December 13, 1997

Dear Families:

Hello, my name is Debee (pronounced just like Debby) and I'm Bob's girlfriend. Bob doesn't get too excited about writing, but because I love writing, I decided it would be fun to do a Christmas letter this year.

Bob and I met almost two years ago when he was hired at the company where I work. He's now been promoted to being the software engineering manager and I do technical support. We became friends immediately because we liked to do the same things: I'm a ham radio operator and he loves to collect and restore old radios. We still have fun going to old radio flea markets together. And I'm the one who has to plaintively beg, "But honey, can't we put up just one more antenna?"

I also love cooking, gardening, knitting and going on long walks with Glade, my five-year-old Golden Retriever. I dabble at writing too and I am kind of a computer geek and have been working in computer-related jobs for about fifteen years. I am my friends' and family's computer expert. One of the great things about being with Bob is that he knows more about computer stuff than I do, so at last, I too, have someone to go to for help.

Bob is one of the most affectionate, gentle and empathic people I have ever known; and he's competent and organized too. I feel tremendously lucky to have discovered him.

This year has been busy for both of us. The job has Bob working some interesting hours, he starts every day at 8 A.M. and his workday ends at 6 P.M. It is called the nine-eighty plan because people work nine hours a day for an eighty-hour period and it results in his getting every other Friday off. So even though it seems like there is hardly enough time during the week to get anything done, at least he gets a three-day weekend on a regular basis.

Both of us have to keep our skills up, an unfortunate side effect of working in fast-paced Silicon Valley, so we try to take an evening class every semester. I appreciate Bob's intelligence and companionship and that I don't have to study on my own anymore.

I own a home which I am in the process of trying to sell. The good news is that it is a quarter of an acre on a creek, right in the middle of downtown. The bad news is that it is a tiny little fall-apart house and I want to sell it before the termites eat it all up!

My friends always report on interesting travels and adventures in their Christmas letters -- and compared to them, I think Bob and I have a pretty uneventful life. The one big trip we are taking this year happens next week when we travel to Indianapolis to visit his parents.

Right now we are having typical California weather, which for us is frigid. It rained a lot the first part of December and now the nighttime low temperatures have finally begun to drop down in to the high thirties. Because we're a Mediterranean climate, we don't have any summer rains at all. The high humidity and often constant rain in the wintertime can be depressingly gloomy for people who aren't used to it and surprisingly cold, because the dampness in the air makes people feel much colder than you'd guess by the temperature. Even so, roses here are still blooming and you see people using ornamental cabbage as both a vegetable and a yard decoration. This is the time of year I plant Arugula (my favorite green) because our winters don't get cold enough to damage it. This is also the time of year that Leptospermum, the Christmas tea tree, begins to bloom.

Well, it is late in the evening, and I've run out of things to write about, so I will put this letter, and myself to bed. Happy Christmas to everyone!