Happy New Year 2014

Despite my best intentions for an annual letter, I am left with reporting all that has happened in the last few years, a formidable task for an aging memory.  So, here’s what’s going on now, at least from my limited point of view.

Francois graduated from Plymouth State University in 2011 with a B.S. in Marketing.  He has become an avid bass guitar player and was in a rock band named “Acrida” for a while. We were happy when he got a day job as a Manager Trainee with Enterprise that summer. That job lasted two years until he was offered what he thought was a much sexier opportunity in NYC.  Big marketing firm, office with a view of the river, and a two-hour commute in each direction.  He is now back in Westchester working twenty minutes from the house.  Much better.

Caroline graduated SUNY Purchase with a B.F.A. in drawing and painting.  She has started working on a graphic novel and received third prize at the Annual Armonk Art Show last September.  She has landed a day job working as a framing consultant for A.I. Friedman's in Port Chester.  A graduate degree, a teaching certificate, and script writing have gone to the back burner for now.

Veronica is a junior at University at Buffalo.  She is pursuing a  double major in Media Design and Computer Science with a certificate in Game Studies.  

Matthew is a senior in high school.  He is an accomplished drummer, captain of his PF debate team, and an Intel STS semifinalist.  As of now, he is waiting to hear from colleges.  

Nicholas is in eighth grade.  Nicholas is a published author as we have collected his handwritten stories over many years and bound them in a single hardcover novel.  We expect to do a promotional tour soon.  A few years ago, he had to work on a composting project for his science class. He and his father created a 6 x 6 foot space in the backyard with tree logs where they dumped leaves, grass clippings, and vegetable scraps from the kitchen.  Now, that wonderful fresh compost will be added to Louis' new vegetable garden project this spring.  He wants to drop off the grid and grow our own food.  Lou still works at IBM.  The company keeps moving jobs to China, India, and Brazil.  It seems that we are expected to be on the company network both at work and at home, but everyone is happy to be working, so there is little complaining.  On the home front, the downstairs bathroom is currently taken apart and slowly being put back together.  In his spare time, Lou works on a scheme to beat the stock options market.

  

I am still working at the local public library.  I keep busy taking occasional trips to Canada, knitting and taking care of our small menagerie composed of four small fluffy animals.  On a sad note, our aging Collie, Lucky, passed away in the early morning hours of Monday, December 27, 2010.  He was surrounded by the people who loved him most, and we still miss him dearly.

So the stream of life continues on its winding journey.  Thank you for being part of my present and I hope your “now” finds you surrounded by joy and love.

Suzanne and family 

Our Trip to France (Where We Actually Ended Up)

In October 2012, Lou and I traveled to France to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We arrived in Paris and then took a shuttle to Bordeaux to visit our friends Corinne and Guy. Upon our arrival, they both greeted us at the airport and proceeded to show us the city of Bordeaux.   Of course, Bordeaux is a historic region that gained great wealth producing and selling its wine, particularly to England.  The English and French endured centuries of history in this area including many wars and changes in political control. 

We stayed with Corinne and Guy in Bernos-Beaulac, a village near Bordeaux where coincidently Mitt Romney was involved in a fatal car accident while doing his missionary work there.

Next we visited the Pays Basque (Basque Country) including the sea resorts Biarritz and St. Jean de Luz.  The Basques are the indigenous people of Southwestern France and Northern Spain that sometimes have separatist leanings.  They have their own cuisine and the facades of their buildings are colored decoratively.

The next day we visited the vineyard village of St-Emilion and the Petrus winery. We bought a nice bottle of wine at St-Emilion, and I learned that the French wine culture included not only knowledge and taste for particular wines but also the memories of the people with whom the bottle is shared.  I thought it an interesting and cordial tradition.

We took the train to Paris were we stayed in a 200-square-foot, one room, six-flight walk-up apartment for about four days.  All that climbing was worth it because the front door of the building was across the Seine from Notre-Dame.  A walk along the Seine the next day brought us to the back door of the Louvre.

We visited the Louvre, the Champs, the Cathedrals of Mary Madeleine and Sainte-Chapelle, the Musee D’Orsay (with a fine impressionist collection and “Whistler’s Mother” in the attic), Montmartre, and Sacre Coeur.  However, we spent most of our time in Paris “flâner,” e.g., walking around various neighborhoods aimlessly with periodic interruptions at a number of cafes.

