Christmas 2011

Greetings from the Barcomb household!


So this letter is way late this year, and I have no one to blame but myself! I have been racking my brain since late summer (seriously!) about a new hook for my letters. As much as I love dogs, not only do I fear that our four-legged friends writing of our Christmas letters is starting to get old, but that PETA might be paying me a visit inciting canine labor laws! So instead I thought long and hard about the kind of letter I would like to get from my friends and family… or better yet, the kind of letter I don’t like getting… you all know what I’m talking about… the “life is amazing (my favorite adjective in the entire English language), my little Johnny just won the Nobel Peace Prize and we’re taking a year-long sabbatical and moving to Bora Bora to perfect our golf game.” I mean come on people, nobody is interested in hearing about how great your life is… well except for maybe your great aunt Esther who lives alone with her 12 cats. We want the train wreck… or at the very least a mishap here or there to make us feel better about our own lives. So here’s my hook this year; the hook is that there is no hook. So once again I am dusting off my pen with only my wits and a promise. A promise to not brag about my amazing family and all of the amazing things we did, the amazing places we went, the amazing things we accomplished or the amazing year we had! Nope I promise only to ramble on briefly (as if I know what that word means) about my mediocre family and our mediocre year!

Disclaimer: Much sarcasm is used throughout this letter. That being said, I really do enjoy getting all of your Christmas cards and letters telling about your amazing year – really! I don’t have or know anyone with a great aunt Esther or little Johnny, these characters are fictitious and used only to illustrate that I spend too much time watching Dr. Phil. I have no ill will towards Bora Bora, golf or cats, but I do actually detest the over-usage of the word amazing. And finally no animals were harmed, most especially our amazing dog, in creating this letter or letters past.

Speaking of our amazing dog, Solo, she is still with us and going strong for an 11-year-old, overweight, diabetic, arthritic Lab. Her back legs don’t always work, she no longer attempts stairs, and I’m pretty sure she is going bald (can dogs do that???). But she still can drag her old self into the kitchen at the sound of a cheese wrapper, so I think we still have a few good years left!

Hunter, my favorite, (oh don’t go getting your panties in a knot… I’ll refer you back to the disclaimer reference to sarcasm) had his 5th birthday in January, graduated preschool in May, started Kindergarten the end of August, lost his first tooth (which somehow set off my biological clock again, until I came to my senses and hit the snooze button), and did amazing in every sport he played this year… basketball, baseball and soccer. Although, we may have to get him involved in a few more sports for the coming year to fill in those 12 days a year when I’m not taking him or his sister to 501 different activities!

Then there is our dramatic tween, Miss Lexi who turned 8 this year and is fast on her way to knowing everything. Thank goodness because I’ve always wished for a short know-it-all in the family! Seriously though, she is in 3rd grade this year in a 3rd/4th combination class, had her first communion the end of April, and has went into early retirement from competitive cheerleading after an amazing perfect season (her team won 1st in every competition, including Nationals). Now she is on to new adventures with softball, soccer, and soon she will try out her jump-shot in basketball.

Next up is my amazing husband, who after nearly 11 years with Blue Mountain Telecommunications left that job in April for a new one with Zayo in Spokane. No, that is not a typo, I really did mean Spokane, and to save you the time from digging in the garbage for our return address on the envelope, we still live in Pasco, or more exotically known as the Tri-Cities! It turned out that after several years of being on the road for just a night or two during the week, Dan desperately missed the 2 hour commute and week-long dive motel stays. So now he commutes home, to the Tri-Cities on weekends instead of the other way around, and lives with my baby brother in his happenin’ bachelor-pad. And although I would love to come back home and get to hang with my peeps again, we have no immediate plans to move back. Dan is trying to make it where he can work from home a couple days a week, and if not we may just end up doing exactly that, moving back to Spokane… or Bora Bora… with us you never know! Besides, I hear the golf is pretty good there!

Finally, we come to my amazing year in review. It has been a big year for our family, but I can’t say I have done anything too noteworthy… didn’t cure cancer or create world peace (just sibling peace, which sometimes seems like a bigger feat than trying to get along with the Taliban!). I continue to stay at home with the rug rats when they’re not in school… which seems more often than not. And I still spend a lot of time involved with the kids’ school and activities… anything to avoid getting a real paying job! Sarcasm aside though, it’s still the toughest and most thankless, but ultimately the most rewarding job there is. As for how the year went, it was a rough spring saying goodbye to cheerleading and to dear coaches and friends. But I can’t say I miss the drama or how ridiculous the competitive youth sports and their parents can be. After much reflection, un-friending the toxics, and pulling a few knives from my back, I am a much happier mom having my 8 year old, be only 8 and on sports teams that promote sportsmanship and teamwork with girls her own age. Anyway, bitter much? Sorry, still working on being an amazingly forgiving and easy going person… think I still have a ways to go. A few other noteworthy happenings this year were that Dan and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on May 22nd, the day after Armageddon (by the way, the dude who predicted that was a little off… or more likely off his rocker). Also, we both had our 20 year high school reunions this summer (I’m still in denial that it’s even remotely possible I graduated that long ago!). And sadly in May, the patriarch of our family, my grandfather (Poppie) joined my dad and my beloved Patches in Heaven after nearly 90 years on this earth. He lived a good, long life that we should all be so fortunate to have!

So that’s our amazing… oops, I mean mediocre year in review! It’s been an amazing year filled with amazing ups and downs. And next year should prove to be even more amazing… who knows maybe Lexi will win the Nobel Peace Prize or maybe we will move to Bora Bora… or maybe this time next year we’ll even be talking about our new President of the United States… The Donald! After all, anything’s possible! I wish you all an AMAZING year to come, with good health and much happiness! God bless you all and Merry Christmas!

With Lots of Love and Laughing out Loud (LOL LOL) ,

Dan, Angie, Lexi, Hunter and Solo