Greetings! It is already that time of year: chestnuts roasting, stockings hanging and the Owens Family Christmas finally arriving!
We begin, as always, with Noah and Natalie, the apex of evolution itself. Noah (6) started first grade this year but is a smartass far beyond his years. His favorite activities are soccer, reading and honing his condescending demeanor. Case in point: he recently emerged from the bathroom and announced that he had diarrhea. Trying to assess the severity of the situation, Keri asked him, “What is diarrhea?” The implication here was the unannounced what is diarrhea to you but those types of subtleties are lost on even the brightest 6 year old. So, Noah responded in a way that truly made me proud. With complete and utter disdain, he replied, “It’s a lot of poop, Mom.” Natalie turned 2 and is clearly her own little person. Despite her limited vocabulary, she is quite the little talker and makes her demands know to all within earshot. She can say most of our names, except for Suzie and Kim’s. Suzie is “MAMA!” when Natalie is mad and wants to be held. Kim, for some reason, is “buddy.” Dan ran both the Crim and the Detroit marathon this year and did not stroke out at either event. Keri is teaching fifth grade in the Croswell-Lexington district, where the strain of banjo music and smell of manure mix together for a unique teach environment. The Christmas song “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” has a very apropos and literal meaning. The Yankee family also bought a house this year, so please send donations.
Keeping true to her nomadic spirit and quest to inhabit every living space in Flint, Kim moved yet again and is also living in a house. However, Kim went the smart way and moved in with someone who already owned a home. Her name is Sue and she is a program officer at the Mott Foundation but more importantly, Natalie can already say her name! This makes Suzie only a little bitter, as she did not think to try that first. Kim continues to teach at Mott and actually got to teach a course she designed this year: readings in Popular Culture. Turns out all those years spent in front of the television and reading comic books was really just extensive preparatory research.
Mike and Suzie continue to be the consummate travelers. Vacation spots this year included a fishing trip to Alaska for Mike, as there is no way in hell that Suzie is going to camp; a trip to Chicago for Suzie (as well as Kim, Sue, Keri and Paulette) to celebrate her 60th birthday with a weekend of shopping, eating and watching Wicked, as there is no way in hell that Mike is going to willingly participate in any of those activities at those prices; a week at Lake Michigan with the whole family, including Wally, Nancy, Abe, Beth, Sarah, Chris, Elizabeth and Connor; and, of course, a cruise up the New England coast. What made this year’s travels so amazing was not the sheer amount of hours they were able to get off from work but the fact that every trip occurred after Suzie’s mastectomy! In March, Suzie was diagnosed with a very early form of breast cancer. If we were to compare her diagnosis to an unplanned pregnancy, the doctors caught the cancer at the moment the condom breaks – really, REALLY early. Suzie opted for the mastectomy primarily to get Kim to cover the housework for six weeks. The worst part of the whole experience was getting sent home the same day of the surgery, which meant Suzie didn’t get to milk an overnight hospital stay for all that it is worth. The best part of the experience was that when Suzie did go on her many travels, carrying her over-the-shoulder bags was a breeze. In between their travels, Mike and Suzie their various activities that they always enjoy: spoiling Noah, spoiling Natalie and enjoying life in general.
We hope that you continue to enjoy your lives as well. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2007!
