7 Harbor Road Morganville, NJ 07751 22 December 2004 2005 Seasons Greetings from Suzanne and Rod: Things are quieter at the end of 2005, now that Suzanne is no longer a member of the NAWBO administration. While still the "Immediate Past President" she did manage a last "rendition" to Morocco in the spring to help represent the US at a meeting of the FCEM (world women business owners). Rod did not phone her during her trip, thus hopefully avoiding inclusion in the NSA phone log database. The clicks you hear on the line if you phone here are probably just the family computers trying to insert their own 2 cents into the conversation, or at least so we hope. She enjoyed visiting Morocco and seeing again some of the people from other countries who are active in FCEM. In March Suzanne organized a retreat for all the past NAWBO presidents at Barnesley Gardens in northern Georgia. The "gardens" aspect of the location wasn't so much in evidence at that time of year, but the group enjoyed meeting. Rod drove his new Civic down and picked her up afterwards for a leisurely trip back northward back into the cold. We discovered that the Blue Ridge Parkway was still closed in spots due to snow, requiring a bit of back-tracking in the car, but also allowing us to hike a bit on trails that were not overpopulated. Another road trip in June was made to the land of the mouse in Florida, this time due to the scheduling of the annual NAWBO convention at the Contemporary Hotel in Disneyworld. While Suzanne attended convention activities, Rod dodged raindrops at the theme park and gorged himself on BBQ and latin food. We managed some side trips along the way down and back to do some hiking and exploring. Our daily exercise situation improved greatly with the good weather as the Monmouth County Park System opened a couple of new segments of the Henry Hudson Rail Trail, one of which passes within 200 feet of our house. That segment allows us to walk as far as 4 miles north of our house along an unused rail right-of-way as far as Matawan, where there are a number of restaurants within sight of the trail. While most days see us going just halfway, its a nice weekend walk for lunch if we traverse the whole segment. We have convinced each other that the calories gained by eating a restaurant meal must have been burned off by the walk there and back. Please feel free to avoid presenting us with any facts that might disprove this assertion. We attempted only one short camping trip this year to Ricketts Glen State Park in PA, a success for scenery and weather, but points off for the failure of the gasoline stove and lower standards of Rods meal prep due to that lack. Rod is still enjoying his retirement which includes watching the death and rebirth of AT&T in 2005. He did not predict the speed of shrinkage of his old employer to the point where it could be purchased by one of the "Baby Bells", apparently without any major antitrust concerns. He keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop on retirement benefits, not a positive feeling given the trends in industry today. Suzanne is expanding her artistic endeavors into producing scarves with the NAWBO logo. This involved much negotiation with NAWBO for branding and opening a new page on her web site to accept orders and payments through PayPal. She found the creation of the design for the scarf a lot of fun, but the mechanics for getting it sold less so. To replace some of the interactions with NAWBO on the national level, Suzanne has become more active in the local NAWBO chapter. She sponsored local activities by using her graphic design talents to run an awards program this fall. She did a similar activity for the Western Monmouth Chamber of Commerce. Naturally these activities required printing, so we now have a new resident color laser printer. We also had centerpieces on every horizontal surface for a while and stacks of programs. With a little luck both organizations now know how such activities should be properly performed and someone else can take up the torch next year. There were serious setbacks in 2005 to Rods plans for switching residence to a warmer climate. Katrina and Rita, both hitting Louisiana on either side of Lafayette have firmed up Suzannes opinion that moving south is not always a winner. Thankfully, relatives on both sides got through the hurricane season relatively unscathed. The worst impact was on Rods nephew David who had to leave Tulane due to Katrina. Due to decisions by that school, the move will probably be permanent. Suzannes brother in Lake Charles had minimal storm damage which he only noticed after returning from prospecting in California during the storm season. WARNING: The Center For Pease Control has mandated this health advisory: avian flu is a minor concern in NJ compared with a recently discovered danger to the welfare of all husbands, namely "beading". This highly addictive infection starts with small tubes found in many places including web stores, but the habitat for the most dangerous variant is in small retail establishments located within one mile of home. Symptoms include complaints about the lighting and the inability to stay away from the wheel of a car during daylight hours when the above mentioned establishment is open. Wives afflicted with this disease can be recognized sitting around in front of the TV mumbling phrases such as "oops", "lost a needle", "my precious", and "what just happened?". So far there appears to be no cure. Paliative treatment is similar to that for many diseases, the application of "yes dear" at appropriate intervals. We wish you a happy and prosperous 2006. Suzanne and Rod web pages: Rods home page at http://home.att.net/~rod.pease/ Suzanne's business home page at www.ampersandgraphics.com Kevin's business home page at www.cerulean.st Kevin's online comic strip at www.absurdnotions.org email: Rods email: rod.pease@att.net Suzanne's email: spease@ampersandgraphics.com Kevin's email: mail@cerulean.st