On one walk, we ended up on an inclining street that was lined with shoe stores, one more expensive than the next, until we got to the Prada at the top of the hill where you can get a pair of sneakers for bargain prices over $450.

We left Paris for the Normandy region.  Here, as in Brittany and other places, we found a common theme.  Most sites, especially the religious ones, were destroyed in the French Revolution and then again in WWII.  Of course, the war destroyed large parts of many of the cities in these regions, in particular Rouen, Caen, and Cherbourg.  Entrance fees from the tourists are used to renovate and maintain these sites.

This region is no stranger to war and strife. In the Rouen Cathedral, we saw the place where the heart of Richard the Lionheart, of Crusade fame, is purported to lie. The rest of him is scattered in other places.

Joan of Arc had a bad day or two in Rouen. She was tortured and burned at the stake there. Down the road in Bayeux, we viewed a 23o-foot-long, nine-century-old embroidery depicting the events ending in the Norman conquest of England at the Battle of Hastings. This changed English history and made ½ the words in the English language difficult to spell.

One of the high points of the trip was seeing the beaches where the WWII invasion took place. Before the invasion, the Germans controlled all the deep water ports in Europe, giving them complete control of the continent. The allies had to construct 3 deep water ports by towing concrete structures from England and sinking them off the coast in order to dock cargo ships to support the troops. After the invasion a hundred-year severity storm destroyed some of the constructions nearly causing the invasion to fail. Viewing the 50 miles of beaches and feeling the force of the wind from the sea impresses on the mind the ingenuity, bravery, and determination the allies mounted with thousands of ships along this coast.
Moving South down the coast we came upon Mont Saint-Michel, a city/cathedral/fortress surrounded by tidal water, now connected to the mainland by a causeway. The monks were able to travel to the mainland by foot at low tide but invaders were strongly discouraged from attacking the town by the up to 46 foot tides. It was a long climb we made to the top. The building stones were raised by a rope and large pulley connected to a large human “squirrel cage” driven by (let’s not call them slaves) people who were being compassionately re-educated in their religious beliefs.

We had the opportunity to sample Calvados, the famous apple brandy of the region. Frank enjoyed the bottle we brought back for him.   While I’m sure it was enjoyed by many a soldier/liberator as well, I was thinking of using it to clean my car radiator. 

We turned Southeast and headed to Loire Valley and the Dordogne Region.  On the way we visited the Chateau de Chenonceau on the River Cher.  During the 1500’s, King Henry II gave the Chateau to his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, a royal favorite and beauty of the time. (However, Henry’s wife, Catherine de Medici, did not share this view.)

Don’t be fooled by the Chateau’s “modest” entrance, there is at least a two-story part of the building that extends over the river in the back. Here, the privileged “1%” had lavish parties while the other 99% toiled in the kitchen or delivered game that was hoisted from boats on the river into the pantry below the party rooms.  After Henry’s death from a jousting wound, Catherine maneuvered Diane into comfortable exile and generally out of recorded history. Diane’s remains were not treated kindly during the French Revolution. 

We met up with our friends again in Sarlat. We stayed with Corinne’s mother and were treated to a gourmet dinner of foie gras from her kitchen.  The “foie” do their “gras-ing” near the walnut tree groves in the Dordogne Region where she lives.

We also visited the caves of Lascaux. The museum there had a reproduction of the 17,000-year-old cave art.   In a neighborhood nearby, we saw La Roque-Saint-Christophe, dwellings used by Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon man for over 50,000.  The vistas and a system of sentinels warned inhabitants of intruders coming from miles away.  No one is living there now.  The rents for rooms with a view are probably too high.

Well, when you get to the point where people you’re talking about are old enough to make you look young, it is time to stop. Thanks for taking the time to read my reminiscent screed.

First Snow

Always magical.

What We Plan To Visit In France

TH OCT 18 Day One : BORDEAUX.  Recover from jetlag, visit Bordeaux (Corinne will meet us at the airport)
FR OCT 19 Day Two : SAINT-EMILION. 
SA OCT 20 Day Three : PAYS BASQUE. 

