Happy New Year!

We now return you to our regularly scheduled posting. I was going to post earlier about Tom's career change before the whole stolen-credit-card-makes-us-temporarily-destitute thing happened. Now then - Tom has decided that he does not want to be a steamfitter and could not picture himself doing what he has been doing for the next 40 years or so. He said he knew he should have done this about two years ago, but he decided that he wants to go to college. He said he is afraid that it's kind of now or never - and we agree with him. All too soon he will be 20, and then the years go by quickly. When he was looking into colleges a couple of years ago he was interested in an arts college, and so now has found one that he wants to attend. He did all the necessary paperwork already for the Art Institute of Washington, which is actually located in Arlington, Virginia........! We have an appointment to go this Saturday to tour the campus and meet with the admissions advisor. He is trying to get housing on-campus, but we'll have to see how that works out. There are three apartment buildings nearby where the college houses students but they are VERY expensive - $2200 a month. The college puts four students in each apartment and the rent is split, but that's still a lot. He intends to major in graphic design. We'll see what all the options are this Saturday. Looking into the apartments available to the students brought back memories of visiting Grandma at Crystal Towers, because the student apartments are in Crystal City. I saw a web site with pictures of inside and outside of Crystal Towers and it sure brought back memories of her apartment. A couple of years ago Tom was looking at the Art Institute's campus in Canada, but I'm glad he decided to stick closer to home!

The bank situation is just about taken care of now. All of the money except for one charge has been returned to the account. Whew!

We had a very nice time at Mike and Linda's house. It was great to see everyone. All the children are growing up SO FAST!

I made a few New Year's resolutions this year, and along with sharing them, I would like to issue a challenge to any family members and friends who read this. My first resolution was what it always is - to lose weight! The second was to stop being so self-conscious about everything and stop worrying about what others will think of me. The third was to try to remember that each day is a gift, and live accordingly. Now for the challenge I mentioned. Frankly, I bore myself and would like to read about YOUR lives. Starting a blog is easy, free, fun and actually kind of therapeutic. I would like to keep up with what my family members and friends (that means you, Anita!) are up to. Ten minutes a couple of times a week is all it would take. Please?! Anyone?! Just think - you could have a forum to post all your kids' pictures and brag about them! Okay, I think I've gotten the point across.

Happy New Year! Kind of late, but the sentiment is genuine nonetheless.