Christmas 2001
‘Tis the season for late Christmas letters, falalalala, lalala … oh, well. Christmas again! It’s been quite an exciting year, and a busy one, too. We have had some laughs and tears, but looking back we can see clearly that God has been there for us when we most needed him.
Alex will be 2 years old on March 5th, and he is just beginning to discover what that means (to everyone!). He and Brittany have lots of fun playing together, though they don’t always agree on who should wear the Mr. Potato Head glasses, which a door should be opened or closed, etc. He is walking and talking, combining words into sentences and singing. Some of his favorite phrases are “Do it”, “Get down”, “hold you”, “at-ta-TUDE”, and his primal battle cry “AYAYAYESH!” that can only be heard in the bathtub as the water inches its way toward him. He has also learned to flush the toilet, which led to the untimely demise of one of Brittany’s socks. It’s now in “the hiding”. (Brittany’s word for “the place where things go when you can’t see/find them”) We are hoping to use his new ability to encourage interest in potty training, so he can use his flushing powers for good instead of evil! He’s even landed his first job putting bibs away in the drawer.
Brittany will soon be 4 (January 27th), and has requested a snowman party. She is currently enrolled in pre-school twice a week, Awana ‘Cubbies’ (church-based children’s ministry), and gymnastics. Through Awana, Brittany has earned a number of patches and awards for Bible verse memorization. In gymnastics, She has just finished her second session, and even performed a routine in front of the class and received a medal, which she was quite proud of. In addition to her activities, She has passed a number of developmental milestones. She named her first doll (previous dolls/animals were named by size/type). Actually she named two of them, both “Abigail”. She converses well in complete sentences, although at times the content borders on stream of consciousness, and we have yet to find “the dragon” that she keeps mentioning. She also likes using big words “obvious”, “probably” and “otherwise” (in context, with emphasis and flair so you don’t miss it!). Like Alex, she is helping out around the house and has the job of folding/sorting towels. She also painted, selected, and wrapped the ornaments she gave to people this Christmas. Even with all these activities and accomplishments, I still see a lot of my own personality in her! (Is that a good thing?)
Janet’s year has been busy. Most of her time is spent caring for Brittany and Alex, but she has also been active in our church’s FAITH outreach ministry. She has decided to refocus her time on the kids, and is in the process of closing down her children’s clothing online resale business. As she sells off her current inventory, she is converting the storage area into a craft/play area. She is also doing some redecoration around the house, and is finishing a quilt for Brittany. And of course, she also serves as directing editor for the Christmas letter!
As for me, well, this year has continued my upward trend. Two Christmas’ ago, Tivoli fired me. Last Christmas, Foree Software laid me off when they ran out of funding. This Christmas, I haven’t been fired or laid off! It was a rough year, though, even so. In January and February, many companies wanted someone with my skills, but had hiring freezes in place. In March, I got a contract with 3M, and 3 weeks later their new VP announced that they could make up for last months losses if they cut all their contractors (close to half of their IT workforce). I was able to pick up a contract with IBM shortly thereafter and have been working on that since then. Working at IBM is very different from previous environments (mostly startups & small companies). Projects move at a sort of mystical, ethereal pace referred to as “IBM Time”. Innovation is encouraged but eyed with skepticism, and being ahead of schedule is almost as bad as being behind schedule. IBM has ditched their blue suits for jeans and a t-shirt, but maintains a very surreal mixture of ‘true-blue’ and ‘new-blue’ management styles. Sometimes it is amusing, sometimes annoying, but it is a job! I’ve also picked up a side contract with a tiny startup called Global Telepathy, who specializes in helping companies manage and distribute large “digital assets” (CD/CD-ROM’s for mass production, digital artwork for CD covers/inserts, etc.). It’s an interesting project and is very similar to what I was doing at Foree Software last year.
The month of October presented us with a bit of a scare. Some of you may remember tales of my early sunburns of epic proportions. Janet had the foresight to setup an appointment for me with a doctor when she noticed that two moles on my back were developing migratory patterns! They were biopsied and one came back as melanoma, the other severely atypical. The good news is that just two scars and a bottle of Tylenol later, I’m as good as new. My mom claims the scars are from “getting my wings removed”. My story is that the bullet entered by my left shoulder blade, ricocheted off the back of my sternum, and exited by my right shoulder blade … but you should have seen the OTHER guy!!
Well, as you can see from just what we’ve included here, this year has been anything but dull. Of course, when I stop to think about the many horrific ways that other people’s lives have been transformed this year through both war and terrorism, I can’t help but thank God that our problems are so small in comparison. I sincerely pray that we can all go forward into next year seeking peace and justice, but not a lust for revenge. There is a functional component to “removing” public threats and those who want us dead because we have the freedom to believe differently than they do, but I hope that we never come to the point of celebrating it.
Christmas Day
By Brittany Pilkington
Transcribed by Janet Pilkington
12/27/2001
A Christmas Day is having all the presents under the tree. A Christmas tree is having ornaments. I made an angel and you (Janet) made a big angel and it’s too big and I can’t carry it. The tree has all the ornaments and all the lights on it. Those are blue lights and those are yellow lights.
They marched around the wall and the wall fell down and they fell down. They couldn’t march when they had 1 foot, just 2 foot. The other people couldn’t walk on one foot when their foot was up.
Baby Jesus was in a manger and then Mary wasn’t. No one else was in the manger with Jesus and he had no room for Baby Jesus, just a manger where the donkeys ate out of it and it was too small for them. The donkey stepped on Baby Jesus and he fell down and felt sad and Mary had to pick him up and say, “Oh, he’s sad.” Joseph had to say, “He crashed.” And the donkey put him on their back and he had to ride because he had feet. The donkeys walk with Baby Jesus on there and I put him on the horse and he walk with Mary and Joseph holding onto the clips, and holding onto Jesus so he won’t fall. And he was born on Christmas Day.