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