SU OCT 21 Day Four : TGV to PARIS. Staying at : Quai Saint-Michel 11, 75005 Paris
MON OCT 22 Day Five : PARIS.  Reversing the morning and afternoon activities on this day also works well, because the Champs-Elysées Walk leaves you near the Louvre (above center) — but most people have more energy for museums in the morning. Morning: Tour the Louvre (arrive 8h40 which is 20 minutes before opening) the museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Late night openings on Wednesdays and Fridays until 9:45 p.m. Closed Tuesdays. Take the Guided Tour “Louvre's Masterpieces” which starts at 11am. Tickets en vente exclusivement sur place le jour de la visite, Le départ des activités s'effectue à l'Accueil des groupes, dans le hall Napoléon (sous la pyramide)  Have lunch or coffee at Café le Nemours (across the street, on Place Colette). Afternoon: Follow the book's Champs-Elysées Walk from the Arc de Triomphe downhill along the incomparable avenue de Champs-Elysées to the Tuileries Garden and possibly the Orangeries Museum. Evening: Enjoy dinner on Ile St. Louis, then a floodlit walk by Notre-Dame (above right).

TUES OCT 23 Day Six : PARIS.  Morning: Tour the d’Orsay Museum (above left) (arrive 15 minutes before opening) open from 9.30am to 6pm daily, except Mondays. late night on Thursdays until 9.45pm. Midday: Take the book's Montmartre Walk (above center), featuring the Sacré-Cœur basilica Afternoon: Visit Pere Lachaise Cemetery (above right), relax at Café du Marché near Rue Cler near hotel.

WED OCT 24 Day Seven : PARIS, CHARTRES.  Day trip to Chartres (above left). ??? Getting there : Early train to Chartres.  Not sure yet.  If so, Lunch at Bistrot de la Cathédrale, Le Serpent, Café des Arts, Le Cloître Gourmand, or Le Pichet.  Early afternoon: Return to Paris. In the afternoon, follow Historic Paris Walk from Rick's Paris guidebook, featuring Ile de la Cité, Notre-Dame, Latin Quarter (above, second from left), and Sainte-Chapelle (above, second from right). If we enjoy medieval art, we visit the Cluny Museum (above right).

THURS OCT 25 Day Eight : Normandy’s Capital of ROUEN.  Check into hotel and spend at least two hours exploring city’s ancient core.

FRI OCT 26 Day Nine : CAEN, BAYEUX.  Drive toward Bayeux, stopping en route to visit Abbey de Jumieges, one of the most evocative ruins in France. Also stop to visit Abbeye aux Hommes, founded by William the conqueror. You will get to Caen (above left) by lunchtime. Afternoon: Continue west towards Bayeux (above right) visit le Musee des Tapestries de Bayeux (above middle).  Eat at Le Pommier, one of the most appealing restaurants in Bayeux. Reasonably priced.

SAT OCT 27 Day Ten : D-DAY BEACHES.  This day is reserved for exploring the D-day beaches (above left). From Bayeux, head east to explore the coastline. Start at the seaside resort of Arromanches les Bains (above middle), where you can visit the Musee du Debarquement, Omaha Beach, and the Normandy American Cemetery. You can have lunch in the town of Grandcamp Maisy at Hotel Duguesclin (4 quai crampon 02 31 22 64 22), later checking out Utah Beach. That evening, drive to Pontorson, near Mont St-Michel (DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME : ROLL BACK YOUR CLOCKS)

SUN OCT 28 Day Eleven : MONT SAINT-MICHEL.  Mt St Michel (above left). The great Benedictine monastery founded in 966 is best enjoyed by taking an English language tour that covers the highlights. After viewing the abbey, drop in at La Mere Poulard for a legendary omelet. In the afternoon, head to St Malo, Dinan (above middle), Sleep in Quimper (above right) (3 hrs away). 

MON OCT 29 Day Twelve : COTE BRETONNE.  Visit Quimper, Carnac (above left) and head to Angers. Chateau d’Angers (above middle) dating from the 9th century was the home of the comtes d’anjou. Visit the castle to see the Apocalypse Tapestries (above right), stretching 328 ft. Stay in Hotel d’Anjou.

TUES OCT 30 Day Thirteen : CHENONCEAUX. Leave Angers (above left) and head for a visit at Chenonceau (above middle).  Late afternoon, head out to Limoges (above right).

