Christmas 1999...
Although we didn’t get any responses, we hope everyone enjoyed the souvenir 14k Gold Christmas letters we sent out last year. This year we’ll stick with paper…
The Noonan-Millers blew into the new year with one simple resolution – work half as many hours as we do and still keep our jobs. That of course didn’t go over too well with our bosses, so we’re still working on it. But we did want to make an effort to not work quite the insane schedules we had in the past and to spend more free time together.
So when Corina, the Cleaning Lady, left her card at our door, we jumped at the chance. Every two weeks she wisks through our house vacuuming everything in sight, rearranging furniture, doing laundry, hiding pots and pans in drawers we never knew existed, and generally keeping the house spic and span and smelling lemony fresh. She calls our dog “Chico” instead of Shiko, but that’s OK because we write her checks to someone named Johanna Elvira instead of Corinna. Go figure. Corinna was complimented during the summer months by Raul Chavez, the Studly Lawn Guy with No Shirt, handpicked by Michelle from a cadre of neighborhood lawn suitors. She claims his mowing skills were exceptional.
If the year were to be summed up in one word it would be – TRAVEL. We did quite a bit of it, mostly for pleasure fortunately. The annual Eric ‘n Andy Ski Trip went to Whistler this year with Percy, Laura, and Cindy in tow. We also attended the annual Charleston Bridge Run in April with the usual cast of characters. Michelle spent July 4th weekend in Montana with her sister Suzanne visiting the Noonan family relatives. The two entered into the state female lumberjacking championship but narrowly lost out to One Eyed Bertha and sister Mandy in the stump toss.
The Windjammer Cruise to the French West Indies in May was a smashing success. We had a group of 16 out of about 90 total passengers on the Polynesia, a 250’ schooner built in the 1930s. From Captain Neil’s bawdy jokes in the morning to sleeping on the top deck under the stars at night, it was all a blast. We’re doing it again this May, except this time it’s the Grenadine Islands and the ship is a tiny bit smaller ~ 60 passengers (see details below).
The summer was hot. We stayed inside an air conditioned movie theater and watched Star Wars Phantom Menace 214 times. Please note that later in July, Eric did NOT get paid to go to Woodstock ‘99 as a bus tour group leader, did not spend three days camping with 250,000 very dirty people, and would not have had any fun if he had, so don’t believe any of those rumors. Any likenesses of him caught on film are purely coincidental.
Fall travel included a business trip to Madrid, Spain for Eric and a trip to Charlottesville, VA for Dr. VanMeter & Annabee’s wedding.
We’re ending the year with one last trip. On December 27, Eric and Michelle and 12 others converge on the medieval town of Bruges, Belgium to celebrate the end of the Millenium. Why you ask? Well Eric figured both computers in the town were bound to be Y2K compliant and he also had a great time there 10 years ago on the infamous European backpack trip. And if the flight systems break down and we can’t leave, just think…we’ll be stuck in a country best known for its chocolate and beer! Stay tuned for stories and pictures.
In other news, Michelle underwent elective knee surgery in October to repair damage done during a Rockettes tryout in 1988. Earlier in the summer, doctors had discovered that her kneecap had slowly been relocating itself to her lower thigh and they needed to put it back in place. All went well, but she still has to spend several hours a day on some machine that flexes her leg over, and over, and over. As the weekly rental on this baby is probably more than our mortgage, Eric uses it in the off hours to slice bread, crack nuts, crush grapes, stretch the cats, and perform other mundane household chores. The upside to the surgery was that when Thanksgiving rolled around, Michelle got to relax and play with our twin nieces (Kelsie and Madison) and nephew (Greyson) while Eric made dinner for all (and yes, cynics, it turned out fine).
In the employment department, neither Eric nor Michelle changed jobs this year, a new milestone. Michelle still does this job for UUNet which like has to do with the Internet and Eric plans broadband radio networks or something like that for Teligent. Michelle, however, did move offices in November, and is now working out of the new MCI-Worldcom megacampus (it has its own zipcode) in Ashburn, VA, a good hour from our house in Annandale. So after a 15 second discussion on the benefits of spending two hours each day in the car commuting, we decided to move West. We searched far and wide for a new abode closer to the Dulles airport high-tech corridor and settled on building a new house just outside of Leesburg (those of you thoroughly confused by now can either consult a map or trust that we know what we’re doing). It should be finished sometime next summer and we’re pretty excited. Now Eric is crossing his fingers that Teligent doesn’t move its offices in the opposite direction!
But wait- you are bound to be thinking – what of the Miller-Noonan pets? Not to fear; Shiko, Oliver, and Charlie are all doing fine. Shiko’s major projects for the year revolved around finding new and creative ways to tunnel out of the back yard and visit his peeps in the hood. We swear he was abducted by aliens and taught how to mutate into a Chihuahua. Oliver spent his only hour awake each day terrorizing the backyard chipmunks, but luckily never brought any home for us to play with too. Charlie, the mutant cat, continues to entertain us and any visitors that come to the house. Words can’t quite describe him… you’ll just have to see for yourself. We’re working on a deal with Ringling Brothers.
Have a very merry and safe holiday season,
Eric, Michelle, Shiko, Oliver, and Charlie