Well, happy holidays everyone! Another year has flown by and it is time for the holiday letter from the Buckminster household!
First of all, we who chose to live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, earthquake capitol of the world, are thankful to have gone another year without the “BIG ONE” striking. I know the Lord is looking out for us here but Tom convinced me it was time we put together an earthquake preparedness kit just in case. Better to have a little extra insurance. With the new Republican Congress assembling in January, who knows what plagues might come upon us? Remember, He helps those that help themselves!
Second of all, and maybe this should have been first–we are so thankful for our ongoing health and happiness. Excepting, of course, our poor cat Buster, who was run over as Tom was backing down the driveway this October. That cat was always a little deaf. I know what you may be thinking, but it was an accident, honest to God. Just because Buster started peeing on the furniture this summer doesn’t mean Tom had it out for him. We buried the two halves of Buster in the backyard by the worm bin. He always did like to play in the worm bin.
This year has gone by so quickly! Tom is losing a little more hair every day, but I love the big lug and we were blessed to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary this year. I treated myself to a “mommy job” as a present to Tom and myself. I highly recommend it–you can find a good deal if you shop around. I haven’t looked so good in a bikini in years! I’ve already picked out some locales for our next cruise; Bahamas here we come! I also had a local art photographer take some tasteful shots of me that Tom has hanging in the living room. I don’t want to go on and on about it, but let’s just say life is a lot more exciting in the bedroom these days!
Our other pets made it through the year just fine. Our orange tabby Jasper has gained a little weight. I think he misses Buster. And our dachshund Archie is delightful as ever. His new electric shock collar seems to be doing the trick of keeping him out of my flower beds!
As for the neighborhood, I can’t say it’s done quite as well as we have. Two houses were foreclosed upon, the Kramer’s and the unfortunate Smithson’s house. You remember, of course, they were the ones with the son that was busted for having a meth lab in the tool shed behind the house. They only found out about it because he set himself and the shed on fire. Luckily, their house is across the street and a ways up from ours so we weren’t disturbed by any chemical smells.
On a brighter note, Tom’s father’s cancer is gone now that the doctor amputated his foot. He seems much happier and hops around just fine on his little prosthetic. But don’t let him catch you feeling sorry for him. No sir, he won’t have any of it. That is the true Buckminster spirit! We’re having him at our house for Christmas this year. His second wife, Carol, is going to be at her daughter’s house which suits me just fine since it’s hard to accommodate her non-wheat phase. Tom likes his bread and stuffing!
We were additionally blessed this year with Tom getting a big raise at work. He now makes more money than anyone else on his team! We aren’t supposed to know this, of course, but my friend Doris works in his finance department and gave me the scoop. I’m so proud of him! Despite his raise, I’ve been doing my part to put a little more money into our retirement. With advances in medicine, and the Lord’s blessing, we could easily be living past 100 and need to plan for it! I only let Tom buy one latte per day instead of two and I am getting my manicures and pedicures every five weeks instead of four. My, it is so easy to save money when you put your mind to it! Tom says I should write a book about how to save money. I think I’d call it, Don’t Buy This Book! HA HA HA
We continued our annual charity rituals this year. I went through all the cupboards, picking out all the canned food Tom doesn’t like and took that to our local food bank. I also gave all of Tom’s oldest golf shoes and clothes to the Boys and Girls club. It feels great to be so giving and I am sure it will do a lot of good!
Oh, goodness, how can I have gotten this far into the holiday letter without an update on our wonderful Jimmy? Well, big changes on that front! He told us this summer that he would now like to be called Jamie and is going through what is called “pre-op”, meaning HE is now a SHE! I think Tom is having a tough time with it because now Jamie doesn’t want to watch football anymore, but I always wished for a daughter, so I am embracing these changes as a good thing! God works in mysterious ways. Next time you see Jamie, you won’t even know her!
I can’t believe how fast this letter has flown by! Besides a cruise, we’ll be making it out to Idaho for sure this spring to see some of you. I hope your holidays are filled to the brim with good cheer and please don’t get us any gifts from Wal-Mart again. (We don’t have one nearby for me to return gifts to.)
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God Bless!
Sandy and Tom Buckminster
And Jamie, Jasper, Archie and Buster in Heaven
P.S. I had more than a few compliments on my cranberry surprise cheesecake last year, so I’ve included the recipe with this letter.
*Jennevieve Schlemmer is a native Washingtonian that has found Tacoma to be the perfect base of operations. She is multi-tasking fiber artist and sculptor that also dabbles in blogging, graphic novels, and writing. She is a fan of the Oxford Comma.