Season’s Greetings!
December 2010
Welcome to my second annual Holiday Letter. This year I am going green with my letter! Basically, I can’t afford to print and mail these suckers. As the way of my people, it has been another busy year.
School remains a prominent part of my life. After 2 months of intensive research, 43 hours of interviews, 2 conferences in Dallas and Washington DC, plus countless weekends, I am happy to say I survived my thesis! Now I have 2 quarters of school till graduation in June. In May, I took advantage of my first abroad school trip; a program at the Cannes Film Festival in France. I went out a few days early to see my sister, who is still attending school and living in Paris. It was wonderful to catch up with her, see Paris, and eat escargot. Once in Cannes, I saw amazing films, terrible films, and really strange foreign films. The students in this trip also got to meet with several entertainment professionals in the film distribution business. And there was a yacht party I went to till 3am.
Back in the States, I remained busy purchasing my first home. As of my birthday in July, I officially became a homeowner! As thrilled as Craig and I are of our condo, it is a work in progress. We got a place heavily infested with cockroaches, broken windows, and walls covered in crayons. Several visits from an exterminator, and many visits to Home Depot, and I can proudly say that our place is bug-free and on its way to total awesomeness. However, two weeks before we had to move in, I had an emergency appendicitis. I was out of commission, and Craig really put in heroic efforts to get us moved. After several weeks of recovery I am good as new, except for a few scars. And Craig tells me scars are sexy.
We had two additions to our furry family. Due to unfortunate circumstances, we ended up with Craig’s sister’s cat, Newton. This fat orange tabby is an utter love bug. He loves to sit in my lap , purr, and shed. We also adopted a small, fluffy mutt from the Humane Society. Our Princess Buttercup was rescued from a hoarder, who had 35 small dogs at his place. Buttercup was one of the last of these dogs adopted from the shelter. She is dangerously cute, and has tagged Craig as her ‘super special person.’ Now at 4 cats, 1 dog, 1 fish, and 2 people, Craig and I are especially glad to have moved into a larger place.
Sadly, there has been tragedy this year. The worst news came in October when Craig’s younger brother Bobby died suddenly. He was an amazing and loving person. We, along with the rest of his family and friends, miss him greatly.
As the year comes to a close, I look forward to significant events coming up next year. Both my sister and I will graduate from masters programs in June. After three years of working full time and attending a top MBA program, I am ready to move on. It has been an interesting and intense journey. Craig and I are eagerly looking forward to our wedding in September. We anticipate an intimate service at the park where my parents had their wedding reception. Afterward, we will be moving the reception to a local water park. We can’t wait!
I hope this year sees you in good health and good spirits.
All the best,
Brandie & Craig
Tesla, Kelvin, Curie & Newton
Princess Buttercup
