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The
Christmas Letter 1995
With all this christmassy snow, don't you sense an
"itching" to get on with the music, decorating, etc. ... so lets
go!
Of course, Rej has done his Christmas thing by now - the outdoor
lights. Each year we say there's
enough, and then White Rose comes out with something new. This year it was because of the
purchase of one of those big-long-ladders, that gave us access to a whole new
wall for Christmas lights. The
angel and a star with huge long rays look great way up there.
For my part, I saw something last year that looked so nice I had
to copy it, little realizing at the time how "political" it would
look. Now every time I look out at
my red lights interspersed with blue - what do you think it
reminds me of? (Oct. 30th is your hint, and it starts with R e f . . ..)
Enough of the "red & blue" and back to the
"red and green"! Our
plans for this year are to have Christmas dinner in a fancy hotel -restaurant,
and maybe work it off with some skating downtown. Thats after the important things of course: church and presents! We've already enjoyed "The Santa
Clause" together. Sam thinks
it must be a true story, something like "The Night Before Christmas".
This not being a birthday party year for Sam, we will be
taking something into school for him on that day, with his teacher's
permission, and hopefully we'll be able to squeeze present-opening in before
the Lions Club dinner & party - which will culminate with Santa and cake
for birthday people (we know 4 - 5 people who were born on Dec. 20!)
So now we've talked about the end of the year, and you want to
know about the rest of 1995...
Something different we did this year, a "distant
memory" now, was to go downtown for a few baseball games and Spaghetti
Factory meals. Sam was very
excited about going to the Dome for his first time.
When summer holidays started, Samuel made Mom take him to the
Royal Ontario Musuem by subway.
That was one special event, another was a day at Wild Water
Kingdom. Most of you have heard
about our great vacation at Virginia Beach, and Sam getting vertigo (severe
dizziness) while we were there.
Other than that we had the usual great summer of camping - we
headed up the committee for our camping club this year, and we've already had a
meeting to see if we can do even better next year!
Samuel is still saying things to make his teacher fall out of
her chair - not because he mentions a word like "displacement" but
because he also knows what it means!
(Even Mom has been learning something from Bill Nye - that "science
guy" on TV.) Today he
explained to me exactly what a "physiotherapist" does.
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The big thing for me this year has been the start-up of Pioneer
Clubs at our church. It seemed to
be the right time for it, as we're getting lots of support. At this time, 15 - 16 adults are
involved, along with 45 kids. This
is a fair difference from when I coordinated Pioneer Girls, and the
highest number was under 30. Also,
I used to be a leader at the same time I was coordinating, whereas now I'm free
to plan leader meetings and help out when needed.
At club, Samuel is in a group with 13 kids, and most of them are
in his Sunday school class as well.
The teachers rave about what a good group they are. I rave about what good teachers
and Pioneer Club leaders he has!
At club I am working on
my Weather award. I am enjoying
grade 3. I need more practise on
the computer. I am taking
gymnastics this year. I still have
Hallowe'en candy.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I hate telling Samuel how to spell everything, giving it such a
perfect look, but as he says, he could use spellcheck. He finds keyboarding very long and
tedious, since in braille he uses one letter for many words, like "and,
you, ing,", etc.
I keep asking Rej for some input here, but he is like a large
robot sitting at his small lap-top ("ThinkPad"), turning his
head every once in awhile, saying "I work 6 - 7 days a week". Its interesting that his brain is very
valuable at work, because "what the old guys know" is now in demand. They've discovered that the old style
is better after all, but he is learning new technology to use on the old
stuff. Two of them have been able
to do the work of 10 guys, thanks to technology.
We finally got tired of what we've been doing for Christmas
cards, so this year we did it a little differently. Samuel likes it when there is something he can do, like
those rubbings. The crayon was a
seasonal scent, too.
Now, in keeping with the theme of the glowing candles on our
Christmas cards: may the cold,
wintry air allow you to appreciate the warmth of your family and loved
ones inside, this Christmas.
Cathie, Rej, & Samuel