Merry Christmas to All!

I hope your Christmas will be one to remember, full of joy and blessings. I am counting my many blessings this season, for sure.

I finished fall semester this past week, turning in my last assignment just yesterday. The pace of these past few months has been intense, especially lately. Here's a link to my final web design project, a site for Dr. Kelly Gibson. This is probably not what the site will look like when we actually go "live" with it. Kelly and I didn't have nearly the collaboration time we'd hoped to. But it's a start, and I've really learned a lot this semester.

I've been working A LOT of hours for Edward Jones since Thanksgiving week, and I now have a full-time job lined up with a branch, starting January 1! It's in San Diego, near Balboa Park. So I'll be riding the train to get down there each day. It's a whole new adventure, for someone who's been working in a home office since 1996!!! But I'm very grateful to have this position and am excited about making the most of it.

Mom's spinal fusion surgery went well on Dec. 3. She was in the hospital 5 days and is recovering well at home now. My sister, Lori, came to town for the first week that mom was home. Now Julie's here, having come a bit early for her holiday visit. Dad sure appreciates all the help, as he's used to Mom handling pretty much everything around the house!

Both Breanna and Brenden wrapped up the school semester last week as I did. Breanna now has a certificate in Child Development, so she's earned a raise at Childcare Careers. They haven't had much work for her in recent months, but she's supposed to get more hours now. Brenden tutors students in math at the college, and he delivers pizza for the pizzeria owned by his roommate. Cassidy is going to start in a new daycare/preschool very soon. Breanna hasn't been happy with the home daycare she's been in for some time. It sounds like a good move to me. Cassidy is very excited about Christmas.

Christmas Eve day, Doug and I plan to make a turkey dinner for ourselves and my kids. (His family is mostly out of state.) We'll go to a Christmas Eve church service that night. Christmas Day we'll go to mom and dad's for the gift opening frenzy, but not a big meal. We're trying to keep things stress-free and simple, since mom is still in recuperation mode.

I guess that's all the latest from here. God bless you richly this special time of year, and may the New Year bring you abundant blessing and joy.

Love and hugs,
~Kim :-)