The Real Christmas Letter

Hello! It's been a couple years since I've written one of these letters, and I thought it was time to sit down and do it. I started to write it in October, if you can believe that, but..I deleted it by accident. So I will attempt to be as witty as I was back then. If I am not as witty, just take my word for it.

We are all doing well. I'll start with Jason. He's been on a project at work that I am sure he's told me the name of, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it is. I do know that it is a long project. And it involves people in India. And working lots of weekends. And it makes Jason's eye twitch. He is now an Architect Support System Originator...er...or something...I forget that too. He goes to a lot of meetings, and knows way too much so people are always emailing him for various reasons. He gets to spearhead too. A lot. We all know he has the gift of gab, so that part especially suits him. He traveled quite a bit too in 2009, so the team could keep talking about work over Prime Rib and monster portions of mashed potatoes in nice places like the best hotel in Disney World. Unfortunately, he didn't get to do much sightseeing because they quarantined him in freezing cold conference rooms, wooing him with espresso and packages of peanut M&M's.

I should mention here that we have a new addition to the family, its name is BlackBerry. BlackBerry joined us early this year, compliments of MassMutual. It was originally supposed to enhance Jason's life, so now he could be reached while in overlapping meetings on the work campus. Turns out, BlackBerry has been a pain in the butt. It gets up pretty darn early too. Sometimes, I am making coffee at 6am and I can hear it buzzing away on the counter. I have learned not to wake its owner, for the only result would be: Jason frantically checking work emails to see what on earth could be so important at 6am. And the kids would have to eat burnt waffles for breakfast because BlackBerry just won't quit. You get the idea. Fortunately, we're pretty sure BlackBerry will quiet down after the aforementioned project is over. But in the meantime, Jason has learned to ignore it when he's home as much as possible. I give him credit, not sure I could do the same under that much stress.

The kids are good. Really good. Still full of energy. They are the grounding force in our lives. If we didn't have to drop them off at school, pick them up, take them to parties, make their meals, attend their meetings at school...we'd be lost. Heck, we might even get a chance to clean the house! I just realized I have about 3 inches of dust on the curtains in the dining room. But, seriously - we have our health (save for the flu during major holidays and occasional asthma episode at the crack of "Dear God it's early"), we have job security - (well, for today at least), and our dear family and friends like you.

We were able to escape the pressures of life for a bit at the end of July for a blissful week in North Carolina (aka heaven) with my sister's family and my mom. We also are extremely blessed with patient parents who take on our spunky kids (with gusto, I might add!!) for the coveted sleepover. (Giving Rob and Tula a big "Holla!") My mom is always willing to watch them on late notice, too - love that!! (That's right, we are never moving!!) And thank goodness for the recent discovery of Facebook. Because really, I would never even know what my extended family and friends looked like anymore if I weren't a member of this virtual world!! And how fun is that fake Farm Town?! What a nice little 10 minute vacation from the pressures of real life! Yes, sad but true. My name is Emily and I have a fake farm that I like. Mostly I like it because it's really hard to kill the crops. Anyone that has seen our yard knows the truth about my un-green thumb.

And as for me, personally..I am thrilled to have really funny co-workers. Cause if I didn't get my daily dose of laughter from my peeps, pretty sure I would have gone postal. I have a few winter projects in the works to keep me out of trouble, and vow to make more time for myself in 2010. I've recently discovered Jillian Michael's workouts and completely love them. For some reason, when she says, "I want you.....to feel like....you will.....DIE", well, it kinda works. I actually listen to her. Mostly cause she's only on tv and I can shut her up anytime I want. Hasn't happened yet, but I'm just sayin'.

So yes. We are crazed. Yes. We are over-booked, under-rested, and probably headed for Looneyville, USA. But I would be remiss to leave out how well worth it all is when I hear my children giggling, or when we are all seated at the table about to eat one of Jason's meals, or when I can plop on the couch and watch my new (TiVo'ed of course) obsession called "Glee", or when Jason is delving into a new book on his Kindle. We know we're blessed. This is life in our thirties. Raising the kids, building a home, trying to carve out pockets of time to just be. And although slow, quiet days (and yes even the boring ones!) when I was home may be a distant memory, this schedule sure gives me great writing material too.

Have a wonderful holiday. We miss you, [my dear few readers] and hope to see you more in 2010.