10/28/2009 Family Update

Hello family,

It's time for another update.  :)

First thing first, I'm still alive.  I was sick for about a week and felt pretty terrible but I've been better for a little while now.  I would recommend that none of you get the flu. 

We're currently experiencing a pretty crazy snowstorm.  It started last night and isn't expected to end until late tomorrow.  Today, I went to work for a few hours to do some month end stuff and then came home to avoid some of the weather.  It's expected that Denver will get 10 - 18 inches of snow which is a lot but not compared to the foothills as Susan's parents already have 32 inches of accumulation!  There's a pretty good chance I'll be working from home tomorrow. 

The pugs are doing well and cute as ever.  They recently got their teeth cleaned and some moles removed.  It usually costs a lot to get this done but we were fortunate to find a place that had very reasonable prices.  Because of several teeth being pulled (five) Satchel's tongue now sticks out just about all the time.  Tweetie was lucky to only have two taken out. 

Satchel took a fall down the stairs about a month ago.  She slipped on some rags at the top of the stairs and tumbled all the way to the bottom.  It was just about the saddest thing I've ever seen and Satchel was pretty shook up.  She didn't appear to have any broken bones so Susan watched her throughout the day.  It was obvious our baby was in a lot of pain so we brought her to the animal hospital.  Satchel received a thorough inspection, an x-ray (no broken bones), and was given some pain pills.  It took several days but eventually she was back to normal herself.  For her sake (and that of our pocketbook) we're hoping she can avoid any more spills (you may remember that she fell down a window well earlier this year). 

We have some fantastic news, Susan got a job!  She received the offer last night and accepted this morning.  It was actually three months ago today that she was laid off and we are extremely glad this came along.  She will be working downtown as an affirmative action specialist and starts on Monday. 

We're throwing a Halloween party on Saturday and Susan has been busy making ghoulish decorations all day.  This will be our first time hosting one and it's going to be a lot of fun.  

Hopefully this finds all of you healthy and happy.
Max and Susan

8/21/2009 Family Update

Hello family of various locales,

I haven't sent a family update in quite a while so here goes... 

We have a new member in our family and his name is Terrence.  He likes to eat crickets and has been living in a jar for the last 3 weeks.  He's a wolf spider Susan rescued from a glue trap in our garage.  He didn't make it through the experience unscathed and only has 5 and 1/2 legs remaining (as Susan HATES spiders, I think Terrence is just lucky to be alive).  Terrence is going to be moving to a terrarium tonight and I caught a couple of crickets during my lunch to make the new home more comfortable for him.

Susan has been hired to take pictures at a wedding next weekend.  It's her first paying photography job and a great opportunity for Susan to use her skills and further build her portfolio.  I get to be her assistant which will be fun for me. 

I finished the final class in the MBA program I've been working on for the last 2 years on Wednesday.  I'm really glad to be done and look forward to having more free time.  While it doesn’t change anything at my job right now, I do believe it will pay off later in my career. 

Susan and I have been auto crossing the 350Z all summer long.  We've made a lot of new friends this season and are really enjoying ourselves.  If any of you are visiting on a race weekend we would love to have to come take rides with us! 

The Nissan owners club we partially own has been going strong.  We have almost 350 members now and are still growing.  We've planned and conducted several events throughout the summer.  Managing the members can sometimes be a challenge but it has been satisfying to have a hand in leading our community of auto enthusiasts. 

The pugs are as cute as ever.  Tweetie still seems to feel the need to get into trouble on occasion and not too long ago decided to chew a hole in our new carpet.  I do believe that pugs would have long ago gone extinct if they weren't so adorable. 

We still love our house (good thing, right?).  Susan likes to tend to the various flowers and other plants I don't know the names of and I occasionally mow the lawn.  It has been unusually wet this summer which has helped our grass stay alive despite my best efforts.  We had a mini spider outbreak earlier this summer and hired Orkin to come by and do their thing.  Most of the spiders have been concentrated in the basement and garage (like Terrence) and not in the main living areas.  The Orkin man who visited us seems to have helped a lot as I'm seeing a lot more dead spiders than live ones lately. 

I've rejoined my old high school band again a few months ago.  We try to practice once a week and played at a house party a while back.  I've really missed playing with the guys and have had a lot of fun so far. 

We have a busy weekend coming up.  Tonight we're throwing a little BBQ to celebrate my MBA completion.  Tomorrow Susan is taking pre-wedding photos of the bride and groom in a park and Sunday there's band practice during the day and a club manager meeting in the evening. 

We were really shocked the news on Marshall and can't imagine how hard this has been for him and Amanda (and you too Mom).  We are really hoping things turn out as well as they possibly can. 

I hope this email finds you and your families well,

max