The Jennifer Blogs

This is the time of year my friends and family all send me those letters that allow me to look back with them on where they've been and what they've done in 2007. I've enjoyed reading them and am grateful to those of you who've shared with me. However, I'm not going to do it. 

For one thing, I have two children and with that comes a certain degree of memory loss. As a parent, I look forward to losing bits and pieces of my memory. It's far better to forget things than to remember all the crap they've put you through the past year. For another thing, I have two children and with that comes a certain … oh wait, I think I may have said that already.



Another reason is the only significant thing that really occurred this year was our move to a foreign country. How on else am I going to entertain you with the things that happened in January through September?



So instead, I present to you A LOOK AHEAD. Here's what we know will be happening in 2008. I'm sure there will be much more to add to this list, and maybe at the end of 2008 I'll have it all written down so that the stuff I've forgotten will be in print and I can send out one of those retrospective letters myself.



January:

1: New Year's Day. The Japanese will be celebrating the Year of the Mouse. Or maybe it's a Rat. It looks like a mouse.


8: We will be traveling from the US back to Japan after an extended holiday visit with friends and family. 


17: Marso is taking the day off work so we can all enjoy a tour of the sumo stables. We will also be allowed to watch the sumo wrestlers practice for about an hour.




February:

1: Jen turns 36. Mighty close to 40.



March:
We are supposed to be in Singapore by April. The operative word here is "by." That means we will need to be moving sometime in March. This will be a busy month for us as we search for the perfect place to live for the next two years of our lives. We'll be looking for a place with a gym and a pool. Singapore is HOT. 

I'm excited that some friends of ours from Louisiana – the Despinos – will probably be joining us for this adventure. Chad will likely be accepting a position with the company for the Singapore part of the project.




April:

23: Jean-Luc turns 15. I'll lose more memory.

By now we hope to have found a church in Singapore where we can serve in areas where God has gifted us. Ideally it will also have an excellent youth ministry so Jean-Luc and D'Ette can also get involved.

We will also have the kids enrolled in Tae Kwon Do and/or gymnastics in Singapore. There was no place to put them in Japan because none of the schools we found offered instruction in English.




May:

11: Marso and I will celebrate our eighth year of marriage. I'm going to ask for a puppy.


13: Marso turns 52. Mighty close to 40. (that's what we're telling him) If I didn't get a puppy for our anniversary, I will give Marso one for his birthday.




June:

13: The kids' last day of school




July:
We'd like to take a summer vacation. Maybe Australia.




August:

31: I will be so skinny you won't recognize me.




September:

2: Marso and I celebrate our eighth anniversary again. That's the beauty of going to the justice of the peace before the altar. You get two anniversaries!


8: The kids start their second year at Laurel Springs School.


28: D'Ette becomes a teenager. I will lose more memory, more money, and at this point Marso and I may be the dumbest we've ever been.




October:
We have friends who have promised to come see us in Singapore. This might be the best time of the year to come. Singapore is very tropical year-round, but it will probably be best to come during winter months, even though there's no such thing as "winter" in Singapore. Kind of like Florida.




November:
There's a lot to be thankful for, and it's on Thanksgiving Day every year that I make the kids write down a list of things for which they are thankful. Maybe in 2008 we will be beat out "Jacob Petro" on Jean-Luc's list. In 2007, Jacob was 10 while Marso, D'Ette and I didn't even make the Top 50.




December:

25: Our friends the Bigsbys will come to Singapore to use their timeshare and spend Christmas with us.