WED OCT 31 Day Fourteen : SARLAT & DORDOGNE (Sleep in Allas Les Mines)  (Limoges-Sarlat-AllasLesMines is a 3-hr drive)   Morning: Drive to Sarlat and meet Guy and Coco for lunch.  Afternoon: Go directly to le village de Allas-Les-Mines (chez Coco).

THURS NOV 1 Day Fifteen : DORDOGNE.  Morning Beynac-et-Cazenac (above left), Sarlat (above middle), Afternoon La Roque-Gageac (above right).

FRI NOV 2 Day Sixteen : Dordogne Visit Domme (above left), Lascaux (above middle) or St-Cirq-Lapopie (above right).  In the late afternoon, drive back to Bernos (Allas Les Mines to Bernos is a 3-hr drive).

SAT NOV 3 Day Seventeen :    DEP 13h20 Bordeaux Terminal B AR 14h40 Paris (CDG)   DEP 16h35 Paris (CDG) Terminal 2E AR 19h55 New York (JFK).

Can't wait to get started...

Bread, wonderful bread

Despite the hot weather outside, I still crank up my oven since I bake constantly. I am quite the minimalist when it comes to bread: I like doughs that require minimum intervention on my part (a resting period and a few folds and they are on their way) and yield loaves that bring smiles to everyone's face while providing good nutrition (the more whole grains the better). My kids see me mix dough just about every day of the week, usually when they are having breakfast. Maybe one day, when they are all grown-up and crave honest bread, they'll remember that all it takes is a big bowl and two hands and they'll want to learn how to make their own. One can only hope, right?

Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

(a) 1/3 cup warm water + 1 tsp sugar + 2 tsp. active dry yeast

(b) Approx. 7 cups of bread flour + 3 cups of warm water (between 80 and 115 degrees F.)

(c) 1 tbs salt

Method: (hand-mixed)

Using an 8 oz measuring cup, mix (a) yeast into sweetened water and let rest for five minutes (that's called "proofing" the yeast). Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix (b) flour and water until no dry flour remains, incorporate proofed yeast, and let rest, covered, 20 to 40 minutes. Add the salt. Cover the dough and let it rest, doing as many folds as necessary to obtain medium soft consistency. When the dough is ready (it takes about three hours hours at my house with folds every thirty minutes), transfer it out of the bowl on a floured surface and shape it into three medium-sized loaves.

Preheat the oven to 450°F

Let the loaves rest for 30 to 45 minutes, then bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a rack. Enjoy!

Here's Summer

“How,” a friend asked me recently, “is June going for you? Hate the transition from the school schedule devil-we-know to camp and the devil-we-don’t.”

Picking up the pieces of three work weeks shattered from the impact of midday school events, early dismissals, half-days, and a school year that ended for two of my children a month earlier than the other two, I could only send a quick, impassioned agreement. June, as no general ever said but every mother knows, is hell.

It’s hard not to love summer, what with the fresh tomatoes, the sunny days, the swimming pools and the aura of freedom that hangs over it all.  But that freedom for my children comes with a high price tag for me, and for every other working mother I know: even the most free-range of young children cannot be left to roam the house and neighborhood unsupervised all day.

I say “mothers” advisedly. In families where both parents work or there is but one working parent, summer and the end of school means a scramble to find somewhere else for children to spend their days (or a caregiver to stay at home with them).  Mothers are disproportionately the ones who cope with that scramble.  Fathers do join in this form of summer “fun,” but what dads are missing is that sense that children who aren’t at school should be in their mother’s care.  Many of our neighbors sign their kids up for ten full weeks of assorted camps or day care minus the family vacation; I am the one wringing my hands over whether that’s “too much structure.”

Except in those few communities where year-round school has somehow won out over the forces of nostalgia and inertia that leave most children available to help out with the harvest, working families at every income level cope annually with the long summer school holiday.  I imagine most feel some level of my ambivalence.  I do love summer.  I love the heat, I love leaving boots and coats behind, and I love that feeling that the world is slacking off just a little.  My in-box is already less full, and my calendar full of lovely white spaces.

