Reflections on 2010: Erin

1. What was the single best thing that happened last year?

Dave was hired on as a resource teacher in October after having to quit his teaching job in September.

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

Dave's having to quit his teaching job in September and having to find another teaching job by October--not an easy feat for the middle of a school year.

3. Pick three words to describe 2010.

Simplified, healed, and discontent.

4. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2010.

Stressful, scary (health problems), and worrying (my worst habit this year).

5. What were the best books you read this year?

Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
Sabbath by Wayne Muller
In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore

6. With whom were your most valuable relationships?

Definitely Dave. He's seen me at my best and my worst this year, and he's loved and supported me all the way.
My parents and family. I really wanted to focus on spending time with my family this year, and I'm pleased to say my relationships with them have grown.
My carpooling buddy, Leanne. She's been there to listen and cheer me up with trips to Qdoba when I'm facing challenges.

7. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?
It wasn't so much me changing, but my life changing when Grandpa died in October. I still miss him a lot.

8. What was the most enjoyable part of your work (both professionally and at home)?

I loved being able to lead the Editorial Olympic Committee for my company's Olympics last February. We came up with a great idea (human curling) and executed it successfully. I also enjoyed leading a committee that read almost every page of the Chicago Manual of Style 16th edition to find the changes that came with a new edition of our style guide. We all worked well together, and I think what we did will help everyone else in my department. (Yes, I'm truly a word nerd.)

At home, I had a lot of fun trying out new recipes, whether for dinner or a treat for my coworkers.

9. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

The Internet as a whole.

10. What was the best way you used your time this past year?

Reading edifying, educational books. (Wow, what a nerdy, introverted thing to say.) 

11. What was biggest thing you learned this past year?

That circumstances can change in an instant, but God is always faithful.

12. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2010 for you.

Seeking a simplified state but still stressing.

Thank you, Simple Mom, for providing us with these questions.

Reflections on 2010: Dave

1. What was the single best thing that happened last year?

I accepted my first special education teaching position, fulfilling a long-time dream.

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

Losing the aforementioned special education teaching position due to forces beyond my control.

3. Pick three words to describe 2010.

Thought-provoking, encouraging, and demanding.

4. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2010.

Exciting, demanding, and troublesome.

5. What were the best books you read this year?

The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Cell by Stephen King
1984 by George Orwell
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

6. With whom were your most valuable relationships?

First and foremost, my wife.  Thanks for loving, supporting, caring, and laughing with me through 2010, Mrs. Gwynne.  

Shout-out also to my EJ crew.  Even though I no longer work in the school, I'm really grateful we all still keep in touch.

7. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?
I began my teaching career.

8. What was the most enjoyable part of your work (both professionally and at home)?

I love lots of aspects of my job, but I especially like IEP meetings and paperwork.  I really am a geek!  At home, I enjoy taking care of my wife.

9. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

Facebook Surpasses Google

Need I say more? 

10. What was the best way you used your time this past year?

Educating myself on the field of teaching and special education. 

11. What was biggest thing you learned this past year?

To be grateful for all we have, but especially for employment.  You never know when the rug might be swept from under your feet.

12. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2010 for you.

Bieberific!

Happy New Year from the Gwynnes

Thanks to Skype, we were able to ring in the new year with Mum and Dad. Now it's time for our New Year's Eve celebration: our annual steak dinner, a movie, and ringing in the new year with sparkling grape juice. May 2011 be a year of God's blessings to you and yours.

The Beard

"He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man."

Shakespeare

 

Since the bard himself had a beard, we can count the above statement to be suffering under extreme bias.

 

Being that I was on winter break for two weeks, I decided just before Christmas to test out my beard-growing abilities and experience what the outcome might be should I decide to permanently join the flock of fully-fledged facial fuzz fans.

 

Beard!

 

Of course, being the savvy shopper that I am, I persuaded my wife that I should be allowed to purchase (on a side note:  notice my choice of words in persuaded and allowed - guess who runs the finances in this household!) a nice new electric razor for the purposes of keeping this crazy facial hair in check once winter break ends.  

Off we went to Walmart.  It was a cold, rainy night and Walmart was absolutely packed.  It's a popular place to spend cold, rainy nights.  As with most Walmart trips, it could truly be called an adventure.  Items strewn across the floors, kids tearing around the store unsupervised, obnoxiously loud groups of cell phone users blocking the aisles, and we can't forget the weird teenager obsessed with the blood pressure monitor.  "This is really fun," he proclaims as he hovers behind my shoulder.  

 

Finally, we made it to the shaving needs aisle and I picked up a nifty Philips Norelco for only $30.

 

Nifty.

 

 

 

Now, before you are tricked into believing that I'm the one in the Gwynne family who just loves an opportunity to spend money (as my wife would have you believe), I will point out to you that we bought a number of items on this shopping trip. 

