We have ourselves a future Duck football player in the making. Eight-year-old Ethan started his first football season this year. He played the positions of lineman and linebacker. After every game, he’d say “Thank you, mom and dad, for signing me up for football! I love it!!” While mommy always tells him to be careful and to not use his head – this is probably the only occasion I would ever tell my sons NOT to use their heads – Daddy would tell him to “knock some people down!” He thought these two contradicting comments interesting and had repeated it to many who asked him about his football experience. His piano teacher has been most pleased with him because he has made good progress and is able to sight read some music. Besides getting better at playing piano, Ethan’s reading has also taken off to a new level. As a third grader, he reads and comprehends sixth grade level books comfortably.
Xan is legally an adult since September of this year. Instead of getting her driver’s license, she did her voter’s registration first. Thus, she voted at mid-term election. What a fun experience: the three of us reading our ballots together, discussing each candidate and measures and why we would or would not vote for certain ones. Mom and Dad are immensely proud of her as an independent thinker – it is not to say that the independent thinking hasn’t created any headache for us. Being a senior in high school and working at Tinseltown three nights a week, she is experiencing adulthood first hand with the hustle and bustle of daily life. We are grateful that, when she does have time to spare, she mostly hangs out with her family. She plays with the tyrant aka Henry and is not afraid to change soiled diapers. And we often hear Ethan and Xan “jamming” on Wii’s Rock Band. We are so excited for her entering college this fall, but we are going to miss her terribly!
The beauty of being self-employed, Don would tell you, is that you don’t have to be at work when you don’t want to. What he fails to mention is that, you may not want to be at work, but you have to – because no one else is there to put out fires. As busy as he is, he is still keeping up with vacuuming, dusting around the house, yard work and his honey-do list.
After two motor vehicle accidents, three traffic tickets (one of them was dismissed by the citing officer, thank you very much.) and several other car related incidents, Debbie finally admitted that she is guilty of DWA* (please read the disclaimer at the end of this letter.) Even the best criminal defense attorney, aka Don, couldn’t get her off of this charge. At Debbie’s third visit to the auto body shop, the receptionist offered to start a punch card for her. And the Municipal court judge inquired if Debbie had thought of not driving for a while. She is looking forward to a traffic incident free new year or otherwise will be happily riding her bike.
Merry Christmas and Happier New Year to you all – it is not a typo – we do want to wish you a happier new year than the last. If you ever have a chance to come to Southern Oregon, please come see us. Our door is always open for you.
With love and affection,
Henry, Ethan, Xan, Don and Deb
*DWA – Driving While Asian – used here is for the purpose of illustrating Debbie’s driving skill. It is not intended to offend your sensibility or to offend the Asian community.
Debbie:"So we won't be sued just by adding this?"
Don: "I won't be but I don't know about you."