But the need to suddenly create and manage a different structure for family life is as oppressive as a string of 90-degree days.  I know children spending weeks with grandparents, weeks at day and sleep-away camp, children at home with a mother’s helper, children in summer school, and children who (like mine) will spend their summer hopping from one to another of these varying activities, meaning that every week presents a new opportunity to sort out and screw up a new schedule of pickups and drop-offs and lunches and hats and sunscreen and but-wait-today-we-were-supposed-to-bring-water-shoes.  Which is fine, and even fun, under one condition:  that we all recognize that this is the season when parents are in all-hands-on-deck mode.  Everything will take longer, everyone will respond more slowly, and four hours of full-attention work followed by an afternoon at the pool should be considered more effective and efficient than eight hours of “work” interrupted by constant calls from children asking if they can run through the sprinkler and if you know where the dog is.  Summer should mean adults without children can find time for family and friends without guilt, and that we all make an extra effort to recognize the difference between a real emergency (brain surgery) and a manufactured one (FedEx deadline).  In summer, flexibility and tolerance should prevail.

In an ideal world, some of those summer rules would always apply, and we would all, mothers and fathers alike, speak up more boldly about the moments — like June, July and August — when the scramble to raise children and to financially support them conflict.  As Anne-Marie Slaughter wrote in “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” for the July/August issue of the Atlantic, the more up front we are about our need to lead a balanced life in which family and work both play a part, the more the adjustments we make to our schedules to accommodate both will become the norm.

Meanwhile, the days are long, but the summers short, and I can’t really bring myself to wish for them to be any shorter, no matter how antiquated our national accommodation for a bygone agricultural life.   How did June go for me? Too crazily, and too quickly, but we will adjust.  July and August promise to offer some time to breathe.

I rarely put myself first

Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy taking care of family or friends -- but forgetting to take care of myself is a disservice to myself. Sometimes when I spend my day helping others, I am so exhausted I often turn to food thinking that it is the only “nice” thing that I can do for myself. I can certainly take care of others as long as I don’t lose myself in the shuffle.

I make sure to eat breakfast. I take the time to sit down and enjoy my first morning meal. It fuels me for the morning, and I am off to start my day. Look out world, here I come!  I prefer to pack my lunch and snacks for the next day the night before so that there are no decisions I need to make at 6 a.m. in the morning. I do whatever I have to do to make sure I have snacks with me in case I get the munchies. You should see my desk drawer at work.

That was the idea when I joined the local gym last spring. I wanted to make exercise part of my day. I prefer to exercise before I eat breakfast, so I thought I would be sure to get it in and start my day off on a good note. I lasted two months.

Back to the drawing board...

Happy New Year 2012

Francois graduated from Plymouth State University in June 2011 with a BS in Marketing and a minor in communications. He is back home living with us and works as a management trainee for Enterprise Holdings in their rental car division. For Christmas this year, he gave us a home theater system. Louis and I bought him a 2000 BMW 528i with 160k miles as a graduation present. We found it at our local small-town mechanic’s garage, the place where Francois spent a couple of summers working part-time. Dad has a proud and rewarding moment every time Francois leaves the house for work in the morning before anyone else in the house has to get out of bed.

Caroline is in her Junior year at Purchase College where she is studying towards her BFA in Drawing and Painting. We have paintings all over the house. She is working on several portfolios that she intends to use for job applications.

Veronica has started her freshman year at SUNY Buffalo (UB.) She finished her first semester in their Nursing program but found Anatomy challenging. She is transferring into a double major Business and New Media program. She is enjoying college and appears not to have a clue -- nor care -- what she wants to do. During orientation, Dad and Vern visited Niagara Falls, about 20 minutes from UB.

Matthew is 15 and a sophomore in high school. He is still playing drums, has started wrestling for his high school JV team, and is on the debate team. He is also doing a science research project. He is working on time management skills, and has just discovered it is difficult to learn math without doing the homework.

Nicholas is 11 and in 6^th grade. He seems to have an aptitude for math but is only interested in video games. We have a bunch of games and an Xbox. Playdates now-a-days are no longer on person but on line through the Internet. Dad and Nick spent a day in New York City. They visited the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, the Museum of Natural History, the decorations on 5^th Avenue, and Central Park. They walked over five miles with no complaints.

Dad is finally remodeling the second bathroom. He has finished modifying the plumbing under the concrete slab and now has closed up the hole in the floor. We are getting ready to build the shower walls, tile, and set the toilet.

IBM continues to get leaner and meaner. Dad’s office staff has been cut 50% from three years ago. He’s the oldest guy in the office now. His department and others have moved to another building, so the rest of the Research staff could be consolidated in the main building. One satellite building was closed this year.