 

In addition to the razor, we purchased numerous cosmetics, an electric shiatsu chair massager, and a few other household items.  Can you guess who these other products were for?  

 

Enough said.

The Snowman

Did you grow up watching The Snowman at Christmastime? I have fond but vague memories of the motorcycle and flying scene from when I was a child watching it on the local PBS station. It wasn't until I was much older and dating Dave that I fell in love with the film.



One night during one of our many Skype conversations, I'd mentioned seeing The Snowman when I was a kid. He knew exactly what I was talking about and brilliantly sent it to me as a present for the next gift-giving occasion. It didn't matter that it wasn't Christmastime at that point; I put the disc in the DVD player and watched it right away.

It's now become a Christmas tradition to watch The Snowman and Father Christmas. The best part about the tradition, however, is that my work friends join me in watching the films. Most years, we only have time for The Snowman because we watch during our lunch break. This year, for the 4th time, we got together at my apartment during our lunch hour to watch the film and enjoy Christmas cookies.

These women are some of my best work friends. During the years of watching The Snowman, our lives have changed. Some of us have gotten married. A few have left the company or moved away. Children are being added to the group. But our tradition of getting together every year has stayed the same. I hope it is a tradition for years to come.

Merry (Meaty) Christmas

Just this morning, I was dreaming about side dishes I could make for my family's Christmas dinner next week. Little did I know that my contribution would be bigger than I had imagined!

When I got home from work tonight, I noticed a huge Styrofoam box outside my neighbor's door. Ever the curious one, I took a look to see what it was. The sender was Omaha Steaks (yum!), but the recipient was our old neighbor, who had moved out in July. I called Dave to play a fun game called "What Would You Do If a Package from Omaha Steaks Was Accidentally Delivered to You?" Fortunately, the pressure was off because it was our neighbor's dilemma, so we had fun coming up with solutions. Dave told me to keep an eye on it so that we could at least stick it outside for the night if our neighbors never came home to take care of it.

Well, around 8 I heard some noise out in the hall, so I went over to the peep hole and saw that my neighbor had discovered the package. I heard him talking to his wife, and I wondered what they would do with it. Only a few minutes later, there was a knock at our door!

There was our neighbor with the big white box. He asked if we ate ham, and I said yes, so he explained how he was mistakenly sent this box o' meat. He told me that he'd called the company to try to fix the mistake, but Omaha Steaks said he could keep it and they would send another shipment to the correct address. (Very good, Omaha!) Then, and here's the best part, he offered to give us the package because he and his wife don't eat ham. Amazing!

I thanked him, said Merry Christmas, and then tore into that package like a kid on Christmas morning. There was not only a 7-lb. ham but also 4 burgers! I called my parents to tell them the good news and then asked if they'd like to use the ham for our Christmas dinner. Of course they would! How neat is that?

Weekend Roundup

Perhaps it's because last weekend was filled with the flurry of eating turkey and shopping for Christmas presents, but this weekend felt super relaxed, even though we managed to fit quite a bit in. (I love that type of weekend!) There are no pictures to accompany my account, unfortunately, so you will just have to use your imagination.

Friday: Dave and I were invited to a game night at my coworker's home, but because Dave was still in quarantine after his battle with the stomach flu, I went solo. All the games we played were brand-new to me: Blink, In a Pickle, Rummikub, and Pictureka. I enjoyed all of them, but I think Blink and In a Pickle will be going on my Christmas list this year.

Saturday: The first big snow of the winter was set to fall on Saturday, so we didn't know exactly what was on the agenda for the day. Fortunately, the road crews were able to keep up, and we were able to get out and run some errands. (This is the part of the weekend when we got a lot done.) Some of the stores were madhouses, but it wasn't too bad. Once we were home, I watched the NBC Friday night movie from the night before. It wasn't my favorite, but it did help ease the pain of missing all of my Hallmark Christmas movies this year. (Our cable provider and Hallmark aren't liking each other very much right now, so that means no Hallmark channel for the Gwynnes.)

Sunday: For a variety of reasons, we haven't been to our church for a weekend service since September. I was super excited to get back to the routine of Sunday morning church, and the service didn't disappoint. I love my church because each Sunday we really study the Bible. We were all over the major and minor prophets yesterday. On the way home, we stopped to fill up the gas tank and pick up a paper, and I was able to spend the afternoon reading the Chicago Tribune, one of my favorite Sunday afternoon activities. In the evening, we put up the Christmas tree and decorations, and I watched part of Rick Steves' European Christmas while sipping hot chocolate. It was the perfect end to a great weekend.

Thanks for the Tie, Mum

(Please ignore the clashing plaid purple shirt. I promise Dave will wear a matching shirt when he wears it to work.)

Someone Has the Stomach Flu