Christmas 2021
It’s been an eventful year for our family. Most importantly, we’ve all been fully vaccinated against Covid, including boosters. The kids are all back to in-person learning, and most things have gotten back to normal-ish. Naturally, we’re still wearing our masks and practicing social distancing, which is far and away my favorite part of the pandemic. In fact, when it’s all over I plan on continuing to stay away from most of you. It’s not you, it’s me.
Connie took a big step this year by finishing her second bachelor’s degree (with straight A’s of course) in an online program from Utah State University. The ink was barely dry on her diploma when she started a new career as a speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA) at a local clinic. She really enjoys the work and finds a great deal of satisfaction in helping the kiddos. She really has a gift for working with immature minds (after all, she married me, right?). And the kids are responsive to her because she makes it clear that she has ways of making them talk. She was also accepted into a master’s SLP program and will start that in January. With the master’s degree, she’ll be qualified to run the clinic and boss around people like her (the present her, not the future her).
Speaking of graduating, Felix graduated from high school this year. He got a pretty good workout at the graduation ceremony from all the standing up and sitting down as they were reading the names of kids who received various honors. He also finished, with honors, his associate’s degree at the local community college through the Running Start program. Utah State University offered him a full-ride scholarship, so he moved on to Logan, Utah in August. With his AA degree in hand he should be able to finish a BS in computer science in only four years. So far, he’s doing really well and enjoying college life. At least, that’s what he tells us.
Quincy also moved up, as he finished middle school and started high school. He has adapted really well to the change and enjoys his classes. He joined the marching band and played percussion (sort of) in the pit. I went to his first show, which was a competition of some kind. For some reason he was in charge of moving the big bass drum into the stadium, and he made his presence known by letting it fall over as he pushed it onto the field. He also forgot his drumsticks, so during the show he just kind of slapped the snare drum with his hands, bongo style. He turned 16 this year and thinks he’ll be driving something (other than us crazy), but we know all too well what he’s capable of. He loves to ride his adult-size tricycle, make YouTube videos, and eat.
Leon is in his last year of middle school and joined the cross country team. He became the fastest kid on the team after the previous fastest kid got injured somehow. Leon swears he doesn’t know anything about that (cough Tonya Harding cough). He also plays the trumpet—pretty well actually—and is looking forward to joining the marching band in high school next year. Leon spends his free time running or reading or trying to come up with schemes to earn money. He has a little yard-work business and makes pretty decent money mowing lawns or raking leaves for lazy people. He is also deeply involved in scouting, and he was even invited to attend a special leadership-based scout camp for youth who show a talent and aptitude for bossing others around. He’s really good at that, actually.
Dorothy is in the fifth grade. Her year has been kind of quiet as she keeps her head down and takes care of business. She mostly stays to herself reading or whatever it is she does. She started a little baking club with a couple of her friends. They get together once a week or so after school and test a new recipe, and if it’s any good they add it to their recipe book. Quincy likes to cook, too, but mixes up the teaspoon and tablespoon measurements, which turns out to be important for certain ingredients (I’m looking at you, salt and baking soda). Dorothy does not have this problem, and she’s gotten good enough that she can supervise Quincy when he starts to get the itch for fresh cookies (which is basically all the time). Dorothy has also started playing the cello this year and is continuing with her piano lessons. She’s become quite good at both, and I’m not just saying that (which goes without saying for those of you who really know me).
Calvin turned 21 this year. We finally got him to move out of the basement (!), and he now bunks upstairs with Quincy (baby steps). He still has his computer gaming setup down there. That’s fine, that’s what the basement is for. But he started a new part-time gig as a laboratory technician with a local food-testing outfit, and he really enjoys it. We’re hoping this will be the gateway to bigger things.
And I’m still working from home most of the time, trying to keep ahead of things both work and household related. Connie is working full time out of the home with an inflexible schedule, so I’ve had to up my domestic game by getting dinner ready every evening and making sure kids get to their lessons, appointments, or whatever on time. It’s nice to have a job that allows me that flexibility, and we’re going to exploit it to the max. We didn’t have a chance to do too much camping or family stuff this year, but we did make a trip down to Utah to celebrate the 81st birthday of Connie’s mom, then to Park City to spend a week with my folks and the Wagstaffs. That was a fun and needed break from lockdowns and other pandemic-related isolations, especially for the family. Connie and I also took Felix to college and spent a couple days in Utah.
We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.
The Jacob Family