I continue to wish I had more time to spend with friends and family, more time to knit or walk the dogs. But too much time is spent circling around a house littered with construction debris and holiday recycling. An ocean of cardboard boxes, eggnog containers, wrapping paper -- all the flotsam and jetsam a holiday leaves in its wake and it's going to get worse before it gets better because at some point in the fast-paced celebrate-o-rama whirlwind we've been on over here, both of us have lost all touch with reality and have absolutely no idea what day of the week it is.

That's how it gets around here at the holidays. Somewhere in between Thanksgiving with friends, Christmas with family, Boxing day with houseguests from out of town, herds of small children and not-so-small teenagers all over the place, holiday parties, concerts, services and cookies, meals, candles, dinners, brunches and deadline knitting, not to mention that much of this is accompanied by bottles and bottles and bottles of very good wine (and even if you don't drink them and other people do it still can lead to a lack of clarity that's disorganizing) and suddenly you've got two adults who have no hope of pinning down the fact that it's actually Tuesday. Brilliant move.

Happy New Year to all. From our house to yours,

Peace.

My babies are growing up

Veronica finally decided to attend University of Buffalo and has enrolled in the Nursing program for Fall 2011.

It has been a long ride. Oneonta was in the running. Then, she favored Albany, but I wasn't convinced her heart was really in it. I asked her to focus on where she wanted to be four years from now and to give me her final decision before the end of the week. That's how she decided on Buffalo. She chose UB because it is the largest school with more majors than any of the other schools she was considering. We layed out all the acceptance letters on the dining table and organised them. So, if Nursing doesn't stick, she'll have more options to choose from.

In the meantime, Francois' job offer at NEC is not what we hoped it would be -- all commission, no salary. I think he wants to take the job anyway because he'll be closer to his girlfriend. It will be a resume builder for him, I guess.

The house sure will be empty without him...

Nicholas' Compost Project

Uncle Maurice would be proud ;) Nicholas has started a huge composting project in the backyard. I filmed the whole thing, but he is shy and doesn't want his fifteen minutes of fame on the blog. (So I put it on Facebook instead.)

Christmas Eve 2008

Louis is sitting here, waiting for his “writing muse”, and thinking about all the unanswered Christmas cards on the window sill and how the previous weeks, filled with activity, blur into an image sequence of frenzy and questionable importance. So much has changed in the last year and so many people have gone in so many directions.

Our family is a reflection of this. We now have three teenagers (deliberately and inexorably developing into their own persona), a pre-adolescent, and an eight-year-old. (Not to mention the three dogs and a geriatric, diabetic, and cantankerous cat.)

Frank is a sophomore at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. He declared his major and is studying Business and Finance. He has his own circle of friends away from home now and, aside from the few times he “hangs” with his old high school buddies in their effort to eschew the boredom and indifference with this town, can’t wait to go back to school. He’s taking a business course over winter break, so he’ll be leaving after New Year ’s Day rather than stay home most of the month of January. Over the summer, he worked in a local garage as a mechanic’s helper. He plays bass guitar at school in a rock band.

Dad observes, vacillating between a knowing understanding of the lessons that will be learned (sometimes the hard way) and a jealous wish to be 19 again – can’t go back.

Here is a case in point. For about $300, a student can get a full season lift ticket at three of the best ski resorts on the East coast. One recent morning, while a group headed to one of these resorts about 20 minutes from their school, Frank’s friend totaled his car. The picture of the bent, sheet metal wreckage was on their Facebook account within the hour. Fortunately, no one was hurt. In fact, unfazed by the incident, they continued their journey (don’t ask me how) and managed to get in a full day of skiing.

Caroline, 17, is a senior in high school and has blossomed into an energetic, enthusiastic, talented, curious, and interesting individual. Her passion for art has grown. She has her work all over the walls of her room and has written a comic strip of over 300 pages to date. She has an interest in theatre arts (scenic design) and has managed the painting and construction of many of the school plays. The highlight of her high school stage career came this past March when she was in charge of the painting crew for the production of “Les Misérables”. There were over forty set changes. She and her friend individually painted the fortress set used throughout the play.

