Here's a holiday letter we wrote to Friends and Family......Just another update from the Simons....
January 1, 2008
To Loved Ones and Friends:
Another year has flown by, so it is time for the annual holiday letter from the Simon family. To begin, we wish you health, happiness, and positive happenings for this season and the upcoming year. We have been blessed with a good year and are thankful for the good things we’ve shared in 2007.
The head of household (the beautiful and talented Judy) is busy nearly every moment, so I (Maury) have been enlisted to summarize the year. Judy continues to be a curriculum consultant at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. It is hard to believe that she is beginning her eighth year at NCDPI! She is constantly busy developing new courses, new standards, and bringing fresh perspectives to the secondary school curriculum. Because she has to fill every day….she also continues to teach part time in the Department of Human Environmental Sciences at Meredith College here in Raleigh. She also is busy maintaining our spacious town house and devoting time to various projects---entertaining/cooking, knitting clothes for our granddaughter Amelia, and making sure that I fulfill my “Honey Do’s.” On December 21st we celebrated our 32nd anniversary, which amazes us. It doesn’t seem so long ago that we were getting married. Judy and I had a great summer trip to Portugal and Spain, enjoying beautiful scenery, architecture, and culture. We hope to continue our 2-3 week summer trips again this coming year. We haven’t decided on the location but Judy would love to go to either Alaska or Russia.
I have settled into “phased retirement” at East Carolina University. I’m half-way through a three-year transition in which I teach two courses per semester, but do not have any additional responsibilities. I am enjoying teaching Politics Through Film, Russian Politics, East European Politics, and International Relations---although my patience with this generation of students wears very thin at times. I don’t like the two day a week commute to Greenville, but that will soon be over. I also have maintained my passion for East Carolina football---which was pretty good this year. We played on December 23 in the Aloha Bowl game in Honolulu...and WON! Judy and I see lots of films and enjoy socializing with the residents of our townhouse development and other friends here in Raleigh.
We both miss our dads this holiday season---they brought wisdom, tenderness, and laughter to us, but we’re full of joy that our moms are living well at very advanced ages. Emily---Judy’s mom—is in an assisted living residence in Columbia, SC---and Irene—Maury’s mom--- is living in the Simon condominium in Walnut Creek, CA. with the help of a five day a week caregiver. Our siblings and in-laws are thriving and we enjoy the several visits per year we spend time with our moms. In addition to our core family, We’ve become “proud parents” of two eight pound “designer puppies,” Zeke and Zoe. There were born on Maury’s birthday, December 7, 2006 and just celebrated their 1st birthday. They are brother and sister pups—a combination of Yorkshire Terrier and Bichon---cute as can be---but they require a lot of attention. They give us laughs on a daily basis and provide Maury with a “retirement project”.
Jason, now 37, and his wife Meredith are doing great. He’s the Executive Director of Marketing at North Carolina State University and lives about fifteen minutes away. His career is challenging and full of creative opportunities. Meredith has given up teaching at the Cary Academy for the time being and is working on her paintings at home and is a full time Mom. Her art work is really good and we think the creative gene is passed on to our grandchild Amelia. Amelia was two in September and is a delightful little girl---always smiling and enjoying her friends and family. We adore her and try to get as much time with her as possible. She learns new words each day and loves puzzles, toys, and is thrilled to go to all the museums in downtown Raleigh as often as possible.
Aaron, now 27, lives in Brooklyn, NY (the trendy Williamsburg area) where he is combining part-time study at the New School University (writing/literature/philosophy/ religion) with full-time work at J P Morgan/Chase helping manage the IBM pension account. We hope that Aaron will finish up his college experience within the next year. We admire his very busy schedule working in the corporate world in NYC and going to school. His “Significant Other,” Caren, continues to own and operate a vintage clothing store that is very impressive. Judy visited them at Thanksgiving and was so impressed with their brand new condominium which has a beautiful view of the Empire State building and Manhattan skyline. They are really fun to be with. Judy and the NYC kids had a great Thanksgiving dinner with their friends in their new home. She especially enjoyed cooking along side “chef “Aaron and Sous Chef Caren. They, too, adore Amelia and are good as “Uncle Aaron” and “Aunt Caren" and can’t wait to spend time with their "NC family” when they can get away and travel south.
