Merry Christmas, everyone. 2010 was a hell of a year.
The best news of the year was Monstro's graduation from his PhD program at UMass-Amherst. It was a very long and exhausting road and we are so proud of him. He looked resplendent in his doctoral robes and the tam we had to special-order to accommodate his head size. We were thrilled to share the day with our comrades in arms, Dr. Emily and her wife Nick. We were not so thrilled when they moved away at the end of the summer; it's hard to lose friends to a crappy economy.
After receiving no interviews all year, Monstro received one 11th-hour interview and was hired immediately as the Visiting Professor of Writing and American Studies at a kinda-local liberal-arts college. He loves his job but it's only for a year and even though they have an opening and EVERYBODY loves him, they will not offer him the job because they already have two “Americanists” on staff. We have yet to hear any calls for the 2011 job season, even though he's applied for at least 80 positions across the nation.
In the interest of shaving a bit of time off of his commute, the family moved to a home in a nearby agrarian community and it's so much better than Northampton, they wonder why they didn't move three years ago. Their backyard is now so big, Lex calls it “the meadow.” At night, instead of hearing Harley-Davidsons, they can listen to the house settle and the fridge kick on. The move also garnered them a new roommate (see below).
Motormouth's career had its ups and downs this year. She said goodbye to two long-term clients because, ultimately, they weren't willing to pay what her 15 years of marketing/pr experience and results are worth. In the early summer, she took a position as the campaign manager for a judge in southern California –the last request of her deceased buddy, Kyle– and it taught her that yes, Virginia, southern California is indeed a cesspool of censorship, dirty journalism, and cowardly editors. More happily, she recently picked up a new client in her new hometown and the press release she wrote for them resulted in a TV-news interview that they'll be shooting tomorrow, for the best-rated news broadcast in the Springfield area. She also continues to partner with the amazing Jay S. for public-relations work.
It's just as well that Motormouth hasn't been so busy, work-wise, because her mom moved in with the family in September and that has kept everyone pretty busy. Her MFM (My Favorite Mother) had the first of two parts of brain surgery this Monday and goes in again next Monday for part two. If everything goes according to plan, the surgeries will eradicate her tremors, which are the #1 symptom of MFM's Parkinson's Disease. We'll know more in January when they switch on the device.
Lex loves his five-day-a-week preschool and we are delighted with it, too. He has proven himself the class star in anything pertaining to music, and he's also enjoying the children's art-and-music program at our church every Sunday. He loves playing with Mommy's musical instruments and his PaperJamz guitar. BK turned two this year, is attending a home-based daycare two-days/week, and is totally in love with everything about it. He recently learned how to count to 15 and he is the light of our world.
That's it. Merry Christmas and please pray for MFM's health, Monstro's job opportunities, and restful rest for us all.