December 5, 1993 Merry Christmas!!
I hope your 1992 was as good as mine ... not that mine was exceptional. It was merely a "normal" year with neither severe distress nor heartbreak. All my family and those friends who to write me are healthy and happy most of the time. I've enjoyed seeing most of my family two times this year. One cousin's kid got married. In retrospect, they do grow up fast.
Several things are amazing. Amazing that I mailed this Christmas letter before Christmas ... and it is only one page. Some people will be surprised that I am still romantically involved with Marsha ... and still living in Kansas City ... and still gainfully employed. This summer's floods were truly amazing. That's everything unusual. Everything else falls into the good old same old same old category.
Same old working grind. The new wrinkle is a new job. I took a 35% pay cut looking for a more pleasant working environment. My new boss is an engineer with a good sense of humor and a relaxed attitude. My office- mate and co-workers are great. I'm much happier (& much poorer). The new job is not convenient to public transportation, so I usually commute twenty five minutes each way during "rush hour" on the Interstate Highways. I had to detour for a month after the flooding Missouri River washed out a hundred foot section of Interstate 635. To avoid the drive on ice and smow, I am renting an efficiency apartment near work. This apartment is so efficient that it doesn't include a stove. The commute on "bad" days has become a pleasant rural walk of a mile and a half.
Same old exercise routine. I run lots and basketball a little. The new note here is a sour one. I have gained another ten pounds that refuse to budge from my bulge. I may have to stop eating so much ice cream. (The Schwan's man delivers ice cream to the office every other week.)
Same old travelling Beatty. This year I'm not going to bore you with all the delightful details unless you write to me specifically asking for more (usually too much more) about my camping trips with Marsha to Zion National Park in Utah and to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado or the trip to London courtesy of my employer, Maxon. The Solar Shower (TM) was the highlight of the camping trips; Buckingham Palace of London.
Same old situation with my major hobby, genealogy. The program is still progressing and still almost ready to go to market. I'm still finding out new things about the family every so often. Marsha is also interested in her more distant ancestors, so we visited the Mormon's Genealogy Library in Salt Lake City en route to Zion.
I do have one firm commitment in 1994. DTYD in Boston on Patriot's Day. That is the entire extent of the plans. I don't know how I'll get there, how I'll get around, how long I'll stay (or where). I expect to ask for a week off work, drive or fly, and have lots of fun at the reunion. I'll take a month off if the boss will let me. Then I might be able to have a good quality experience with everyone I'd like to see in the Boston area.
Goodbye and good luck. I hope the new year will be a fine one for you.
Click here to return to Ron Beatty's home page,
These links are on all my web pages:
Eve's Garden Organic Bed and Breakfast, a wonderful, eclectic, artistic papercrete alternative living learning mecca in Marathon, Texas
Rambo family genealogy, Bankston & Bankson family genealogy, the Camblin family genealogy, the Dorsey Overturff family, cousin Jean's Schenck and Hageman genealogy, and