentucky General Assembly;
Traveled to Washington D.C. twice to meet with KY Congressional Leaders; and
found a new favorite place (Jeckyl Island, Georgia) by way of attending a
Southern Municipal League Conference.
Just recently he returned from the National League of Cities Summit in
Charlotte, NC. In an unanticipated turn
of events, He was reappointed by the Governor to the Kentucky Pollution
Prevention Center Board and elected Chairman, so he’s got that going for
him. Oh yeah, and he did put some time
and effort into that Sadieville Mayor thing.
A good and growing year all in all.
She continued her
life’s work as the real heart and true domestic goddess of the family -- On
point constantly as primary caregiver for her Dad, Husband, Children, Grandmonsters,
and Great-Grandmonsters. She also
continued her CES work as an Institute Teacher molding young, mostly
unemployed, post-pubescent minds toward their respective possibilities. She also came on-board as a Specialist in an
effort to aid her main squeeze in his new church assignment with Self-Reliance
Services. She once again shined as the
chief weeder of the City Flower beds too.
Just for fun (kind of), in early February he bought her a new car,
marginally as an anniversary present.
Then, again mostly for grins and giggles, she gave him a wink and a nod
that led to his buying a new Jeep in late February. Some might think that the Midnight Amethyst
(dark purple) Buick Envision was the grease that allowed the Ultra-Green-Don’t-
Need-To-Turn-The-Light-On-In-The-Garage-Jeep Wrangler to take up residence in
Sadieville. To that I can only say, in
the finest tradition of our political leaders, “I do not recall.”
To summarize a
busy 2017 domestic travel schedule we reference the aforementioned auto-buying
frenzy that led to several trips north to ferry old cars to new owners who live
up that way. (The kids think they’re
going to get a nice inheritance when in reality what we’re doing is just giving
them old cars.) I think we are on trip 6
at this point for the year. Of course
there were contributing factors including an additional great-grandmonster
arrival, revisiting the original great grandmonster, supervising a relocation
to a new house even further north, and getting next to what have to be the best
gyros in the world. We the Feebles also
ventured up to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so that is now off the
bucket list. He took a quick trip to
Utah to visit gramma Bonnie and attend his ?? Class Reunion (who ARE all those
old people). Our Christmas date this
year saw us head down to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to lounge around, look at the lights,
and eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
We must make
mention of our premier travel of the year.
In late March and early April we boarded a big ol’ airplane and traveled
far to the west to visit the far east – in this case China. It was a two-week effort that gave us a
chance to visit several Chinese Provinces and get a good feel for the Chinese
people and their history and geography. China
is big with lots of people and is a far more rural country than we had
anticipated. We climbed the Great Wall
(as best we could), said “hi” to the Terra Cotta Warriors (you really need to
visit this place), rafted on the Li River, rode the bullet train, ate lots of
noodles and other strange food, visited numerous palaces and temples and
shrines, learned a little calligraphy, and bought some really cool stuff to
bring and/or ship home. A street artist
did an unposed caricature of him at the Emperor’s Summer Palace in Beijing and
declared him to be an “Invincible Dragon Master” (yes, he bought the art and
accepted the title). As a capper, we met the “Cricket Man” a cagey old man who
raises Fighting Crickets. These are
thoroughbred creatures similar to our race horse industry with pedigrees,
rules, and value. We were shown one
supposedly worth $10,000.
OUR OFFSPRING – AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY…
Todd and Nissa are the ones with the new house.
It’s a lovely lodge-like home in a small town a little north-east of
Muskegon, over the river, and through the woods. They are doing well and still selling cars
one part at a time. Aubrey gave us Nelson, our newest great grandmonster. What a cute little guy. Paul is
Paul and working hard at it, again, what a cute little guy.
The Marx’s are very alive and well in LaGrange.
Michael fills his days as an
Insurance Analyst and keeps the peace on the soccer fields on the side. Andie
still teaches but switched over to 1st graders this year because
they are easier to catch. Hayden
is officially a teenager now and is doing well as a musician and family computer
expert. Bailey
is now a “tweenager” and continues to wow us with her musical performing and
energy – her teacher declared her savagely quirky – yeah, that about covers it.
On the upside she did take grandpa to a movie of her choosing and a dinner of
her choosing, on her “dime” for his birthday.
Little Ponies ROCK!!!!
The Jakester still abides in Chelsea
and has a day job as a technical writer, graphic design dude, and all around
good guy at a Hi-tech equipment reseller.
He gets around a bit and joined us for our trip to the R&R Hall of
Fame and on some of the Muskegon runs. He
continues to write creatively on the side and is active on the “Chautauqua”
(story telling) circuit winning a regional competition a while back.
The Ropers – Are doing well in their part of the world
(Grand Haven). Raelyn, our original
great grandmonster is growing like a weed and moves quickly and silently around
their apartment stalking the cat. They
are both in new jobs this year, Drew works as a welder at an automotive manufacturing
company and Katie now is the first face you see at a Law Firm in Muskegon.
Yea
You! You have completed your most
important task for this year and may now resume normal programming.
BTW
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year The
Christensen’s !!!
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