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Our Christmas Letter for 2004
Nancy and Bob Murdock, Editors - murmuse@erols.com

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HOLIDAY GREETINGS 2004
FROM
NANCY & BOB MURDOCK
Greetings at the end of 2004

This year has been different for us. Normally our chief news is of several trips. This year we began as usual, doing easy time after the holidays, and Nancy went to Seattle for an enjoyable business trip in March.

However, about two days before the trip, Bob came down with the shingles virus on his forehead, extending to the right eye, which altered the rest of our year. In our innocence, we expected it to be over within a couple of weeks, as it had for Nancy long ago, and for others we had known. By the time it was past, Bob had eye damage, couldn't drive the car, and had learned patience well beyond any interest he had previously had in acquiring that virtue. He also had his first experience with chronic pain, which he would have preferred to leave out of his life experiences. The good news was that he decided to stop any intake of caffeine, so we're now on the same page with that.

Finally, nine months after the discovery that something was wrong, he has had cataracts removed from both eyes and is walking around with no glasses. Well, actually, he is walking around with both sunglasses and reading glasses, and is looking forward to a new prescription for distance that will clear up the last bit of fuzziness. But he can read traffic signs again! We are both longing for the day when he once again gets behind the steering wheel. Nancy has cut his grocery trips down to once a week, and he is dreaming of being able to pop over to Super Fresh when the urge hits him.

In July, the Howlett family finally talked us into going to NH for the annual July 4 reunion. We knew Nancy couldn't drive that distance without her naps during Bob's turns. So our friend Colleen McKay, a seasoned traveler, did a superb job of arranging our trip. We had an easy flight by Southwest into the Manchester NH airport. We didn't even know there was such a place! We had a good time visiting in NH and MA, including the Murdocks as well as Howletts who didn't come to the reunion. We played Scrabble with some of our cherished opponents, caught up on a lot of news, noticed how tall our siblings' grandchildren are now, and had a nice visit with Bob's sister Lennie in an Alzheimer facility. This month we received the news of her death from a heart attack, so we will cherish those memories.

Meanwhile, our own children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren keep us happily busy with emails and phone calls. In this era of easy digital picture swapping, we are keeping up with all their changes visually as well as orally. At last count, we have 5 children, 10 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

Valerie has nearly completed her teaching certification and is teaching difficult high school students. This is really bringing out her creativity! Roy and Tami have revived an interest in golf and are enjoying their ownership of a house after several years of renting. Darrel and his friend Kathy have done a remarkable job of finding and photographing all the gorgeous waterfalls in MN and WI, along with assorted other finds in the state parks. They are working on Internet sites to sell the photos and would eventually like to frame them for sale.

Ian has a new grandson and a new daughter-in-law. He and Becky are talking about a short getaway trip in the near future. Meri has moved into an apartment complex that she terms Kitty Village. Her own cats keep her in line when she does anything they disapprove of, such as leaving wrapped Christmas presents in their living room.

Starting in January, we will have to weed out a batch of belongings so we can stop making excuses to ourselves as to why the apartment has overflowing closets and paper items that get lost in the shuffle. We will have been here 18 years!!! We're trying hard to get enthused about this task, but we have a long way to go before we can convince ourselves.

Nancy is working on as much quilting as possible. She has taken several classes in embellishing the quilts, such as beading and sewing with fancy threads. She gave a demo on Bargello quilts at her guild quilt show in May, followed by an all-day class for her guild a couple of months later. She even signed up for an April quilting retreat in 2005. That's where the quilters stay up late sewing and eating snack foods they wouldn't allow themselves at home.

So the future looks very rosy. We will have to tell you next year how long we stick to our closet reduction plans. Meanwhile, we are about to start our 14th year with The Murdock Muse, our family newsletter that is now online. We invite you to visit this long-lasting publication at http://d21c.com/murmuse/. Earlier copies, starting with November-December 2001, are available at “Previous Issues.” And you can reach us by Email at murmuse@erols.com.

Thank you for being a part of our life. We truly appreciate how fortunate we are to have a large extended family and great friends. God has really blessed us.

We wish you happy holidays and a great year 2005.

Nancy and Bob Murdock
Baltimore, MD

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