Seasons Greetings!
We hope this letter finds you all safe, healthy, and happy. Ideally you're either lounging with a beer on the beach, skiing through champagne powder, relaxing in your bathtub, playing with your new puppy, or watching reality TV in your pajamas. Just before I started to kick myself for getting the letter out after Christmas, I realized it's always a post-Christmas affair, that's just how it works. Happy reading...
Inspired by Tiger's recent performance (not from his driveway or mistresses), Mom has taken her game to new levels continuing to golf well into December. No wonder she had a winter golf glove on her Christmas list; I suppose she'll be asking for florescent balls next to spot them in the feet of snow on the ground. Aside from golf, Mom has been a little explorer. She and Dad met me in Europe in April, starting with Barcelona, traveling to Navarra and the Basque Country to spend time with my Spanish host family, soaking up traditional Spain in Madrid, and ending with a few nights in Paris. Exploring Gaudi's twisted architecture, frequenting tapas bars, and being hypnotized by flamenco kept her in check. Continuing to live out of a suitcase, she accompanied Erica on the drive home from Florida after graduation (not so in check there), Wisconsin for some R&R, and was then spotted in San Francisco during a week-long trip with her girlfriends and chauffeur...yours truly.
Photos albums from Europe here (click links below):
- Barcelona, Spain photos
- Navarra, Spain photos
- San Sebastián, Spain photos
- Madrid, Spain photos
- Paris, France photos
Real estate and the stock market are still the name of the game for Dad, but things were made interesting by the economy (read: sluggish). To celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday, I dragged my parents out to the Bay Area in November...dragged being a slight exaggeration. Erica also flew out from Phoenix for the weekend to surprise him. That "I need to pick up a friend at the airport" works every time! Along with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Joyce, we went kayaking with sea otters and sea lions in Monterey, dined at Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc Restaurant in Napa Valley, and explored various neighborhoods in San Francisco. I also sent my parents to a Bed & Breakfast in Point Reyes Station to get some time away from the hustle and bustle (photos online).
(click any photo to enter album)
Erica graduated from Nova Southeastern University in the spring. To add to the softball and swimming trophies gathering dust from 3rd grade, she has some new bling for the trophy case - Erica was awarded the Dean's Award for the highest academic achievement in her class. Her hard work really paid off. After the roller coaster ride of "the match", interviews, and some anxious weeks, Erica was offered a spot in the University of New Mexico's MD Dermatology program...she loves her skin! First thing's first though, she's doing a one-year internship in general surgery at a community-based program in Phoenix, Arizona. It's no Grey's Anatomy, as 80 hour weeks and 24 hour shifts are not uncommon, but it comes with the territory and she doesn't get overly cranky. You may be thinking all work and no play for Erica, but she traveled to Thailand, the Caribbean, San Francisco, and New Orleans this year, so you can put that Kleenex box away.
Little Travini is in his junior year at Northwestern, balancing his freaky Machine Design and Thermodynamics engineering courses with classes in Linguistics of Sexuality and Zen Buddhism. He was elected Artistic Director of his hip-hop dance group, Fusion, and continues to dance away his stress into the early hours of the morning (YouTube.com/FusionDanceCo for the latest videos). He participated in Northwestern's Dance Marathon in March, raising nearly $1k in pledges as he and his dance partner danced for 30 non-stop hours to raise money for various charities. Travis had an internship at Colorado State in Fort Collins this summer, where he "developed an apparatus to measure NOx formation in algae-based biofuel droplets." Apparently, he hardly speaks English anymore, but we still love him and all his nerdy endeavors. If he's losing his English, he's probably picking up some Japanese at Boulder's only all-you-can-eat sushi joint, with unofficial Frequent Diner status.
I moved back from Delhi to San Francisco in April, and luckily had a couple of weeks in Europe with my parents to offset the culture shock. I still prefer eating with my hands and am often called out for my Indian 'head waggle', but I'm happy to call San Francisco home. Finding a swimming pool in Delhi was about as easy as winning the lottery, so I tried to become an amphibian when I returned to California. I kept active during the summer with a triathlon and several open water races, among them a swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco. Mom and her girlfriends were able to keep me standing at the finish line, even if Val was the only one who could recognize me in the wetsuit. I'm still staying busy at Google in San Francisco as a media planner, and had a quick brush with Silicon Valley gossip blog fame in a video made for our Indian teammates (see http://bit.ly/2MWnbz). I'm looking forward to powder days at Squaw Valley and an adventure abroad this coming year.
Happy Holidays! Here's to wishing you all a wonderful 2010.
With love,
Ed, Claudia, Erica, Travis, & Austin
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