She is now at the end of the process of applying for college. Caroline has developed a portfolio of about 20 works for the colleges to review. She has also completed SAT’s, ACT’s, college applications and essays, and latest semester’s school work and stage production. This week, SUNY Purchase, a New York state university that specializes in the arts and is about 20 minutes from our house, accepted Caroline in three different schools: the liberal arts college, the Conservatory of Art, and the Conservatory of Theatre. Before making her final decision, she is waiting to hear from some of the private schools including the School of Visual Arts in NYC and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence. Dad’s hoping for a scholarship. We’re all very happy and excited with the SUNY acceptance because this is her second choice. She wants to work towards her BFA in Illustration and Cartooning.

Veronica, 15, is developing very uniquely. Her hair is now an attractive shade of auburn after she dyed it fuchsia last month. This accompanies a creative and individualistic sense of style. Veronica has always been a natural at everything – good in school, music, sports, etc. – the kind of person you love to hate. However, she is a middle child and a teenage girl. So now, we have talent in everything and interest and motivation in nothing. Well, that’s not exactly true. While Mom and Dad have been busy, shall we say monitoring and guiding – ok arguing with – the two older kids and chasing after the 8-year-old, Veronica has developed a sophisticated and successful talent for “flying under the radar.” Ahh, but the situation is changing because next year the two older siblings will be gone and Mon and Dad will have more time to focus on our middle, soon to be “oldest-living-home” child. The plot thickens and the tension is already palpable. Stay tuned.

Adolescence is just starting to rear its ugly head with Matthew, our twelve-year-old, where boyish interest and enthusiasm live and the occasional and moderate showings of rebelliousness are still charming. Matt does well in school and plays in a lacrosse league. While sports are not yet is strong suit, he is developing an interest in exercise and the size and definition of his biceps. Matt also plays the drums and is becoming quite talented. He has an Ipod and listens to his rock music while he tries to follow the drummer on the recording. Dad’s hoping Matt and Frank can start a successful rock band so he can retire from the daily grind.

Dad is very old. He turned 60 in July. Last year, about this time, he joined the local gym in town. The place is magnificent. He goes there four to six times per week (Mom is glad to finally get Dad out of the house in a timely fashion) and spends most of Saturday morning there. (They call these people gym rats.) He’s lifting weights, cycling (“spinning”), and taking classes in yoga and boxing. Alas, in a year, he has lost no weight because he loves to eat. No regrets.

Mom continues her intense (read neurotic) obsession with animals. This year, we adopted, at great expense, a purebred Samoyed puppy – now a 60-pound ball of white, fluffy hair. His name is Shadow. Mom has also begun a fanatic relationship with the dog’s breeder, and they are discussing how to “show” the dog if all the details work out. The breeder was so impressed with Suzanne that she gave us lifelong custody of a second Samoyed, Shadow’s half sister, named Gypsy. Early each morning, we are awakened to the sound of howling and baying as the animals in the house take on pack behavior. After a morning ritual of licked faces, filled water and food bowls, and “outside potty,” we spend the remainder of the day dodging four-legged, white, streaks careening through the house knocking over furniture and other unorganized detritus strewn with random and illogical placement and covered with shed dog hair.

Nicholas, 8, has a very singular way of looking at the world. He’s good at math but needs some help in writing and reading. He earns his allowance by writing stories of eight-plus sentences. He also gets a penny for each adjective and adverb. Nicholas now has a whole lot of money, and we have a collection of priceless stories. We plan to publish them someday.

Nicholas still believes in Santa Claus. You can imagine how excited he was tonight. He sent Santa his Christmas list weeks ago asking for video games to be left under the tree. Dad asked him, “Why don’t you just buy the games, you have enough money?” He said, “It’s much better to get them for free.” You can’t argue with that. Maybe we should put Nicholas in charge of the Federal Reserve.

Well, before Nicholas went to bed, he put a glass of milk and four homemade cookies out for Santa. The “elves” are busy now wrapping the presents. Tomorrow, we are looking forward to a little magic that makes the Season.

We all wish it for you as well. I hope this letter finds all of you and yours happy and in good company this holiday season.

Merry Christmas and a joyous, happy, and healthy New Year.

Lou, Suzanne, François, Caroline, Veronica, Matthew, and Nicholas

Merry Christmas 2007

We missed sending out a letter the last Xmas or two, so we thought we should make an extra effort this year to update everyone before all the kids grow up.

