Christmas 2000

Holiday greetings & warm wishes to you and yours. And Happy New Millennium – this time for real! We hope the season brings you good cheer and good fortune, love, joy & happiness! The past year has zipped along, and already we find ourselves celebrating our third Christmas in our new home. Seems not long ago we were just packing up the decorations and putting them into storage for another year...

In January, after surviving worldwide computer crashes, power failures, communications blackouts, food shortages and the total apocalypse of common sense resulting from media-driven millennium hysteria, we put our lives back together and resumed our day to day routine pretty much as usual. For starters, we joined friends for an enjoyable performance of Les Miserables at the Ahmanson Theatre in L.A. Later in the month, we attended a party at the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of The WB Television Network. Eric’s boss has been developing new programs for the network and the party was packed with familiar faces from our favorite TV shows, including 7th Heaven, Buffy, Angel, Roswell, Charmed, Felicity, Popular and others.

In February, we flew to San Jose for the California Democratic Party Convention. Vice President Al Gore and Senator Bill Bradley both spoke. Overall, the event was so boring we decided to come home early.

In March, we had a bit of a scare. After working out at the gym on a Saturday, we decided to go plant shopping at a local nursery. It was a very hot day and Debra started experiencing chest pains. The nursery staff called 911 and an ambulance and three police cars arrived on the scene in a matter of minutes. Debra was taken to a nearby hospital emergency room where the doctors made a thorough examination and determined it was not a heart attack. But just to be safe, they wanted to admit her overnight for observation. She was not a happy camper! Because it was a weekend, she ended up spending her birthday in the hospital. The final prognosis determined that she had over-exerted herself at the gym and her magnesium levels were low. Otherwise, she was just fine.

In May, we headed off for our annual cruise, which sailed this year from Barcelona, Spain. We arrived in Barcelona three days before embarkation. We hit the town and discovered the heart of the city along Las Ramblas, a tree-lined boulevard filled with outdoor cafes and shops. On day two, we kicked into full tourist mode and made pilgrimages to visit medieval churches and the local Gaudi architecture, including the inspiring work-in-progress – Sagrada Familia – a spiraling cathedral with incredible views from its churro-like spires.

On day three, we took an early morning train into the Catalan countryside for a visit to Montserrat, a mysterious monastery on the side of a mountaintop where we viewed the captivating Black Madonna.

On Sunday, May 21, we embarked the Maasdam and by nightfall the cruise was well underway as we sailed across the Mediterranean. In the middle of the night, Eric became very ill – probably from something he ate or drank in Spain – and began to suffer bouts of severe chills and fever (among other things). At first he was too sick to leave our cabin, so we were fortunate to be at sea for the first full day of the cruise.

On Tuesday, we arrived at La Goulette, Tunisia, in the northern tip of Africa. We headed out on a bus tour destined for the ancient ruins of Carthage with its sweeping vistas of the Mediterranean Sea. Eric made the best of it, though he felt weak and always needed to be in close proximity to a restroom. He claims, however, that one visit to a Tunisian restroom was enough to cure him. Our next stop was Sidi Bou Saïd, a hillside village of white buildings and blue doors that matched the color of Eric’s hair. (Eric had bleached his hair white, had gotten a crew cut, and colored the tips of his hair blue just before the cruise!) The Tunisians are a friendly sort. One street vender told Eric that Debra was worth a thousand camels!
On Wednesday, we arrived in Palermo, Sicily, and departed on an excursion to visit the ruins of Solunto – an ancient Phoenician town that was later occupied by the Romans. Afterwards we visited the nearby town of Bagheria and a baroque villa.

On Thursday, we arrived in Civitavecchia, Italy – the port of Rome. We departed early on our whirlwind tour of Rome, with views of the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, the Imperial Forums, the Tiber River and Castel Sant’Angelo. We only had a moment to throw a coin in Trevi Fountain and a few minutes more to the visit the Spanish steps. By this point, Eric had not eaten an ounce of solid food in four days for fear of being too sick to participate in our pre-paid excursions. His biggest disappointment was not getting to eat Italian food in Rome! In the afternoon, we toured the Vatican, including St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica (which is the most amazing cathedral we’ve ever seen), plus the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel.
On Friday, we arrived in Monte Carlo. Our excursion began with a spectacular scenic drive along the beautiful French Riviera. We spent some time shopping in Nice and visiting a Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Afterwards we drove up to the ancient village of Eze, perched high above the sea on the face of a cliff. We fell in love with Eze and marveled at the medieval architecture and cobblestone streets.

On Saturday, we arrived in Marseille, France, and departed immediately for the beautiful Provence countryside. We went to Avignon -- home to the 14th Century popes -- and toured the Palace of the Popes, strolled the cobblestone streets and had our pictures taken against the Rhone River and the Pont d’Avignon – the ruins of a bridge made famous by the children’s song of the same name. This was a nice moment for Debra who fondly recalls the song from her childhood growing up in Quebec. Next we visited the amazing medieval village of Les Baux, now home to a variety of delightful artisan shops. The many vistas of Les Baux offered a most amazing panorama of the French countryside.

On Sunday, we were back in Barcelona, soon bound for home.

In June, July & August we tried to take it easy, relax and enjoy the summer weekends in our own back yard. We diligently worked in our flower and vegetable gardens and inaugurated our fish pond with Koi. We had friends over for barbeques and pool parties whenever possible. We made time for a weekend trip to Toronto to see Debra’s family (including nephews Sean & CJ and niece Danielle), as well as a weekend trip to Las Vegas for a wedding. In July, Debra was recommended for a position at Providence Holy Cross as an Oncology Nurse Clinician and was hired to educate other nurses about the latest developments, procedures, and treatments in the field of Oncology. Teaching is something Debra really enjoys.

In September, our Koi pond was included in a local “Tour of Water Gardens” as part of a fundraiser for the Chamber of Commerce education foundation. We were one of 13 ponds included on the tour. A week later, raccoons also discovered our pond and began a systematic effort to disrupt our lives by eating every fish in sight over a period of several weeks -- despite every effort on our part to stop them. We plan to have a much deeper pond when we start over again next year.

In October, Eric’s parents came for a visit. We took them to the new J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and also visited the campus of Debra’s alma mater, Mt. St. Mary’s, in nearby Brentwood, where Debra went to nursing school.

In November, Debra went to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the Oncology Fall Institute of Learning. Deb’s parents, Clinton & Margaret, arrived from Canada the week before Thanksgiving and will be spending the winter season with us in California. Our two cats, Abbie & Gray-C, love the constant attention. We flew to Oregon and spent Thanksgiving week in Eugene with Eric’s family and left Deb’s parents in California to cat-sit. (It’s okay. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October!). We had a nice time in Eugene visiting friends and family and got to spend lots of time with nephew Zach. At the end of the month, back home in California, Debra spoke to a local women’s group about Breast Cancer Awareness.

The first weekend of December, Debra was off to Dallas, Texas, for a two-day Oncology Seminar. But now we’re both home for the holidays, and plan to kick back and enjoy the festivities of the season. Since we don’t know what the New Year will bring, we’ll just take advantage of this unpresidented time in American history to reflect on our good fortune and count our blessings. And recount them. And recount them. And recount them. J

Have aMerry Christmas & a chad-free New Year!

Love,
Debra & Eric