Christmas 2004
Merry Christmas and Happy
Holidays to One and All! Welcome to our
annual Christmas missive. I’m sure it
won’t be a surprise that we have had a busy year once again.
Everyone always wants to know about the vacations. We had several this year, including 2 big ones. The first was 2 weeks to New
England in late June and early July. We drove, stopping to see national parks and
friends in Syracuse along
the way. Then on to Bar
Harbor and Acadia National
Park, where we stayed in B-and-Bs and
did a lot of hiking and exploring, it was a great time. The next big one was a week in Canada in
November, with 2 days in Winnipeg and 4
days in Churchill watching polar bears at Hudson
Bay. We also
spent long weekends in Florida, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Chicago. The weekend in Chicago was very
special; we had tickets to a concert by “The Lt. Dan Band”, led by Gary
Sinise. We were very lucky to finally
get a picture of Gary with
Jerry – and they really do look alike!
In late December we are all set for San
Antonio, Texas to see Ohio State play in
the Alamo Bowl, and the next big trip is 2 weeks in Australia set for
late March, 2005 with Jerry’s parents.
We are really looking forward to that; we have been trying to get there
for years, and since Jerry’s brother Bryan will be graduating from medical
school there later in 2005, this is a perfect time.
Actor Gary Sinise with Jerry
Jerry is still with IBM, and is currently commuting to Buffalo, NY every
week to a new client site. He continues
work on his MBA, and is just over half-way done, ending in December 2005 (he
can’t wait until it is over, it is a lot of work, but he continues to do very
well). He does take some time to have
some fun. He trained all last winter and
spring indoors and out, and successfully completed the TOSRV (Tour of the Scioto River Valley), a
2-day, 200-mile bicycle ride from Columbus to Portsmouth, Ohio and
back. Nancy drove
the “sag wagon”, which means that she drove from rest stop to rest stop to see
Jerry.
Nancy worked
at Key Bank until September 3rd, and then resigned to take a 6-month
“self-directed” sabbatical. She is busy
working on the house (painting the dining room and installing a chair rail,
painting the living room and family room, major cleaning and yard work) and
studying for her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, as well
as determining what her next career step will be. She has been working with a personal trainer
at the gym, which has helped her get in better physical shape. She also took a Stained Glass class and
completed a large leaded glass panel, and hopes to continue working on more
projects. She is amazed at how much time
it takes to get things done, and wonders how it ever all got done before while
working full-time!
We have continued our volunteer activities, spending one day a month at
the Canal Visitor Center in Cuyahoga Valley National
Park.
We also volunteered at a water stop for the Towpath Marathon in October,
and at the park’s electronics recycling effort.
Nancy serves
as an “elf” on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway’s “Polar Express”. On board the train, the “elves” read “The
Polar Express” book and serve hot chocolate and cookies. After a visit to the “North Pole”, Santa
comes on board the train to visit each child, and the elves lead Christmas
Carols. With the movie coming out this
year, it has proven to be a very popular trip.
In addition, Jerry was just re-elected for another term as a board
member of our Home Owner’s Association. Nancy also
continues as Secretary for the Cleveland Ohio State Alumni Club, and Jerry
serves on the Board. We also
participated in the Twin’s Days 5K Run/Walk, Jerry ran and Nancy walked
the course.
On a musical note, Jerry participated in the Ohio State Marching Band’s
Alumni reunion on September 4th, and then on September 5th,
we were thrilled to be able to participate with the KeyBank Choir and sing the
National Anthem before a Cleveland Indians Baseball game. Jerry participated in a pep band that played
for a Cleveland Baron’s Ice Hockey game.
We also have season tickets to the Broadway series at the Cleveland
Playhouse, and have seen some great shows – “Urinetown”, “Dame Edna”, “Oliver”,
“On The Record” and “Big River”.
Snickers and Brutus continue to
be our faithful furry friends. Snickers
gave us a little health scare earlier in the year, with a thyroid
condition. However, with radiation
treatment, she is now just fine, and has even gotten a little too fat from
being spoiled with treats. Brutus still
tips the scales at 20 pounds; he is on a “Catkins” diet and still does not lose
weight!
We continue in good health, and
as always give an open invitation to one and all to visit – just let us know
when you are going to be in Northeast Ohio and we
would love to see you!
Nancy and Jerry Canterbury