It hit me the other night when I went to Veronica’s (9th grade) winter concert at the high school. As she sat there in the school auditorium, watching our third child perform on this stage, I realized this would soon be over as well -- Only three more winter concerts and she’ll be off to college.

Veronica is a flutist and has auditioned successfully for the all county orchestra for several years now. She is also trying her hand with the debate team and getting used to the studying (sort of) required for the advanced placement courses she is taking. She is also an adolescent now and really doesn’t give a fig about anything.

Francois, our oldest (18 years old), is finishing up (we hope) his first semester at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. He left the saxophone and the bass guitar he played on that stage at home. Other than that, we really have nothing to report about him because we haven’t a clue what he is doing except "I’m doing OK." We suppose that he is doing okay because he is going to a school in a beautiful setting at the foot of the White Mountains with paid room and board; $5 per day lift tickets; a 60%, young female population; and a total of 15 hours per week required class time. Life is tough. We just paid the second tuition bill.

Caroline, our high school junior (16 years old), has long since stopped playing the trumpet on that stage. However, three times a year, she is a crew member of the theatrical group that puts plays on at the high school. She and her friends design, construct, and paint the sets and then move the stuff around the stage in the darkness between the scenes of the plays. Many of them come over to our house on Friday nights to watch movies and devour anything in the refrigerator. On Thanksgiving weekend, I made an extra turkey for them which disappeared in much the same way the food stores in biblical Egypt were consumed by locusts. Caroline continues with her art work and we have pictures hanging throughout the house and in Dad’s office. She is working hard to bring her grades up so she can get into a good art school.

Matthew is in sixth grade (11 years old) and doing well academically. He is also becoming an accomplished drummer and will be on that high school stage in 2 years. He plays lacrosse, following in his older brother’s footsteps, and is the most laid back person in the family.

Nicholas, our seven year old, is in second grade and the most energetic of the group. His job is to annoy Matthew and the teenagers who eat here on Friday night. He takes his work seriously.

Gone are the killer years when all five were in school in town – the time when there were five concerts per season and we calculated that we only had 29 more to attend. The high school band played or the middle school choir sang or the elementary school teacher tried desperately to herd grade ones in and out like unruly sheep.

Back then, with the holidays being what they are and life with kids being what it is, getting out the door to five different concerts was a big deal. A very big deal. (Actually, life with five kids being what it is, trying to get your hair brushed by lunchtime was a big deal.) We did it though. Every single one. You have to develop some sort of coping mechanism for the stunning auditory experience that is a middle school string section. It's funny how much better the bands were the years our children were in them even as I did my knitting and watched the clock and wondered when it would end, consulting the program eight hundred times to see how many songs there were left.

Things are starting to quiet with Frank gone. Dad is much more relaxed. The other kids missed him, for about an hour, until there were spoils to be divided – the computer, stereo, and extra bedroom.

Dad’s getting older, 60 years old next summer. He just joined a town gym where he aspires to work out 6 to 7 days a week to make up for years of age and neglect, and possibly loose 50 (well maybe 20) pounds.

For the past year, I have been working part-time at the local public library which has taken precious time away from important seasonal tasks such as wrapping gifts (just a few more to go), baking cookies, and finishing some Xmas knitting projects. (A hat, then a pair of mittens, then another pair of mittens – Obviously, I have slipped so far into some sort of Christmas delusion that my sense of possibility is all off. Pass the egg nog.)

Knitting rules!

Before the alarm rings at seven in the morning, I have to reach over and search for the remote control (which is never where I left it the night before). Knitty Gritty, one of the few television shows I enjoy watching, airs at an ungodly hour here in NYC, and heaven forbid I should get out of bed (!) to turn the blasted teevee on. However, the "Knitting Rules!" episode featuring La Harlot herself, will air today everywhere but here in this house, it seems. I can't find it anywhere in the listings. Whatever shall I do...

What am I doing here?

How did this happen? One minute, my daughther is checking her assignment pad, the next thing she is convinced I am trying to take over her homework. Do I have to comment? I then start typing everything she says? Seriously. She was one typo away from ending up on the properly assigned page. She is convinced I will never, ever use this blogpage again. Should I try to prove her wrong?... I will let her sort things out. This is now my blog. Number 3 realized where she erred. All is well with the world as we know it. ttfn ;)