This year, ya'll got postcards sending you to this blog address so you could read our annual Christmas letter virtually instead of having me photocopy letters and put them into your Christmas card. And if you didn't get a postcard, it probably means I don't have your address or you live here in San Diego. (or I'm a loser and I forgot, so put something in the "pithy thoughts" section to tell me so).
Okay, maybe it's not that we're cheap. Maybe it was just because we're picky and Target had a crappity card selection this year that prompted me to say, wait a sec! I can make my own!
Either way, if you already read this blog, then you probably have no desire to read the text below, as you already have been keeping up with our (mostly) mundane lives throughout the year. And if you're new to the blog, welcome! Blogs are a fabulous way to 1) waste time and 2) enjoy a healthy dose of schadenfreude, one of my most favorite non-English words. For those undoctrinated, schadenfreude in German loosely means, "enjoying and/or taking pleasure in watching/reading/seeing something icky happen to other people." For a more astute definition, read HERE. I love this word, especialyl because there is no English language equivalent, but I certainly think it refers to a blog because you can read all about us and think, man, I am SO glad I'm not the Germonski's this week... like say, the week our van got stolen. Or the week I complained about getting no sleep because our lovely daughter was up every hour. See! Now you're hooked, right?
But back to the Christmas letter. As you may have seen from the postcard, but probably already knew from an email back in April, we have a daughter! Stella Ruth Gerlach made her presence known by breaking my water at 8am on April 16 at the dog park, starting contractions finally at 6pm, and popping out at 11:38pm, all 6lbs, 8oz of her.
And now we can't believe that 8 months have gone by. They say it goes quickly, and when we were in the thick of it we never thought it would get any easier, but then all of sudden, here we are.She helps Daddy with his motorcycle parts...
with the laundry...
she plays with Mommy and Scupper on the bed
and she's graduated to the "big girl tub" - the kitchen sink. A far cry now from her first bath tub, the Thanksgiving turkey roasting pan.
I know we don't have to tell many of you the myriad of ways children change your lives. I've learned to operate on 4 hours of sleep, Steve has learned to carry the baby and do many things - check email, pick up dog poop in the yard, throw a frisbee for Scupper, eat chips and salsa (although that is getting hard to do now that Stella wants to eat the bag. Yes, folks, the bag holding the chips. I think it's a crinkly-sound sort of thing).We have had a busy year, even though this was the year that we said we wouldn't be here. We were going to give San Diego 5 years, and we're going on year six. and many of the things that we reported last year are curiously familiar. such as...
No, the dissertation is not finished.
Yes, Steve is STILL at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Yes, he still has a love/hate affair with the job.
Yes, Scupper still eats anything and everything, and he has now added teethers and plush baby toys to his repertoire.
But there have been new excitements, such as the acquisition of aforementioned camping van that has taken us on 4 camping trips with the whole family. We want to do more, but now that Stella is more mobile and the weather is cooler up in the high desert, we have to come up with a sleeping/heating plan. Steve forwent racing at the Velodrome this season to be a dad - but come January 1, we're both back on our exercises of choice - Steve back to the bike, and me back to yoga.
We've been graced by wonderful visits from grandparents and friends, and we thank you for sharing the joy of our newest addition. Scupper might be a little jealous that he didn't receive such a reception when he joined the family, but he's doing well with Miss S. If anything, he does a little too good - as in licking her feet, her ears, her cheeks, her hands.... With the addition of solid food and now "finger foods" he has discovered the joy of sitting directly under her high chair, and sometimes when we don't catch him, lapping his tongue around the lip of the tray and seeing what particles he can snag. He also has discovered that once Stella is OUT of the high chair, he can nose around on the seat and find other discarded goodies. Ah, mushy carrots and broccoli never tasted so good.
We look forward to the new and exciting possibilities that the new decade may bring. As of today, I have an on-campus interview in late January at Drexel University in Philly for a tenure track job in their (tiny) theater department. It's not ideal, but baby, it's a job nod in this awful academic job market, so I am thankful I even got this far. Tonight I just found out that I got another one at a small college in Ohio. Ohio? Mmmm. We aren't too sure about that, but figure I should go anyway and check it out. The main teaching responsibility there (as opposed to theater history type stuff at Drexel) is teaching acting. Yes - acting. Eek. Not exactly my strongest suit (so I'm kinda surprised they called, but not complaining). Steve continues to apply to teaching job in technical theater departments across the country as well - and he almost had one last week. Almost. We were pretty crushed last night when we got the "no thank you email" after an on-campus interview, but optimistic me is hoping that the application for a job in Olympia, Washington might yield fruit. I think we could all do with a dose of fresh mountain air, and Scupper would LOVE to run all over the Olympic range. So we'll see - having both of us looking for University Teaching jobs is tough, but as always, I hope that something will work out. Does the phrase "spousal hire" still work in these times? ;)
And speaking of "these times" I'm purposefully leaving out any discussion of the world at large, not that we do not have any civic consciousness, but I think it's best to depoliticize our holiday letter, lest we offend anyone. That said, Steve is ready to go if you want to "get into it" on healthcare, the war, the Iranian protests, the President... just let us know.
Our best to everyone who is healing at this time - may 2010 bring energy and health; our brightest to everyone who is feeling a little low this year, may 2010 bring comfort and laughter; and our love to everyone who has supported us this year in our greatest challenge yet, may 2010 shine on you with all the hope that a new year can bring.
With love and hugs,
the Germonski's
