December 1998
It is time for the annual Christmas Letter!! Our life this year involved a wedding, home improvements (of course), trips to Florida and China, work, a career change for Mike, an introduction to Stanford Hospital, and a new car.
Our year started off with Julie and Kurt requesting to use our home for their rehearsal dinner. We were flattered by the request and suddenly realized our years list of projects needed to be completed by JULY!! We bought a new China cabinet for the dining room (which replaced Lori's old bedroom hutch, an admirable placeholder); ripped (dug, smashed, and clawed) out and replaced the patio cover before it fell down and killed someone; and replaced the front drafty windows with new, double pane windows (only four more windows to go ...). Then, we canvassed friend and foe to hunt, beg, borrow, plead, or even steal tables and chairs to sit the 60+ guests! The result was a nice rehearsal dinner, followed by a beautiful wedding the following day. Mike and I now have a new brother in the family and we welcome him with open arms.
We took a couple of breaks during the year by traveling to other states and countries! The first trip was to Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida over Mike's x0th birthday. We had a great time lounging around, sleeping in, and just doing things at our own pace. Mike went to China, on business again, to install hardware (per legal direction, he knows nothing about software) and Lori joined him a week later. We planned on doing a 3 day, 4 night Yangtze River cruise; however, record floods prevented us from getting there. So, we altered our trip and detoured to Shanghai (modern and beautiful) and Guilin (the scenery was amazing, but watch out for the food). If you ever go to China, both are a must see!
This year Mike decided it was time for a career change, so he jumped ship and is now working for StorageTek as a Systems Engineer in the federal division covering CA, OR, WA, NV, & AZ. Anyone interested in a tape silo? Now that we have put in a product plug, we can charge the time to write this letter to work J Lori is still managing the Systems Programming and Performance deparment as well as holding down the Deputy IPT Lead position at Lockheed Martin.
This is where fate stepped in. During his 2-year follow up CT Scan, a growth was found in Mike's chest. A few weeks later he was diagnosed with Recurring Hodgkin's Disease. This news came as a shock to us, as there were absolutely no symptoms this time. So, more Chemotherapy. We have an excellent doctor at Stanford, and Mike will have a Stem Cell Transplant (Bone Marrow Transplant) on January 12, followed by a six-month recovery period. Next year, after January, things can only get better.
This year we also traded in Mike's Celica and purchased a new Spruce Pearl (Green) and Sandstone Metallic (Gold) Subaru Legacy Outback with leather interior and bun warmers. We absolutely love it and look forward to using it in the snow next year. We have a new email address, , and Web Page, http://www.mljanz.com/. Please feel to mail us or stop by if you get a chance.
We hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday and the coming year finds you in good health.
Love
Mike, Lori, Cleo, Magic, and Puff