Merry
Christmas and Happy Holidays
It was a
very good year for the Neergaard
family. Nothing much
happened. There were no household
moves, no disruptions in vital statistics, at least not within the
scope of our
family
(which mercifully excludes wars, elections and giddy media frenzies).
There were
however four monumental
birthdays: Lois
turned 70, and our youngest three all turned 40.
(It
may occur to you that some of the
pictures below, which originated on birthday cards, aren't
actually unretouched
photographs.
WellÉ
if Dan Rather can do it, why can't I?)
|
Dick & Lois's report: Lois this
year attained that comfortable age at which one can think what one
likes, say what one thinks, and do what one damned well pleases. So nothing new for her there.
Her birthday occurred in January while we were in Hilton
Head, occasioning a surprise party that turned out to be such fun that
the reason for having it was made almost worthwhile.
As to our younger birthday-kids, since it's
indelicate to mention a lady's age, I won't say who-all
it was that turned 40, but
here's a hint: one of them was our
most absolutely favorite daughter-in-law. Not much in
the way of trips this year for Lois and me (one of the things Lois
damned well doesn't do anymore is fly).
But we can drive to Hilton
Head, and indeed we reside there for most of the winter, playing (at)
tennis, and enjoying the balmy breezes in the palms amongst a truly
delightful lot of similarly snowbirding friends, our stay punctuated
only by a return to Cincinnati for the Christmas gatherings of family
and friends. All the kids
and grandkids, minus the Brussels contingent but plus our Dutch
grand-dog, joined us in Hilton Head for Thanksgiving Week.
And everyone will be home (Cincinnati)
for Christmas – bless them. At last I'll finally be able to get that family
photo! |
Yeah, right! (double positive yielding a negative – a grammatical mirror of ÒAin't
no wayÓ)
DickÉ..Lois With a little help from Bjorn Borg and Anna
Kornikova |
|
The van der Werff's report: (Ed.:
They have happily made the transition from the Netherlands
to Evansville Indiana, and have become quite comfortable with the
down-to-earth life there.) The van der
Werff's in Evansville are now an eight-member family:
four humans, two dogs, a cat and a fish.
The fish (David) was won by Nick at the local culinary
festival (aka the Brain-Sandwich Fair in honor of the exotic foods
dished up). We must report that all of
eight of us are extremely successful in our endeavors.
David gets fed every morning (by Nick).
The cat (Billie) skillfully avoids interaction with the
other non-humans (ie the dogs, and, fortunately, David).
The junior dog, six-month-old Kebo (brand undetermined)
has dug a hole in the yard halfway to China. The
senior dog, one-year-old Lab (Holly), while in Hilton Head, made
frequent and joyful plunges into the surf in an evident attempt to swim
back to Holland. (Note the jazzy euphony
of the pets' names: Billie, Holly, Da[vid]). Human #4,
six-year old Nick, has a really cute girlfriend and likes American
football: "You get to throw a ball
then play knock people over!". Human #3,
eight-year old Willem, regularly "gets a piece of it"
when playing baseball... and
the piano. Human
#2, the 39-about-to-be-40 year old Jan Willem, |
Sue
Nicky Willem
With a little help from an anonymous artist of the Italian Renaissance |
Jan Willem helped a bit too |
having global
responsibility for making plastic sheet and film for GE, has achieved
Platinum
Elite status on Northwest Airlines.
Human #1, our 32-year-old-plus-maybe-a-little,
newly-a-soccer-mom, Sue,
is very busy managing pets, rearing her little humans and nurturing her
grown-up one. All of whom
enthusiastically laud her as being hugely successful as
the social director of the family.
|
Arthur's report: I've
always been a dog-fancier but am now up to 3 cats – no dogs. This time last year I adopted Oliver, a stray
who seduced me while I was out running. Oliver
needed a companion, so I went to a shelter and adopted Bruno. Within days of getting Bruno, a kitten running
loose in the neighborhood suggested to me that she be rescued – told me
her name was Sophia. That's three. I insist I'm now done. Luckily, all 3 cats are black, so as long as I
wear dark clothes, you can't tell. I've
gotten ever more involved in my marksmanship hobby.
My AR-15 rifle and I entered the national championships -
1,300 shooters - at Camp Perry, Ohio in August. Given
that this was my first such competition, I'm rather proud of
finishing in the top 50%. My
project at work of the last 2 years has at last been launched into the
market: the "scent player", Febreze. My role was in the
design of its packaging technology. The
device contains five different perfumes, and emits them sequentially,
so that the nose can dance with delight to a constantly evolving
symphony of scents, bringing
olfactory joy to millions. |
Arthur
With a little help from the Frontier Press |
|
Richard and Ishraq's
report: - Lila started soccer and
scored a goal. - Samer continued soccer and
did not. - Ishraq again produced her splendid
Dance Show at the International School of Brussels - Business continues to be great (General Manager,
Reckitt-Benckiser, Belgium) - Did a lot of track days (weekend race-car
whizzabouts on European race tracks). - Almost bought a villa on the
Red Sea in Egypt... three times. Still
trying. - While in Cincinnati for Peter's birthday, filmed Arthur being Dirty Harry. (At the shooting range, his girl-friend's pistol went off accidentally – four in-out holes in her coat. No injuries). -
Got to meet Warren Buffet, so I bought some of his shares, on which so far I have
only lost, both in price and in exchange rate. - Whole family started
rollerblading this summer. |
Ishraq had
a big birthday – and just look what she's achieved to date --->
With a little help (a-hem) from Richard |
Ishraq Lila Samer
É.. and
from Renoir |
|
Peter
With a little help from Pete
Sampras |
Peter's report: -
Travel schedule (as promised by IBM) reduced from 50% to... well,
50% -
Took up tennis again, playing a couple of times a week (when in town) - playing with 14-year-old kid. Regionally ranked. (Humiliating) - playing with tennis-chick - playing with
tennis-coach-lady -
Took up serious rollerblading (15 - 25 mile trips) a few times a week - met rollerblading-chick - started dating
rollerblading-chick -
Steven turned 4 and is still "da man" -
Didn't meet Warren Buffett, so didn't buy his stock and lose money - instead
I got myself a Turning-40-And-Divorced-mobile: Porsche
Boxster. - prompting Richard to sell his (older) Boxter and upgrade to a 911 GT3 - Tenth anniversary (of my 30th
birthday). Richard flew over from Brussels
for the week, created a terrific this-is-your-life video with music and
intriguing effects [CLICK to view]. Splendid
party. "Life begins at 40" -
could well be true! |
Steven
A BIG smile, with a little help from Daddy,
who's telling a secret! |
Our most cordial
Season's Greetings to you, from all the Neergaard
family.