Christmas 2013

Hi Everyone !!!

Being 'frugal' (or tight / cheap / whatever -- you can fill in the blank)

this year the Christmas letter will be carried by the 'cyberspace creature' instead of the 'snail'.

So, since I realllllly want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, here it is :

Merry Christmas 2013

It is that time of the year and having just returned from the Neighborhood Christmas party (where I took the picture of this tree), I am in the mood to write a Christmas letter. So here goes.

The annual Christmas letter is, of course, when everyone tells what all their kids and grandkids and great grand kids and etc. did. And, yes, they all made Honor Rolls, married well, graduated summa cum from the most outstanding post graduate school in the world, won the lottery, or whatever. Mine, of course, did none of that.

So what did happen in 2013 in the ‘nooga household?

Well, starting out with last Christmas (2012) in Atlanta, it looks like we are going full circle in that Katie the Poodle and I have been invited to return -- which we will happily do.

Several other trips to Atlanta also occurred last year including one to the Apple Circus in the Spring, always a fun event; Also the Peachtree Road Race in July. No, I didn’t run in that but Harry, Sally, Philip, and Cyndi did while Lawson and I watched and listened on the radio to the hams working the event.

Hams. Hmmm. That brings me to perhaps the main thing(s) of this year. Ham (Amateur Radio) activities:

As you may or may not know, I became a Ham a few years ago and have now been joined by Lawson (a General), Philip (a General) and Cyndi (a Tech). We almost have enough for our own club. : )

I have been involved in many Ham related events this year. In addition to being on the board of the CARC (Chattanooga Amateur Radio Club) and becoming a VE (Volunteer Examiner for the ARRL), I participated in ARRL Field Day -- and the Chattanooga Special Event on Lookout Mountain celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Chattanooga -- and our annual Hamfest event. To non-hams you are likely un-impressed but those things are ‘big deals’ to hams.

OK, so back to the ‘real’ world -- in addition to the Amateur Radio activities, other 'real world' things happened such as

Going to Oklahoma for a week in October to visit with Baby Christopher and his family. He is now 4 years old (obviously no longer a baby) and doing GREAT. He walks, talks, plays, is as cute as a button, and listens to music on his mother’s iPhone (occasionally pushing a button and dialing a number -- so if you get a call it might be him.) Anyway that was GREAT fun and his brother and sister were more fun than a barrel of monkeys. We played Wii games, talked, ate, I watched them study (homeschooling) and was impressed by all 3 of the kiddos.

Also during that trip to and from Oklahoma, we dropped in on the Little Rockers and had fun but brief visits with many of the relatives there. Fun Fun Fun.

Next there was the annual trip to celebrate Thanksgiving with my friend, Janice, and her mother (who is now 96 and is my ‘other mother’). We had, as usual, a GREAT time.

After Thanksgiving, it was time for the annual RSNA meeting which I used to attend in person in Chicago (brrrrrr, cold, and expensive) but now able to do this for the third year in a row by attending ‘virtually’ via the internet. How wonderful to sit in front of a computer in comfy clothes, taking notes, drinking coffee, and eating a sandwich or other snacks while earning 38 hours of Cat. I Credit. WOW. This Internet age is wonderful.

There were no big out of the country trips this year so I am ‘entertaining’ myself by looking at pictures of previous trips and doing the “I recollect…” thing. There is a rumor, however, that there might be a trip to Scandinavia and parts of Europe in 2014 so maybe next year there will be more to report on that front.

Katie, the poodle, is a true Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. One never knows which she will be. She will go for weeks, sometimes a month or two, being the most wonderful dog in the world. Then when you are least expecting it she becomes an attack dog (with me being the target). Sigh.

Last, but certainly not least, is the main activity (yes, even more so than the Amateur Radio things) that keeps me busy. What is that? you ask?

Why, of course, it is the ‘Daily Interesting Things’ website. If you have not visited it, the link to it is http://biblestudiesnet.blogspot.com

Well, there you have it, a brief review of some of the highlights of 2013. Looking forward to another exciting year in 2014 and wishing for all of you a verrrrry Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

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