November 11, 2003

Dear friends and family,

It is one of those California winter evenings: cold, dark and raining. It seems like only a few days ago with the same wet depressing November weather that I sat at my computer to write the last Christmas letter.

In February, I'll celebrate my 2nd anniversary working at De Anza college. As an Alternate Media specialist, I prepare textbooks for students who have difficulty reading standard print. Though I sometimes produce large print or Braille, more often I scan textbooks in to the computer and convert them to a format that helps learning disabled people with their studies. The job can be demanding at times, with too many deadlines and too much work to complete. De Anza is California's largest community college, with 36,000 students; around five hundred have some sort of print impairment. But other parts of the year are very calm where the demand for my services is low.

Boston is in the second year of his career as a guide dog. He is a truly joyous animal, perpetually wagging and happiest when he is snuggled up close to me. He knows every doggy game known to man which makes him so fun to play with. He can tug, enjoys hide-and-seek, happily fetches thrown toys and loves gnawing bones in your lap! He has learn to ignore some of the squirrels on campus when he is guiding. Compared to my previous working dogs, Boston tends to be a bit less responsible, but this means he's also not stressed out when he makes a mistake. He has lessons to teach us all about taking each day as it comes and leaving the past behind.

Glade, the retired guide is now in the middle of her twelfth year. She's still healthy with a touch of arthritis and cataract-diminished vision. She has trouble getting up and getting moving and her favorite command is "Go to Bed"! But like many modern seniors, she has a busy social schedule which includes working two days each week as a therapy dog for our vet.

Bob will also celebrate two years of being self-employed. He's had several interesting contracts and now actively sells working replica computers in his Spare Time Gizmos Internet store. Buyers purchase the product as a kit and build it themselves. Bob has always loved kit-building and now he's a kit designer. He first creates the gizmo, drawing schematics and building prototypes. Eventually, we're bagging up electronic parts and posting prices online.  In October, we exhibited and made several sales at our first trade show, the Vintage computer fair. It was exciting to have the computers that Bob designed on display and I got to be a booth babe. Check out our company website, www.SpareTimeGizmos.com, for a picture or two from the show!

This August, I had the whole month off, and we had great plans to organize closets, clean from top to bottom and perform many home improvements. We got one ceiling fan installed, and one closet straightened up and spent a lot of the month just lazing around. I felt guilty about it at first, but then realized that extending the work ethic in to vacation time can be sometimes counter-productive. Bob's business can make his work days long, and I'm back to taking night classes to keep my skills up-to-date, so I don't think we'll ever be accused of relaxing too much!

We haven't done as much traveling this year. In April, for my birthday though, Bob took me on a surprise trip. He told me we'd be going somewhere; to pack for three days and we just got in the car! I ended up at one of my favorite places, a vast Braille library that's housed across the street from the state capitol. I spent the entire day there browsing through the stacks, a vary rare pleasure for me. It was such a cool surprise!

In July we drove to Flagstaff, Arizona, to attend a ham convention and experience the unusually intense monsoon rains of this desert region near the Grand Canyon. And in a few weeks we ride Amtrak again. Our train to Chicago will follow the Canadian border and we'll be staying with Bob's parents for the Christmas holiday. Our return trip will wind through the southwest closer to the Mexican border. We're looking forward to some great scenery and a relaxing ride. We felt we had to get this trip in soon, as Amtrak has been canceling so many routes due to the economy. Eventually, train travel will probably become a thing of the past.

We continue to enjoy all of our regular activities with our ham radio friends. Our health is good and I am benefiting from a college program that actually gives staff a raise if they work out in the campus gym. The gym, complete with a personal trainer is free, so I've been learning lots of new exercises and using a variety of strength-training equipment.

Well it's still pouring rain, and I wonder if the 2004 Christmas letter will also be composed on a dark and stormy night. Until then, remember to do something each day for yourself, your health, and someone you love.

Debee