There is much more that can be said, but we don’t want to overload you. We hope to hear from you and see you in the New Year. And once again we wish you the very best for this holiday season and for 2008. And let’s hope for a more peaceful world with more understanding and support for those who do not share the benefits we all hold. For those of you who like to keep up with the Simon Family throughout the year, we invite for you to visit often the two Simon Family Blogs at
http://www.bubbysimon.blogspot.com/ and
http://www.ameliasimon.com/ . You will get good laughs at the family photos, travel logs, and journals of our goings and comings.
With Affection,
Judy & Maury, Jason & Meredith & Amelia, and Aaron & Caren
Zeke and Zoe’
Even though the weather started out today a little gray with a few sprinkles, the sun came out and got warmer as we had our picnic lunch. Amelia loved jumping into the pool and practiced swimming. We cannot wait until we have our family week at the beach the first week in August!
We had a little scare this week as Mama (Grandma or MaMaMa) had an emergency visit to the Columbia, SC hospital while Jane and Peter were in Europe. As soon as I returned from a business trip to New Orleans and recovered from a little "bug" I picked up from traveling, I was off to "Still Hopes" Retirement Community where I spent a week. I checked Mama out of the hospital and made sure she followed doctor's orders.
It has been great spending some time with Aaron and Caren in Brooklyn and New York City. The first couple of nights we stayed in the new Le Jolie hotel just a few blocks from their condo. Very convenient and very comfortable....very European! Then we moved in with them to spend some "together time" over the weekend and tried out their new inflatable mattress. It worked great!
We had a delicious breakfast prepared by Amelia and Daddy Jason at their house this morning. The Steeles were there also for a little while this morning before they left to return to Charlotte.
We had a fun night last night watching Amelia's favorite t.v. shows on Poppie's big HDTV then off to bed for an early morning trip to the NC Asheboro Zoo. Amelia's favorite animals were the monkeys; Poppie's were the elephants; Bubby's favorites were the garaffes and zebras. We ate chicken fingers and fries at the zoo after we rode the animal carrosel. Poppie and Bubby had a hot dog and lemonade. Then we went to the gift shop where Amelia picked out a new monkey friend named "George". We had a great time and just left before it began to rain. When we got back to Raleigh we stopped by Amelia's favorite popcicle store on Hillsboro St. Amelia wants to go back and see the North America side of the zoo sometime! 
Today was a rainy Sunday outside but lots of activity inside. How lucky we were that Daddy Jason and Amelia decided to spend their Sunday afternoon with Bubby and Poppie. Mommy Meredith was at home in her studio and with art students and their art lessons all afternoon. Daddy Jason and Poppie loved watching the NCAA basketball games while Bubby and Amelia were busy in the kitchen. Amelia got to choose what she wanted to cook and as you can see, she choose her favorite chocolate chip cookies. We cheated a bit and used the Pilsbury packaged cookies since we had dinner to prepare as well. Amelia got her lesson on portion control with the cookie scoop and placement of cookies on the parchment paper. They turned out perfect! Not a burned one in the lot! I believe that she learned how yummy cookie dough tasted and she was very impatient while we were waiting during the cooking process. She agreed they were worth waiting for! YUMMY!
We don't know who was walking who? Zeke and Zoe's raced around the lake to see how many ducks and geese they could chase and bark at....they loved to pick fights with the bigger dogs.
It's 2:00 pm in the afternoon on January 1st and we are just getting motivated to get dressed to begin another party again with friends in the neighborhood. We had a great time with Amelia for a "sleepover" last night at Bubby and Poppie's house while Mommy Meredith and Daddy Jason went out for the evening with their friends. We too had friends over (The Lindley's) for a wonderful New Year's Eve celebration dinner and get together. Amelia was so good and loved "partying" with "the OLD folks"! We managed to make it to after midnight to view the festivities at Times Square in NYC. We were hoping to get a glimpse of Aaron and Caren if they happened to be in the city...but I bet they were watching the fireworks from their balcony in Brooklyn. We hope all of you will have a HAPPY, SAFE, AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!
