Greetings to all our friends,
It is that time of year (and then some). 2000, thy name is hectic. Of course, having a toddler (a healthy, active, curious toddler with a six foot grasp) would make tranquility hectic. He not only has his mother's hair and his father's chin, he also has his father's hat, his mother's gloves and the kitchen spatula will never be seen again. Very clever chap though. He became an uncle shortly before his first birthday. Emily and Bart made me a grandfather with Isaac's birth in May.
We went to California for Uncle Grove and Aunt Clara's 50th wedding anniversary party. We stayed at my brother Pat's house with our parents. Seeing all five brothers together was wonderful, and I am putting a photo of them on our website. Also one of the three brothers (Pat, Mike and me). There was a class reunion the same night, which we missed, but I still saw several of my classmates during the weekend. It was a great week, even though we burned up the total petroleum output of a small mid-eastern nation.
Arco Iris was doing well during the first half of the year, but third quarter reports disappointed the stockholders. We keep adding sites, but it was very slow over the summer. I get lots of compliments, but not nearly enough checks. One site, cap-n-ball.com, is getting about 3 million hits a year though. I do a lot for the Angel Fire Rendezvous, which is a lot of fun, besides being good business. We are meeting a lot of nice people. For those who aren't familiar with rendezvous, it is a type of historical re-enactment based on the 1810 to 1840 fur trade annual encampments. Part business and part social, these trade fairs brought together mountain men, Indians, merchants, teamsters, and others for an annual "sell your furs and buy your supplies for the winter" event along with all your entertainment and socializing for the year. The reenactments are more free-wheeling than the military groups which emulate specific companies or events.
Shelley wasn't able to go visit her relatives and chums in the UK this year, but her brother Kevin will be here for his second Christmas. She made up for the missed European trip with a visit to Arkansas. She had decided that JJ needed a pony. When I was two my father bought me a Lionel for Christmas. I wasn't allowed to touch it until I was old enough! JJ will be old enough in several years, but my father got his train and Shelley got her pony. She demanded gentle and chose well with a black mare that we named Queen Bess. That's ok. We have room for a pony, she can mow the lawn, and unlike big horses, ponies don't even need to be shod. It is the other four ponies that cause the problem. Shelley is nothing if not enthusiastic about a new project, and decided that the pony farm she visited looked like a really good business. The original mare was pregnant and the second chosen was nursing a month old foal. Naturally she could not separate mother and child so now there were three. A sprightly little paint foal caught her imagination and now there were four. Naturally this made another web site essential. I went off with truck and trailer and dragged them to our sub-micron ranch. A week later we looked out the kitchen window at the lawn and then there were five. Anybody want to buy a pony? --- JR
It must be said that the ponies get on very well with JJ, and he enjoys mixing it in with them. He is not interested in riding them at all - he still thinks his own two feet have possibilities he hasn't realized yet.
He is really into the imitative stage at the moment - we have to be very careful what we do in front of him because he is very observant, and copies it right. While I was trying to get a fire laid this evening I put the kindling in front of the woodstove and went off to get something else. When I came back he had stacked the kindling in the stove, properly criss-crossed, ready to go. Frightening at only 18 months. He drills, and chainsaws, and saws, and screwdrives, and carries hay and wood, vacuums and sweeps, and helps us in so many ways, even if we don't want or need it. Just listen to him working over the bottom of the shower with a bar of electric soap. I ran across a Chinese proverb the other day, along the lines of "Put a tiger into a room with two toddlers and you will soon have a dead tiger." I believe it. The energy level is amazing, and there does not seem to be any part of "NO" that the boy does understand. Even asleep - he wiggles. The only time he is cuddly is when he doesn't feel well, otherwise it is full speed ahead leaving a trail of destruction and chaos behind. One toddler hour is equivalent to throwing three hand grenades into the living room - since I am not superwoman I tend to ignore the chaos until it becomes life threatening, and then I threaten Jack into helping me muck out, at least to the point where we can see the floor. JJ of course helps us do this - anything we put up promptly gets taken down and redistributed, to the anguished cries of "NO" from mommy and daddy, who are ignored totally.
So there you have it - one year in the life of JJ and his parents, the ones who would really like a holiday in Hawaii minus child for a day or six. Christmas should be fun - the nice thing about kids is that they give you an excuse (and reason) to do Christmassy things like put up a tree and dream of the Christmas Chinese Takeaway (who cares if the turkey comes with beansprouts? More of a problem is the fact that the nearest Chinese is 40 miles away, and the last time we were there I suggested that the Chef should be shot!) This year we shall probably have Christmas dinner in Albuquerque as my brother leaves for England at 6 am on Boxing Day. I plan to be unconscious for this event - I am not good at mornings and lack of practice has not helped. JJ is very good that way - he wakes me at the crack of dawn to nurse, and then goes back to sleep until about 8.30 -9.00. This is very nice for us as both of us like to take mornings slowly. In fact the ponies are more of a bother - they start paging us from the corral as soon as they hear the slightest squeak of a floorboard from inside the house. Incredible hearing, and amazing appetites with it. --- SR
On that happy note we wish you a peaceful and contented Christmas, and a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year.
Love and hugs and kisses,
Jack, Shelley and JJ
Mutt & Kitty
Sequoia & Bailey
Bess, Lady, Star, Walt & Dimwit