Christmas Greetings, 2016

Carolle Trembley & John Palmer                                      eclectecon@gmail.com

#602, 19 King Street                                                    carolle.trembley@gmail.com

London, Ontario, N6A 5N8

November 29, 2016.

John and Carolle at CN Tower for Anniversary Lunch

Well hello

         It is still November, there is no snow on the ground (indeed the temperature today is in the teens), but we have already begun Christmas shopping.  There’s something wrong with this picture because once Carolle begins Christmas shopping, it doesn’t end until Christmas.  Oh well.

John kept busy all year with different roles in plays and in mystery dinner theatres.  He keeps complaining about his memory, but seems to do well in these plays.  And he hasn’t completely retired from economics.  This fall he presented a paper on “Property Rights and Contract Enforcement in the Post-Zombie Apocalypse” in Windsor and Regina.  While in Regina, he stayed with granddaughter, Kayla, and visited with Carolle’s Uncle Bruce and Aunt Ollie. He also took advantage of the opportunity to play a few gigs with the Saskatchewan Roughriders Pep Band. 

John at Grey Cup

         John rejoined the Pep Band in Toronto for Grey Cup this year.  His lips bore the brunt of all the playing they did on the street, in bars, at the Toronto Convention Centre, and tailgating parties, etc.  But he looooved it all.  Boy, was he tired when he got home after the 4 days. 

Carolle was sick quite a bit this year, being diagnosed with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder), and congestive heart failure, which responded completely when the meds kicked in a few weeks ago.  She is still having trouble with her breathing and back pain. Now she talks about approaching age 80 in 4 years!!  Still, she is so grateful for the wonderful life she and John have.  She loves playing “Words with (several) Friends” on line, doing sudokus and jigsaw puzzles.  Her computer gets a good workout each day. 

Viv, John, and Carolle in our Blue Jays Jerseys

This year Carolle’s sister, Viv, came with us to our annual anniversary celebration.  We three boarded the train to Toronto and then stayed for 3 days at the Skydome where John and Carolle had a room overlooking the baseball field.  Viv was thrilled with being able to watch everything that went on in the field below.  We all swear she smiled the entire time.  She voted to return for this celebration each year.  Hurrah. 

Melinda and Jacob

Lara painting Nana's toenails

Elise & Carolle with pigtails

We visited with Jacob, Melinda and Lara and Elise in Houston twice this year.  During the first visit, Carolle refers to one evening as the spa, where Elise put Carolle’s (short) hair into pigtails and Lara painted her toenails. What fun. On our second visit, we celebrated both Melinda’s and Carolle’s birthdays.  Jacob finally received his long-ago promised promotion—and backpay, hurrah!  

Matthew and Laura

Matthew looks so happy with his girlfriend, Laura.  She’s a doll and they spend as much time together as they can.  Matthew has completed his on-line MBA this year.  He will be glad to have more free time.  Laura is starting her course soon.  Cordelia and Phebe are working on developing their career paths. 

Rachael is doing well, putting together a new life.  She is looking good.  Kayla moved to Regina and is doing well at her job at the furniture store and maybe thinking of returning to London where, it is reported, her firm may be opening a store.  Good.  We all miss her.

Paytyn

Our 2-year old great granddaughter, Paytyn, is growing quickly and appears to be having quite a good time at it.  She has curly hair and a fabulous smile and loooootttts of energy and is so much fun to have around.  Veronica is pregnant again, so we will have another great grandbaby in May.  Veronica and Jodie are awesome parents and they are looking forward to the new baby.

We have had a full year of family and friends this year, which we enjoyed.  Christmas this year will be lunch out at the Mandarin—a family favorite restaurant.  We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy and lucky 2017.

                                                                             with love

                                                      from carolle and John