Christmas 1997

Season’s Greetings!

We hope this letter finds everyone healthy and happy as the New Year approaches.
The past twelve months have found the two of us staying at home more frequently than in previous years – and we have certainly enjoyed the opportunity to spend more time with our local friends.

In January, we decided to adopt two little girls (of the feline persuasion) – a gray, British-blue tabby which we named Gray-C (as in “Gray Cat”), and a classic tabby that we named Abbie. They were both raised as kittens by the same foster family and were 5 months old and 8 months old, respectively, when we adopted them. They keep each other company when we’re not at home, and they get along wonderfully. They each have distinct, yet wonderful disposition and we love them!

It wasn’t until June that we made our first trip of the year – our annual Cruise Trek adventure, where Eric serves as emcee. This year’s excursion took us to Tahiti, also known as French Polynesia. We flew to Tahiti from Los Angeles, whereupon we embarked on a seven day cruise through the islands, stopping first at Huahine, then Raiatea where we toured old ruins and visited ancient temples of human sacrifice. Our next stop was Bora Bora where we laid anchor for two days. Our excursions here included a shark feeding where we snorkeled along a coral reef while professional divers fed sharks just a few feet away. It wasn’t as scary as you might expect, but it was exhilarating. We also got to hand-feed Sting Rays as they swam around us in the water. It was really cool to have them eating out of our hands! The next day was spent on a tiny reef island known as a Motu (a sand bar with palm trees), enjoying a barbecue and water sports. The last two days of our cruise were spent anchored in Cook’s Bay at the island or Moorea.

If ever there was a paradise on Earth, Moorea is the place. This island is incredibly beautiful with its jagged volcanic mountains jutting skyward, surrounded by deep waters of such intense blue, it’s impossible to describe with mere words. Here on Moorea we toured the island on scooters and visited steep vistas overlooking the incredible rock formation known as Bali Hi and the beautiful waters of Cook’s Bay below. Back at the ship we were treated to a private tour of the surround bays on one of the cruise ship’s motorized zodiacs. We had hoped to encounter some wild dolphin pods, but no such luck! Our friends who went scuba diving, however, encountered no less than 60 sharks on their dive, some as big as 20 feet! Leaving Tahiti was difficult. We could easily have there forever!

In July, we headed north to Canada where Eric was a guest speaker at a Star Trek convention in Toronto – conveniently arranged to we could take advantage of an opportunity to visit Debra’s family (mom & dad, brother & sister-in-law, our niece and two nephews) – all of whom attended the convention. Father Terry, the priest who married us, also made a surprise visit to the convention, and we had a great time. Debra stayed in Toronto for a few extra days to spend more time with her family, but Eric had to return to work in Los Angeles. Coincidentally, Eric’s sister and brother-in-law were in Southern California at the same time, as were Deb’s bridesmaids, Linda & Angie. Since Stacey was staying in the same area as Linda and Angie, they drove Stacey into the city one day to visit with Eric, then came back the next day for another visit, this time with Toya (who sang at our wedding)! It would have been even more fun if Deb could have been here!

During the summer, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary and mostly kept busy with work. Debra resigned from her Home Health position in July to spend more time working in the Short Stay unit at the hospital. Eric continues his employment at Paramount Pictures, and is currently working for his writer/producer boss on projects which include the next Star Trek movie and a TV pilot for CBS. Additionally, Debra took on some additional clients in her capacity as a freelance booking agent. Debra books actors for personal appearances at Star Trek conventions. We started a house fund this year in our quest to become homeowners, and the extra income from both Eric and Debra’s convention activities has been helpful. Eric also writes a regular column for the Communicator, a magazine published by the Official Star Trek Fan Club.

The summer’s end was sadly marked by the untimely death of Britain’s Princess Diana, which hit Eric particularly hard because of his affinity for England and all things royal. Our friends from England (Kim, Ali, Theresa & Debbie) were particularly thoughtful – sending copies of special Diana tributes and adding our names to the official books of condolence in England – even though it was we who should been consoling them on their nation’s loss. Such is the hospitality of the British people. Fortunately this year, we did have the opportunity to return some of the hospitality as we hosted a series of visits from various of our British friends, and some acquaintances from Germany, too.

On Halloween weekend, Debra participated in an annual craft fair organized and hosted by Eric’s sister, Stacey, in Eugene. The craft fair was a success and good fun was had by all. But on Sunday (which was intended to be a combo birthday celebration for Eric & Stacey), Eric came down with a 24-hour bug an couldn’t even partake in the home-cooked meal prepared especially by mom! Drats!!!

For the second year in a row, we found ourselves out of the country for Thanksgiving. This year, Debra arranged for Eric to be a guest at a Star Trek convention in Sydney, Australia. Since the trip coincided with a paid U.S. holiday, we were able to spend 10 days down under. We arrived in Sydney on November 21st and hit the ground running – visiting a wildlife park on the very first day. We got to see Koalas, Kangaroos, Wombats, and other exotic animals, and Eric even handled a black-headed python. Debra opted to be less adventurous. The convention was small, but great fun, and our hosts, Adel & Brian Carr, were ever the gracious hosts. On Monday, they took us to the Hunter Valley and arranged a wine & cheese tasting at one of Australia’s wineries. On Tuesday, they took us to the Blue Mountains. On Wednesday, we toured Sydney and helped celebrate the grand opening of Star City – a new mega-casino at Darling Harbor. The celebration included fireworks and a free outdoor concert by Diana Ross, which we attended. The next day, Debra and I visited the casino, won $100 (courtesy of Debra, who has her mother’s touch at the slot machines!), and were the very first guests to eat lunch in the hotel’s rooftop restaurant overlooking the majestic Sydney skyline. Later that evening, we joined Adele & Brian at Sydney’s Planet Hollywood restaurant where we treated our hosts to their very first Thanksgiving dinner! On Friday, they drove us down the coast past Botany Bay, the place where Australia’s first British colonists arrived in the 19th century – mostly criminals sent to establish a penal colony.

We also visited a couple of jewelry stores, one of which featured some of Australia’s famous, naturally-occurring pink diamonds. These diamonds are so rare, a one-carat stone sells for $250,000.00. We decided to pass on the pink diamonds this time around, but we did buy a couple of Australian opals. Our ten days in Australia was over before we knew it, and soon we found ourselves on a flight headed for home. The only advantage to spending 14 hours on a place ride from Sydney is that we arrived home in Los Angeles five hours before we left. We departed Sydney on Saturday at 1 PM and arrived in L.A. at 7:30 AM the same Saturday. Amazing those time travel machines!

We’ve barely had a chance to catch our breath since returning, and now the holidays are upon us already. On December 5th, we hosted more German guests for a dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant in North Hollywood. On the 6th, we attended Debra’s Short Stay Christmas party. Next week we have more parties and birthday dinners to attend. We’ll spend Christmas with Heidi & Waverly Smothers and their three kids in Granada Hills. (Heidi is the production coordinator on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; she and Eric grew up and went to school together in Eugene.) We’ll probably have a quiet New Year’s Eve, then we’re off to Las Vegas on January 3, 1998, for the grand opening of the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton – a new Paramount Parks attraction which includes an interactive adventure on board the starship Enterprise, a 22-minute flight simulation ride through space, and a visit to Quark’s restaurant & bar (and gift shop!) at Deep Space Nine... but more on that in next year’s letter! We hope your New Year takes off with similar excitement and good fortune!

Love & Best Wishes Always,

Debra & Eric