by Dear Family and Friends:
2017 was a filled with significant changes for the Moore Dynasty in Texas. As of September, Monica and I are now officially empty-nesters. We are now bound to our station in life by our furry children as much as anything else now – a pair of country dogs who don’t travel or know how to behave – and there’s no longer anyone to take care of them if we want to leave home for the weekend!
Using the Facebook timeline as a guide to the year, let’s step back 11.5 months and work our way forward. As I scanned through it, it seemed that 2017 was a bit of a slow news year for us; as a result I fear for the interest level of this year’s letter!
Right after New Year’s, things started with a bang as Dave and I spent a solid day under the house fixing a busted septic pipe. That certainly set the tone for the year!
One highlight of January was going to see the Ahn Trio – https://www.ted.com/talks/ahn_trio_a_modern_take_on_piano_violin_cello – in College Station. These gals play the old-school instruments without any of the screechy drudgery of classical music and we enjoyed the show.
In February, we headed to Galveston for the TAMU System technology summit. For the time of year, it was pretty darn nice while we were there, to the point that I took some jogs on the sunny beach and found it pretty warm for mid-winter. That experience led us to thinking about retiring there, potentially, as I enjoy being near the ocean.
We took in a couple of Aggie basketball games in February and snagged this pic at one of them:
In March we spent part of Spring Break in Fort Worth in an AirBnB near the museum district. We saw our first movie in a theater with full food-and-beverage service – amazing idea! – and took in the art museums – https://mooredynasty.net/index.php/2017/03/amon-carter-museum-2/ – and the Japanese gardens:
I continued my hobby of playing disc golf whenever possible, including a course on the Fort Worth trip, but most often at Research Park in College Station. Here’s an April snap from a personal best round with Dave and Tuck dog:
We spent Easter with Monica’s family and got a pic of the Texas Moores, including Jake, Amberly, and David:
In May, I turned 51 to a Hawaiian theme:
We celebrated with a weekend trip to Houston where we hit up a couple of more museums and checked in with an old friend. Here I am there:
Also in May, Monica worked her last day at Iola ISD and we cleared out her classroom for the last time. This was bittersweet for her, but new challenges awaited and she kept getting a paycheck, thanks to the 9-over-12 payroll option teachers use to fool themselves into thinking they’re getting paid in the summer!
Another bit of May excitement came when we found Dagny outside, lying in the dirt, twitching and unable to stand up. She was trembling and drooling badly, barely able breathe or even blink. After fussing over her she shook it off and was walking around. Snake bite? Seizure? Unknown.
In June, Jake was sworn in as a police officer and started his on-the-job training, a process has multiple stages and lasts more than five months. About this time he and Amberly moved to a larger apartment and brought home a tiny little puppy!
Later in June, Monica, Dave, and I went to George for Mitch and BethAnne’s baby shower in Georgia before they headed off to North Carolina for his new posting:
In July Monica started a new job with the Texas Engineering Extension Service in the Assessment department at the fire school. It’s an interesting job in a nationally-recognized program. This has been an exciting change for her and brought some new challenges into her working life.
In August, my Grandma Marilyn passed away at 90 years of age. This is the end of an era for me as she was my last surviving grandparent. Quite an achievement for a lady who started having heart problems in her late 60s!
Hurricane Harvey pounded Houston later that month but we were largely unaffected, thank God. I spent the night on Jake’s couch after flying back from the funeral, but that was the worst of it for us. We donated a bed and quite a lot of teen-boy clothing afterward, which helped us and, we hope, the recipients.
Starting in September, it was “on like Donkey Kong”, as a work buddy of mine likes to say. 50 hour weeks became the new normal. Then 60. Then more. I’d taken an AI class in the spring and one in Information Security in the summer but had no time for school in the fall.
Still, we took a September weekend off to celebrate our 28th anniversary at the Texas Reds festival in Bryan:
We also snuck in an overnighter to see the Austin Moores when Andy and Vera were in town:
In October I went to Workday Rising, a software convention, in Chicago with some work peeps – https://mooredynasty.net/index.php/2017/11/chicago-rising/ – and afterward flew to Fayetteville, NC, to welcome Oren Moore into the world:
It’s true, we are officially grandparents now! https://mooredynasty.net/index.php/2017/10/north-carolina-trip/.
November and December whizzed by in a blur of 12-hour+ days at work. One highlight was the unusual snowfall that fell just before Monica’s birthday:
Another was Mitch coming to Fort Hood for some training. We got in a bit of disc golf on the weekends and he ran the B/CS half marathon with me as well.
And that brings us up-to-date. Everyone here is healthy and ready for Christmas, except for that last bit of shopping that, inevitably, has to be done amongst the ravening hordes this very day.
So, signing off for another year. May God bless you, each and every one!
Love,
Marc and Monica Moore
