Christmas Letter

Greeting and Happy Holidays,

I must apologize for the distinct lack of a Prunkard Christmas letter last year. From our perspective, there didn’t seem much news to provide in 2007, however the uprising from former recipients has been great and they have been heard. I will do my best to provide unwavering wit this year and in those that follow…

Two thousand seven DID fly by without much fanfare. We brought home our second cat, Sam, early in the year and were visited by family. Chele and I visited Danville several times, both together and separately. I think we each visited three times, but didn’t get the opportunity to come during Christmas due to Chele’s job schedule. Perhaps this led to the Bah-Humbug feel and lack of a letter. We shall never truly know.

Never fear, though, ’08 was chock full of news. In February, my employer announced a Voluntary Early Retirement Program for those who met a certain criteria (7 years seniority did NOT meet the criteria, so I had to stay). This resulted in 60-some office folks out of 400 taking the package and leaving the company. My mentor and good friend, Jack, was one of them. I was then moved up into his position, Assistant Manager of Option Design. This lasted three months until my boss moved on and I was promoted to manager. I pretty much have a handle on it now (managing 16 people, being responsible for the engineering, purchasing, sales and installation of al the custom options on our lift trucks), but it has been a rough 6 months.

I totaled my Nissan Pathfinder in July and was without 4 wheel transportation until just three weeks ago. I commuted on my motorcycle all summer long and only had to beg a ride from a buddy all of seven days the entire 5 months. We just bought Chele a 2009 Buick Enclave in late October. She was worried it was an “old person’s car”. She doesn’t look a day over 50 driving it.

Chele continues to work at Texas Children’s Hospital in the Pulmonology department. She’s now in charge of making the schedule out (and she STILL has to work New Year’s) and continues to provide fantastic care. She has her rough days, but I know it’s still rewarding for her or she wouldn’t do it. She DOES, however, want to try to take a job a little closer to home, especially once we have children.

Speaking of children, as I write this Chele is a little over 18 weeks pregnant. She was in denial and just thought she “didn’t feel good” for the first 8 weeks, so we’ve only known for a couple of months so far. Doing the math, we think she was pregnant right about the time Hurricane Ike hit the Texas Gulf Coast. I guess that’s what 56 hours of no power will get you.

We’ve had two Ultrasounds done so far and still don’t know what the sex of the baby is. Earl (I call him/her Earl) is doing fine by all accounts, but seems to be a bit shy in presenting his/her genitalia to the world (can’t really blame it). Chele is doing well also. The first Trimester was a bit on the pukey side, but she has rallied a bit and can actually eat now. We’re working through the stress of buying new clothes, MASSIVE mood swings and a whole bunch of peeing in the middle of the night. In other words, life is really good.

Well, I hope this letter finds you all well and in the Christmas spirit. We will be making the trip to Danville (1000 miles each way with a pregnant woman and two cats… wish me luck) later this month and we hope to see you all while we’re there. If not, know that we miss you and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love,
Jeff, Chele, Earl, Hank and Sam

Late again...

Well, I haven't put much on here this month. I really wanted to make sure I put something on here every week or so at least, more if possible. If nothing else, it helps get my thoughts out on "paper". Seems like things just get in the way... And we don't have a child yet.

Had a good time with Bob at the Bears game and at his house. He and his girlfriend, Crista, treated me like royalty and I really enjoyed myself. So often I get wrapped up with work and life here and rarely get the chance to just relax. Bob and Crista (as well as Ronnie), helped me do that. Thanks go to them.

We did have another doctor visit last week. We got to hear the heartbeat, all 140 beats per minute of it. It's a wonder you can hear anything out of the $5 Osco Karaoke machine they use to amplify the heartbeat. It's all scratchy like a shaving cream commercial or something. It was neat to hear and made us feel good that things are rolling along. We have another appointment on December 9, with another sonogram that day as well. HOPEFULLY, we'll get a shot at seeing what sex the baby is. Keep your fingers crossed.

We are once again a 2-car family. Last month we got Michele a new 2009 Buick Enclave. It is a REALLY nice car, even if she thinks it is an "old lady" car. She won't admit it, but she likes its looks a lot, but LOVES the interior and features. She's adjusting to the size of the thing and has only hit the curb twice. I think that's pretty good for someone who has only driven compact cars.

In keeping with the HUGE theme of autos, we traded her old car in on a 2005 Suburban for me this weekend. It's plain, but nice and clean and will suit me just fine. Gas mileage is not the greatest, but nearly as good as the Nissan Pathfinder I wrecked, and I don't plan on driving it much since I still intend on saving money with the bike. Plus, I just plain like riding the bike. Good thing is, I don't have to ride in the rain or wake Chele up early to take me to work anymore. I'm sure we both appreciate that.

Until next time...

Seven more days

Just so you know, this place isn't going to be ALL about the baby...

I'm really excited about the upcoming weekend. I get to see a Bears game with my good buddy Bob Kellner in Chicago this Sunday. We have had this scheduled since June or so and there was a possibility my Dad's surgery would happen the same (or nearly the same) weekend, but it's not for another two weeks. SO, I'm off to Milwaukee this Friday night. I figure it may be a while until I get to see another and I already have the ticket, so why not.

They are playing the Lions next weekend and hopefully they beat them again like a few weeks back. But, truth be told, the reason I'm going is to hang out with Bob. I think the last time we "hung out" was 15 years ago or so. It's not been the easiest making friends down here (I'm sure it's my lovely demeanor), so anytime I get to relive the glory days, I make the most of it.

I hate to leave Chele, but it's still early, so she will be fine. She is supposed to go out with her friend, Heather, but Heather is having foot trouble, so that may not happen. If nothing else, they can spend the three days I'm gone talking on the phone.

I will be heading to Indianapolis in November for Dad's surgery. I'm only staying a few days... Just make sure he's doing fine and then come back to the pregnant wife. I don't want to be gone long. She doesn't like the big house all to herself.

We will be having another doctor visit before I leave, though. I don't want to miss any of those. Once we go, I'll update all again. Perhaps we'll have more pictures!

Earl is Well

Well here it is, my blog. For those of you who are unaware, blog stands for weB LOG, basically just a collection of whatever the writer thinks he needs to put down in print on a (semi) regular basis. I've toyed with having a blog for sometime, though I never really had much to say I thought anyone would pay attention to. PLUS, I never really had a topic. That is, until now.

You see, Michele I are pregnant (well, actually SHE is, but I get to "be included") and things in our life are about to get crazy. Funny thing is, for some reason it still isn't real to me. Chele tried to get me to express my feelings today about it and the best I could muster was "confused and scared". You see, we did the whole sonogram thing today and it was really cool... Except it is still just a picture on a screen, or more accurately, flat panel TV. I'm an extremely "show me the money" kind of guy, so I'm sure it won't be very real to me until Earl comes out.

Yeah, that's what I'm calling him/her right now. I really wanted to call Sam Earl from the beginning, but got trumped on that one, so the baby will be Earl for awhile. I'm sure it may become Earline in another month (when you can see microscopic baby penises on a sonogram), but for now it's just Earl. Back to the sonogram...

We had the appointment today and were both apprehensive because Chele had been having a couple of hormone issues and we were not really sure Earl was truly THERE. So after the tech covered Chele's belly with frosty GOO, she did the test and, sure enough, there was Earl. He/she even squirmed a little and we saw the heart beat (all 167 beats per minute of it)!

So Mom and baby are fine and Dad's just trying to figure out how he's going to get everything ready in time. Things will work out, they always do...