Hello everyone!  Sit down, count to 10 slowly, knock back your good Buddy Wiser, do whatever it takes to brace yourselves for yet another Moore’s Christmas Letter!!

The speed with which this year flew by is amazing.  One of my near ascendants once said that the pace of the years accelerates in proportion to one’s age.  The fact that I cannot recall who uttered those words seems to collaborate it.

Reaching back through the cobwebs to the beginning of this year:

• Monica renounced Accounting and is pursuing an Education degree, as well as the Holy Grail of “Summers Off”;
• I turned down some employment opps at a couple of dot-coms to stay with Akili.  Hindsight says “dubious judgment” – Akili closed down in Houston in May.  Thus freed, I turned down a couple of consulting firms to write software out of the “Home Office” for 460 Technologies, another startup teetering “On the Edge”;
• Mitch and Jake exhibited a dramatic increase in their testosterone output during spring Soccer season, displaying a passion for competition I didn’t know existed in their heretofore gentlemanly demeanors;
• They also put the wraps on 1^st Grade, bringing home A’s and a few stray B’s that had gotten lost somehow.  I wired the upstairs for a home network and immediately they each began to pester me about having a PC in their own room;
• David began the summer as a mere toddler clutching at the edge of the swimming pool, watching the fun from afar.  A month of swimming lessons changed that, however, and he was swimming well by Labor Day.

Fall, the season of change in many places but not so much in Houston, brought the usual not much cooler weather, a new school year, an end to the casual pace of summer, and more highlights:

• Monica and I celebrated our 12^th Anniversary with a nice overnight trip to sunny Galveston.  I hope she’s as happy with our life as I am!  We also took in a Texas A&M football game with the Twins in College Station;
• Mitchell played his 2^nd season of Roller Hockey, improving greatly from his Rookie season and scoring goals in several games, including one mind-blowing weave through the defense that he concluded successfully with a shot past the dumbfounded goalie to the cheers of his proud parents;
• Monica returned to school carrying a load of 9 hours.  Both student and husband are expecting excellent marks!
• Mitch and Jake began 2^nd grade, once again in the same class (upon the insistence of their parents and over the intellectual objections of the Principal) and joined the Chess Club in which they play for an hour each Monday.  Some of the rules have been taught somewhat casually, but the twins are getting more and more fun to have around;
• David also returned for his 2^nd year of Preschool at Klein Oak High.  He’s enthusiastic about going this year, as opposed to last:  “Dave, get ready to go to school.”  “But Daddy, I don’t want to go (tears) !”  He has a new friend this year:  Katie.  He says if a Lion were chasing Mommy and Katie that he’d save Katie first!  Need I say more?
• Jacob is in the middle of another season of Basketball.  There was no 7 year old team, so he’s playing on the 8 & 9 year old team and is doing well, scoring baskets in several games.  The team lacked a coach, so I am handling that as best I can.  Lesson learned:  not all kids have been heeled to discipline as ours have been;
• I now wake up daily to see if we’ve made a sale of the 460 Sales Compensation application or if I’m out of a job.  It’s a “Competitive Time” in the Houston job market with the pending merger of Compaq and the implosion of the Ponzi Scheme called Enron, let’s just say that.

On that note, we’re cutting back on Christmas expenses this year in light of my employment outlook, so we’ll be sending a lot more cards and a lot fewer gifts around the country this year!  Not what George W would have us do, but that’s the best thing for our family unit.  So, please, feel free to leave us off of your gift list as well.

In closing, those are some of the highlights of our year.  Little things, perhaps, compared to the terrorist-caused turmoil around the country, but important to us.  I, for one, will remember the events of September 11^th for a lifetime.  Where I was.  The video footage.  About those events, what more can be said?  We pray the New Year treats you all well.

 

 

Marc, Monica, Mitch, Jake, and “Davey Crockett” Moore