Hello, all.   Festive and holy holidays to everyone!  We do hope that this missive finds you in the best of health and spirits, whatever your circumstances.  Know that you are in our prayers always. 

And now, on to the news of our family this past, eventful year (aren’t they all?).  Oh, yeah.  By the way, I’ve been told that I have a typically British sense of humor (which is pretty insulting, considering I’m mostly Irish, but anyway…) and that sometimes my insertions of dry-witted hyperbole might be misconstrued by some as fact.  Imagine that!  So, I offer this guidance: if it sounds too outrageous to be true, it probably isn’t.  You judge.  Or call or email and ask me.

 

Lawrence (as he’s known to his friends) continues to conduct training for Verizon (“Can you hear me now?”) and is moving right up the ranks of the corporate ladder there.  They really like his style – which he says in more gratuitous moments that he bases on his Dad’s (ain’t that sweet?).  He is still chasing the elusive Bachelor’s from Sac State.  Meanwhile, Nichol hopes to outpace him as she gathers credits at the local college to transfer to the university and major towards Marriage and Family Therapy.  She’s already talked to the president of my graduate school regarding admission there to pursue accreditation for her licensure as an MFT.  I’ve volunteered as her first internship patient – she should be able to apply all 2,500 required hours to trying to figure me out.  And, as if that’s not enough to do, they are busily raising Kaleb, who could fill a newsletter all his own.  What a munchkin!  He started Kindergarten this past September and is taking his SAT’s in the Spring for admission to Hopkins.

Well, maybe not this Spring – but soon enough.  The dude is sharp.  Even Uncle Kyle has a tough time keeping up with our newest family Astronomer, who – at 5 years old, mind you – knows the difference between waxing and waning of the moon, and why it occurs.  Kaleb says he wants to be an actor – that way he can assume lots of roles without having to decide on just one thing to be “when he grows up.”   The L4 family had a wonderful excursion to Italy this past summer (no joke!), and I hear that they wined their way through the whole thing…

 

The world travelers have returned to the nest – at least for a while.  C&C (as we collectively call them) finished up their stint in Tanzania with the Peace Corps last March and (after accepting the Nobel Prize) flew home to roost with us for a while.  They’ve now settled in a co-op townhouse

near the UC Davis campus, where both are working – Christian as a Graduate Program Assistant in the Languages and Literatures department and Colleen as a Teaching Assistant in a course on African Studies.  Colleen is aggressively knocking down the courses towards her Master’s in Community Development, and Christian is applying to the doctoral program in Ethnomusicology.  And, of course, the really BIG NEWS is the impending arrival of their first child in March.  The whole family is looking forward to the coming of the next rug rat – er, beautiful bouncing bundle of joy (yeah, that’s the ticket).  More to come on that subject in next year’s newsletter.

Kyle is intent on finishing his 5th year at Cal Poly Pomona this coming June with an actual degree (in Physics) in-hand.  You may recall that the reason he has needed that extra year is because he studied in Wales for a year, 2 years ago.  And the reason he did that, of course, was so that he could go somewhere to

legally drink beer when he was only 20 years old – oh, and to generate good will overseas with the Welsh (who, as we know, are crucial to our national economy) – and, oh, yeah, to study Physics.  But seriously, folks, the guy is a wonder academically.  His internship this past summer at San Diego State has led to the co-authoring of a scholastic paper with one of the faculty there, which  will be presented at a national astronomy conference in DC this coming January.  It’s on Blue Stragglers.  You know, the Smurfs that were always falling behind and getting captured by Gargamel?  Actually, they are an anomalous kind of star that fall outside the normal life cycle development of most stars, possibly as a result of binary stars colliding and forming a larger, single bluer star – at least, that’s what I’ve been told.  This year, Kyle has secured a senior project working with people from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to search for sub-stellar companions (like brown dwarfs; you know, Dopey, Sleepy, Grumpy – No wait!  That’s me.  Never mind.) using the Palomar 200" telescope.  As a career, Astrophysics demands advanced degrees, so Kyle is researching and applying to various doctoral programs around the country.  We hope he either gets into UC Santa Cruz or Berkeley (for proximity) or U. Hawaii (so we have an excuse to visit him somewhere it’s warm).

Our cuddly bear will be coming home this Christmas – to stay.  New York has expelled all Californians, citing that any state that has had not just one, but two actors as governors can’t be good.  In fact, the climate and pollution have caught up to Travis’ tendency to asthma-like conditions and is ill-

advised for a regular place of residence.  Trav’s plans include picking up some additional transfer credits and entering either UC Davis or Santa Cruz, still emphasizing Theatrical Production.  Not one to always be in the limelight, Travis likes to work “behind the scenes.”  (Actually, he coined the phrase - yeeaaah, that’s it, he made it up; sure!).  Perhaps he just wants to be a little closer to his girlfriend, Juleah, who remains in Sacramento (but you didn’t hear it from me).  At any rate, we are looking forward to un-emptying the nest for a while (again).

 

Chérie is one more year closer to retirement.  Or at least she thinks so.  Actually, she could have retired years ago, except that she has to keep me in the fashion to which I want to be accustomed.  Sutter Health wants to keep her, too.  They would certainly have a time finding someone to work as hard, care as much about her employees, and generally sacrifice herself so humbly for the welfare of everyone else.  I can’t

imagine where she picked up that notion (can you, Mom Beauchemin?).  In her free time (what little she gets), Chér revels in her Mimére role to Kaleb (and soon with the new one - see C&C&?, above) and reads fantasy novels (a penchant that she shares with Kyle).  And here I thought that I fulfilled all her fantasies…  With our nest being mostly empty, we’ve been getting the opportunity to flit about the area on short vacations, like the train trip to Reno where Chérie decided that she just had to have the Hilton hotel where we were staying – so she bought it (see Picture 7).  It’s a decent enough investment – what with the Casino and all – and it does come in handy when we have to put up overnight guests (like the Queen of England – yeah, that’s it!).

Ah, me.  What can I say?  Besides enjoying all the wonderful lives of our wonderful children, I imagine that the 2 aspects that have governed my life this past year have been work and school. 

As you know, I have been employed (again) by IBM, starting last January (3^rd time’s a charm, eh?).  Being laid off is simply an opportunity to reinvent oneself, right?  Well, I hope to avoid that privilege for a while – until I retire, hopefully this time!  But, verily I say unto thee, working for IBM is most fulfilling in so many ways.  I am blessed to have this opportunity.  My ‘other’ job, of course, has been chugging away towards my doctorate in Organizational Psychology.  I can relate to the ‘always a bridesmaid and never a bride’ scenario: always an ABD and never a doctor.  But the ‘altar’ has never been closer, and I may actually get to walk up the aisle in cap and gown within a year or so – good Lord willin’ and the creeks don’t rise (and the hard drive don’t crash).

That’s it for this year.  Keep in touch!  You can always reach us by email, and if you have Verizon mobile-to-mobile plan, so do we (go figure!):

 

Larry                 [email protected]                        (916) 709-0737

Chérie               [email protected]                        (916) 690-2991

Lawrence          [email protected]                        (916) 202-3170

Nichol                [email protected]                        (916) 201-2322

Christian            [email protected]                        (916) 709-0552

Colleen              [email protected]                         (916) 709-0703

Kyle                  [email protected]                         (916) 709-3737

Travis               [email protected]                         (916) 479-1037

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