The Catch-up Christmas Letter
(Sent to friends and relatives via snail mail & with appropriate holiday debris)

You are no doubt staring in amazement, pondering the fact that I am sending out holiday greetings at all, let alone at a more traditional time of year than Passover. But… chop-chop, no time to waste, it’s been a helluva year, and the following will bring it to you in all the detail and living color you would expect from the quintessential and highly personal Xeroxed holiday newsletter.

January started with the “Happy New Year” message from Esker Software that they were consolidating their Software Development offshore. That meant 19 of us would be laid off in March. They generously provided three months’ notice, a lovely severance package, and all kinds of outplacement support. So although it was a little jarring—all in all, not a bad deal.

In February, Carrie and her long-time boyfriend, Joshua Wood, got married in Austin. They are a gorgeous couple. (Not that I’m biased—I’m the same person who when I first caught sight of Carrie’s red, wrinkled face after her birth proclaimed, “She’s so BEAUTIFUL!”) The happy couple reside and work in Austin.

In March I was hired by Compuware Corp. to consult on a project to American Family Insurance as a business analyst and technical writer. I was fortunate to work with great people on an interesting project—although the company itself is a beautifully appointed hellhole that sucks the oxygen out of every living soul entering its portal. You can tell I love it, huh?

In April a thrift store purchase resulted in my personal international news event. Last year at the St. Vinnie’s thrift store outlet I found a gorgeous wedding dress for the irresistible price of $2. I deemed it costume-worthy, but no appropriate event had presented itself. So when it was my turn to host my running club, I mandated that it would be a costumed run with the theme “Running of the Brides”—similar to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain but with much more fearsome creatures and far more bullshit. Fifty people turned out in wedding attire, and our run through the streets of Madison made the front page of the Sunday Wisconsin State Journal Local section. http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/madison.com/html/archive_files/wsj/2005/04/10/0504090267.php Then the Associated Press picked up the story, and it was on the Internet and in newspapers around the world, discussed on national radio shows, and in general provided more than my 15 minutes of infamy.

In June I sold my house and bought my current home, which I LOVE! It’s only two bedrooms and one bath, but has a large master bedroom, screened-in porch, red retro diner booth in the kitchen, red fireplace with a mantel, and the perfect location. Two blocks south is the governor’s mansion, two blocks north is the Maple Bluff Country Club, two blocks west is the lake, and two blocks east is the best Chinese restaurant in the Midwest.

At the end of July, my life started taking on the proportions of some sad-sack Country & Western song. My contract finished at American Family, and my job with Compuware ended. (Oh wait, that doesn’t reflect “tidings of comfort and joy” one is supposed to dispense in a holiday newsletter, does it? Let me rephrase that, “I was promoted to the position of President of Myself.”) On August 4 my beloved dog Murray died of the lymphoma he had been fighting for several weeks. And in early October, my boyfriend went back to his ex-wife. It was a painful few months; but throughout, it somehow had a sense of divine proportion and that all was (or would be) good. It was a relief to be out of AmFam and to get my “oxygen” back. As much as I grieved Murray’s passing, he had had a wonderful life of 12-1/2 years—overtime for a large dog who had escaped the fate of the Sacramento pound 12 years earlier, and a joyous companion I was so lucky to have for that time. And as for the boyfriend… well, there had been a few “ick” factors developing that made it clear it wouldn’t be a forever relationship. Although I didn’t think “not forever” would be quite as not forever as it was, as one friend said, “He saved you from having to do it later.”

There’s an old joke about, “What do you get when you play a Country & Western song backward?.... You get your job back, you get your dog back, you get….etc.” My personal C&W experience finally began “playing backward”. In the past I’ve thought it would be fun to try my hand at bartending, so while I was enjoying my time off the work wheel and in between job applications and interviews, I took a week-long bartending course. My thoughts were that in my ideal world, I would get a bartending job with one of the nice hotel bars, have some time to get bartending experience before I got a full-time tech writing job, and maybe continue the bar gig part-time thereafter. Lo! and behold! I was hired by the Radisson Hotel at the end of October, and I absolutely love the job. It’s like getting paid to host a party, without having to clean my house, buy the alcohol, or fix the food.

I felt it was time to get another canine companion for myself and for Bill (my surviving dog, the same age as Murray), and got Charlie, a 10-year-old bearded collie rescue. He had spent most of his life being physically cared for, but mostly ignored. He is a sweet addition to our home and is enjoying learning how to be spoiled.

The last weekend of October I went to Massachusetts for the wedding of my friends Lori and Jeff. It was an event that captured every essence of the sacred and joyous, accompanied by raucous laughter, wonderful music, and energetic dancing.

On December 5 I started my new job as a technical writer for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. I’m in an area of the Department of Ophthalmology that does research in degenerative eye diseases. I love the work, enjoy the casual (read: jeans) but dedicated (read: people good at and committed to what they do) environment, and can definitely live with benefits that include 5 weeks/year of paid vacation. I also have flex hours, so I’m able to continue my bartending gig at the Radisson on Tuesday and Friday nights. Wahoo!

I’m now looking forward to seeing my family for Christmas in Guymon, OK, my home town and where my parents (89 and 92) and my sister Jo & brother-in-law Mike live and thrive. I’ll fly out this Thursday the 22nd, and Carrie and Joshua are driving up from Austin Friday. It should be a great time, and we can count on excesses of food, fun, and cheating at cards.

I wish you all that is good for the holidays and 2006. Make it great!