Passionate Perseverance: merry christmas to all and to all a good night...

Jonathan has come home from Franciscan University, switched majors and will graduate from Northern Virginia Community College in the spring. He is planning on moving on to George Mason University in the fall and studying Computer Game Design…yup, kinda like the kid in the candy store. This year he turned 21, had his first drink and danced as a penguin, NO, not all at the same time, although that might have made a great YouTube video. His Parks and Recreation Class, (yes I didn’t know they had those either), helped put on the annual “Ghost Train” at the local park, and there were dancing penguins to entertain the kids waiting for the train…Yup, nothing like watching Gumby, Pokey, and a bunch of penguins doing the Macarena….and we have photos, so no denying this. And to top things off, he got a job at Macy’s for the Christmas season as a sales associate in the men’s department. He’s worn a tie more in the last month than his entire life-“Dad, how do you wear one of these every day?” “Loosely, son, loosely.” Mary and I enjoyed the sweet irony of listening to Jonathan complain about folding “all those clothes that the customers messed up.” Yes, there truly is a God. Of course, I did remind him that cleaning up his room was excellent vocational training for his job, but for some reason, he didn’t appreciate my wisdom.

Our cool Santa (pictured below) also had a number of milestones this year. Courtney turned 18 this year and we had to actually go to district court to become her legal guardians. Anything we can do to keep the lawyers employed and stimulate the economy. However, I thought our little sweetums was going to need help staying out of the ‘big house’ at school. She was actually sent to the “time-out” room for….wait for it….TALKING TOO LOUD! Yup, our daughter is a true teenager…she’s gonna yell at the top of her lungs until she gets someone’s attention-“YO PEOPLE, somebody better pay attention to me, here..or it’s gonna get ugly!” Imagine my surprise when I found out my daughter was again becoming a juvenile delinquent (recalling the great sippy cup throwing incident of 2004). Overall, she has had a pretty good year, with no hospital stays and NO swine flu. She is still struggling to keep weight on but is holding steady for now. How I wish I had that problem!

Mary and I have been trying to keep up with the young ones. Mary’s now works 3-4 days a week as a substitute teacher at Court’s school while continuing to write and blog. This keeps her busier than an elf in Santa’s workshop. Not to be outdone by Jonathan, Mary danced in her elf suit at Courtney’s school for the Holiday Dance-A-Thon. Not to worry, no reindeer were injured during the electric slide and Courtney thought it was all highly amusing, as you can see above. Yep, she slept through the whole thing. That’s my girl! Just like her big brother in Physics class. Proud parent moments indeed!

I (Jerry) have finished my masters degree in Military Studies and continue to work for ******** while contemplating a future move into the teaching profession. Nope, no dancing for me…cause white men can’t dance…unless they’re at weddings….with open bars….OH, okay so maybe I did dance, but…hahaha, no photo evidence. So, who’s the brains behind this outfit?