by "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:10-12
| Dear Friends and Family:
2006 was another wild and crazy year for the Texas Moores. We moved, in May, from our rental to our property in Iola. Since then it seems like we’ve been busy ever since, setting up shop, building fences and sheds, etc. It’s been much more work and sweat than moving away from Spring last year. But somehow it seems different because we’re making a home again. It was strange renting; it’s anuntethered feeling that I didn’t enjoy much, except when the heating unit went south for the winter and I didn’t have to pay the repairman. Home-schooling, another of last year’s experiments, proved to be a dreadful failure in that everyone except me thought it was for the birds! The most obvious result of experience is that the boys are once again attending public schools, this time at Iola ISD. During the spring they played Little League baseball with the Iola teams and made a few friends before starting school with them in August. So far they are very happy there and literally quake in their boots at the very suggestion of being brought home again for their education. Frightening as that may be to them, it’s also become a very unlikely possibility as there is no longer a teacher at home looking for students! Monica was just offered and accepted a position teaching 2nd grade at Iola Elementary last week, taking over for a retiring teacher. She’d been subbing there since August and impressed everyone in a short time. I know she’s going to do great – she’s been waiting a long time for this year and her kids are going to reap some real benefits by having her as their teacher. Go, Monica! During the fall Mitch and Jake played in the Jr. High band, which at Iola means they get to play with the high schoolers and go to all of the varsity football games. As far as I know (!?) they handled their first few tastes of freedom well. I guess I’m getting old. The truth is that I’d forgotten that 7th grade is when boys and girls start pairing up. The twins both surprised me by asking girls to the first dance of the year. And so it began… The twins participated in some UIL academic competitions earlier in the year with Mitch winning 1st place in the Impromptu Speaking contest and Jake getting 2nd in Listening Skills. They’re also playing basketball now that football is over (thankfully they didn’t go out for that team – I’ve invested way too much in them for that game to ruin their little bodies now). Unfortunately they’re not getting much court time yet as it’s a combined 7th and 8th grade team. David is playing basketball as well and is practicing for his leagues now. He’ll be playing for two different teams at the same time. Hopefully the schedules won’t conflict too much. Even if they do, the extra practices will be good for him. He’s been doing well at school and seemingly has mastered, after some struggling, the idea that working hard at school means little or no homework. He also requested that I mention his special need to receive a dirt bike under the Christmas tree this year… As for me, I continue to work at the Texas A&M University System. It is a very good job that I *usually* appreciate having. The payroll program whose development I lead is used by 5000 people week in and week out. That’s a start but we hope to triple that this year – pretty exciting. In my spare time I’ve been spending a bit of time on this web site, both as a hobby and as a learning tool. I’m also about to return to the never-ending project of Recognition, my unfinished-but-not-for-much-longer novel. Needless to say there are also a lot of projects around the Moore Dynasty ranchito keep me busy. So, in summary, 2006 was a very good year for all of us, one that made real changes in all of us. Although I never really lived inPleasant Lake per se, Iola reminds me of that little town in more ways than one. Between the school and the church we’ve made more than a few new friends already. I think that we’re still finding out who we are here and how we fit in. One thing I think we all agree on is that we like it a lot more than subdivision life. Yech! 🙂 Monica and I are counting our blessings (almost) every day. There are so many of them that sometimes it doesn’t seem fair for us to be so happy. I hope your own families and loved ones have done as well this year and that the year ahead will be just as prosperous and kind to you as this year has been to us. With Love, |
|
