As my first official post of the new year, and as my first step toward the new, organized me, I’ve decided to finish “The Christmas Letter.”  There was a time when I sent out cards containing a single sheet of paper.  On that paper were photos and captions that touched on our past year.  Each year I still pick the photos, I organize them, start writing, but somewhere along the line life (and my own penchant for procrastination) gets the better of me.  In 2015 I’ll let technology work for me… here we go – a new, faster way to let get information to family and friends.

2014:

Some of you might know that my wicked smart, handsome husband earned his Ph.D. last year.  As he’s still an active duty Naval officer the options for orders where he could use his unique skill set are limited.  As with most things there is balance, good and bad – the good is that he found the perfect job.  John is a military professor at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.  The bad part of that is we made the difficult decision to live on opposite coasts.  Back to the good – this arrangement has been working well.  We’ve been able to see one another on an average of more than every other month, John comes home often, and I’ve been able to visit Newport (a town I really love).  I stayed in Pacific Grove, in the home we bought, and I remain working at a job that I really enjoy.  Another benefit for John is that he’s only a few hours drive away from his family. He visits them often, and always has a wonderful time (even when they put him to work fixing or installing something. ;o)

Pictures being worth a thousand words, here’s a bit more information:

Our two, wonderful places to live:

Casa di Salvare, in Pacific Grove:

 Casa di Salvare means “House to Save,” which we are…

and “La Casita Vecchia,” in Rhode Island:

  The “Old House,” we also call it “LCV.”

John is home for Christmas this year, but last Christmas I traveled to Rhode Island.  We always have a terrific time when I’m there – long walks, great food, and (of course) a drive to see the family in New York.  The mansions are always beautifully decorated for the Holidays!

We find ways to stay connected when we’re not together.  We write “real” letters, and technology does make it easier. We email and text, sending photos to share a moment in time.  Here’s one now:

  John often sends me photos while he’s out walking.  Knowing how much I enjoy cemeteries (maybe it’s the mystery writer in me, or the anthropologist?) he sent me this shot. He tells me this monument is one of his favorites, and I’ve gotten photos of it from all angles, in all weather, in all light… it’s wonderful to see her covered in snow or sparkling in the sunset. There are a few awesome cemeteries near LCV, and we walk there together when I visit.

I send John shots as I walk as well… these are, in order, the cove at the end of our street, fishing boats on a foggy morning, and sunset:

Another way we stay connected if “virtual date” night.  One or the other of us picks a menu, emails the shopping list, and we pick a night to cook together.  We talk over speaker phone while we chop and stir, share photos of our concoctions, and then eat “together.”  Here’s an example — wild mushroom risotto:

Of course, having him home is better than any virtual date. He was able to spend almost two months in California this past summer!  It was fantastic…  John enjoys working on the house, which always seems to need a little care and attention, and have some really special neighborhood friends.  There are lots of gatherings.  John always offers to help, in his own special way:

If John’s home for a military ball we try to attend.  They’re usually a blast!  Here we are at the Submarine Ball:

August is a great time to be home – car week – he and a few of those same neighbors ride their bikes to the auctions in Monterey where they watch cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars cross the block.  So far he hasn’t come home with a Dino Ferrari, but he’s threatened…

My little car ends up participating in the aptly named “The Little Car” Show, or TLC…   that’s her behind the yellow, British job.  She the burgundy convertible with a gold stripe – her name is Sofia:

This past summer also saw the momentous occasion of my 50th birthday.  John made sure he was home to celebrate with me, and he worked hard to make the event a wonderful celebration.  There were parties, dinners out, and a night at a romantic cliffside bed and breakfast in Capitola.  Capitola is the town where John was living when we started dating, in, well, a long time ago!  Here he is in front of our room at the B&B bringing me sparkling wine for my birthday:

Mentioning the beginning of our romance brings me to the next big event of 2014.  We celebrated our 25th Anniversary!

Here we are on September 2nd, 1989:

And, here we are in the church with the wedding party.  From the left working up to us: Lorrie, Paula, Jamie, and Zoe.  Continuing past John: Tim, Matt, Mike and Eric.  I add this shot mostly to prove it was indeed the 80s when we were married, and because I feel a true need to apologize.  Once again, girls, I’m sorry I ever thought mutton sleeves were cool… but, we do all look happy, don’t we?

The anniversary celebration was multi-event.  We stayed at the Carmel Ranch for a night.  Our room looked over a field that filled with sheep several times per day.  They seem perfectly happy to be living in paradise, so much so that they turned to watch the sunset over the pacific.  Here’s John on our porch before we walked to dinner:

I flew to Rhode Island in October for another anniversary celebration.  As always, spending time together in Newport is great.  Here we are walking on the Ocean Walk:

We took a road trip through the fall colors, staying in Vermont, Quebec City, Saratoga Springs, and New York.  Our timing to see the leaves turn was great!

When I’m in California on my own I find ways to entertain myself.  Here are some of my local friends.  A few of the neighbors have started to call me “Disney Princess,” but I point out that if that were true these guys would be inside making my bed:

I’m lucky to have this person close by:

 This is Nona, whom I refer to as “Mom.”  Nona is Zoe’s mom, and Zoe is my best friend…  When people have been friends for as long as she and I, about 36 years as I write this, there’s no option but to mingle the whole family.  Zoe, unfortunately, isn’t living in California at the moment, but Mom and I spend a lot of time together.  This is Mom as we celebrated her 84th birthday in September.  She still drives herself from Santa Cruz to Pacific Grove once or twice a month to spend the night.  Of course, those are the nights she’s not dancing with her Middle Eastern traditional belly dance troop… she’s a kick, and I hope to be just like her in a few years.

I also spend time in writer-ly pursuits.  I have a few “in-process” novels, and I’m the Vice President of a local writer’s group.  The group hosts monthly speakers, and a perk of being a board member is the ability to meet many of our guests in a casual setting.  This is me with Ann Perry:

If possible I attend other writer events – such as the Carmel Authors and Ideas Festival.  This is Dr. Donald Johanson, which may not mean much to you unless you follow paleoanthropology.  Don discovered “Lucy” in  1974.  She’s the partial female skeleton of a 3.2 million year old australopithecus afarensis, and for one with a degree in anthropology (that would be me) Don is a rock star!

I also entertain myself by attending events sponsored by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  This is a shot from the Sustainable Seafood event last spring – I cooked in the home of Wendy Brodie of the “Art of Food” fame.  She’s a lovely person.  Our handmade mozzarella, her heirloom tomatoes, and the view from her deck made for an outstanding event.

And, a few random shots to round out our year.  John and I are lucky to live in a town with a great, privately owned, small grocery store and a fantastic bakery!  Here’s a shot of Pavel’s, the bakery, in the morning before the rush that clears out the bread in a matter of minutes (or so it seems):

And, not to be mean to those living in areas with “real weather,” but this is my mid-December home deliver of veggies, fresh flowers and eggs.

With that, I’ll come to the end of our Christmas “letter” and my first post of 2015.  I’m looking forward to keeping an ongoing record of this new year – but, no stress, and no guilt.  This is going to be fun (or else).