Sunday, December 20, 2009
Happy Holidays 2009
And here we are, another year (and decade) gone by. It's been a quiet one overall, compared to some -- no major vacations or trips, no huge crises or grand announcements (other than installing new kitchen counters). Given the way life probably was for everyone -- thank you, recession -- quiet was probably a good thing.
Strange to think how quickly everything passes, though. It was at this time 10 years ago we were making a switch from living in Southern California to going back to living in Sacramento, when Alan took a new job. He took a new job (sort of) again this year, working in the IT internal communications department at Intel in Folsom. This is a third time around for him, after two previous short-term stints as a contractor. He's also adjusting to the fact that he'll soon be the shortest member of the family, courtesy of a certain growing 13-year-old (more on that below), and that his 25-year high school reunion will (or might not) be taking place in 2010. Not that anyone is starting to feel old or anything... And of course, he doesn't want anyone to know that for the second time, he earned an "honorable mention" in the Writers' Digest short story competition.
Nicole is still teaching French at Bella Vista High School, actually seeing an entire class thro
ugh over the past four years from French 1 to French 4. This is a first -- in previous years, something always interrupted her flow after two or three years, whether it was a job change or temporary switch to another type of teacher. Needless to say, she's missed several of these longtime students. In February, she went to Belgium for a couple weeks to observe how high school students there conduct themselves in class -- a first for her in that country (and a first chance for her to observe the education system in any French-speaking country). Next up is another trip to France in 2010 with several of her current students (and probably Alan and Caelan as well). She's also kept herself busy with numerous local, state and national presentations to language teachers and with other committees, groups and boards.
Caelan is now in eighth grade and officially became a teenager this month. He doesn't seem any different -- that kid-to-teenager switch apparently isn't automatic. People tell us that the best years -- one way or another -- are yet to come (we will miss his voice, though...it's deepened a bit in recent months). We look forward to them. Meanwhile, he's busy growing his ever-curlier hair (three years and counting since his last full haircut), writing fiction stories (wonder where he got that from?), improving his video game-playing prowess and working with friends to create online animated stories. He's also greatly enjoying his community service program this year: spending four hours a week helping second and third graders with afterschool projects at one of the local elementary schools. He plans to continue with it throughout the school year even though he's already surpassed the number of hours of community service required by his school.
The pets are plugging along, although not without event. The cat, Chattrbachs, is as perky and playful as ever, and genuinely seems to like our dog, Sophie. We expect to find them sleeping together one day in an effort to keep warm (and based on recent events -- we actually had snow in the Sacramento area a couple weeks ago, the biggest storm here in more than 15 years).
Sophie is getting to be a bit long in the tooth -- 10 years old now, or about 70 in human years -- but she's still motoring around. Her only big thing this year was managing to rupture a tendon in one of her legs -- similar to an ACL tear in a human -- that needed surgery and a lot of inactive time to correct. About a week ago, the veterinarian officially gave her the okay to move around for short
5-minute walks over the next month, a time allotment that will gradually be upped after that (as if we're going to be able to keep a three-foot high, 70-pound dog from moving around when she wants).
There were other events involving family and friends. Alan's uncle, Tom, died of complications from Alzheimer's last spring; one of Nicole's longtime foreign language colleagues, Carol Eberhart, died of cancer in February. And Nicole's aunt, Marianne, and her new husband, Tony, bought a house in Roseville after Tony secured his visa for permanent residence.
Otherwise, a pretty quiet year. Will next year be as quiet? Guess you'll have to come back here again in 2010 (or thereabouts) to find out.
Best wishes to all of you as we head into a new, bold decade (the 20-"teens"?).
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Merry Christmas 2008
Here's to hoping this post finds everyone well. We've had a very busy year, of course.
Caelan just had his 12th birthday party at a local bowling alley. We treated his friends to pizza, cake, bowling, laser tag, rock wall and the video arcade. Everyone had a great time. Caelan is still at Winston Churchill Middle School, in the International Baccalaureate Program. He has made several new friends there and the program suits him well. This year, he chose drama for his elective, which is a great fit for him. In fact we have found that one of our favorite pastimes as a family is going to see plays. In the past year, we've taken Caelan to see live productions of Bye Bye Birdie, Sweeney Todd, Little Shop of Horrors, and Phantom of the Opera, and The Crucible. We don't always go to the main theater downtown (too expensive). We supplement that with dinner theater and my high school's productions. For his community service project, he is continuing to work with the Sacramento SPCA. They don't allow students to work with animals, so he collects newspapers for them to use in their cages.
We've traveled a lot this year as well. We took another cruise this summer. It was terrific. We
went to the Grand Cayman Islands and to Cozumel. At the Grand Caymans, we visited Sting Ray City, which is an amazing experience! We also went to Disney World in November and had a wonderful time there as well. Of course since I am usually the one pushing to travel (and therefore responsible for the fact that we spend so much money on travel), I've been forbidden from planning any more travel in the near future (beyond the two trips already in the works: 
Belgium for me in 2009 and France for all of us in 2010)!
Alan is still working as a freelancer/independent contractor for three different groups, which keeps him very, very busy. He writes and edits for these groups and has deadlines almost daily, including weekends. He hopes to be hired permanently by Intel shortly after the New Year, which should allow him to give up some of his freelancing and give him so more free time.
I am still teaching, still presenting, still sitting on the boards of three organizations, still very busy! But I love it, which is why I keep doing everything I do. For the first time this year, I gave a presentation at a national language teachers' association conference. I think it was mostly successful, based on the feedback I received from my attendees' evaluations. Next year, I should be very busy with at least four presentations, two of them national, but more on that next year! One of my more time-consuming projects this year was to plan an all-day public outreach event for language education at the California State Fair. I researched and prepared children's games from around the world for fairgoers to play. Then myself and the other volunteers also handed out literature on the
benefits of studying languages, and of course, there was a prize wheel. In a pleasant surprise, Miss Asia Sacramento (Julie Tam) stopped by to see us because she always uses language learning as her platform for beauty pageants. It was a lot of work, but I got it pulled together, and it was so successful that we were asked to return next year!
On a sadder note, our cat of 19 years, E.T., passed away in March. And, as you may recall from last year's posting, we had adopted a second dog from the SPCA, but she had to be put to sleep as well. However, in August, we adopted a nine-month-old cat whom we named Chatterbachs. You can see a fuzzy picture of our fuzzy cat to the right. She is absolutely adorable and fitting in beautifully with our family, which still includes our other adopted pet, Sophie. This nine-year dog just loves her new pet friend, and we think the feeling is mutual (I've caught Chatterbachs trying to nuzzle against Sophie's head).
We look forward to hearing from each of you and we wish you and yours the very best during this holiday season and for the New Year.
With love,
Nicole, Alan and Caelan (and Sophie and Chatterbachs)
Caelan just had his 12th birthday party at a local bowling alley. We treated his friends to pizza, cake, bowling, laser tag, rock wall and the video arcade. Everyone had a great time. Caelan is still at Winston Churchill Middle School, in the International Baccalaureate Program. He has made several new friends there and the program suits him well. This year, he chose drama for his elective, which is a great fit for him. In fact we have found that one of our favorite pastimes as a family is going to see plays. In the past year, we've taken Caelan to see live productions of Bye Bye Birdie, Sweeney Todd, Little Shop of Horrors, and Phantom of the Opera, and The Crucible. We don't always go to the main theater downtown (too expensive). We supplement that with dinner theater and my high school's productions. For his community service project, he is continuing to work with the Sacramento SPCA. They don't allow students to work with animals, so he collects newspapers for them to use in their cages.
We've traveled a lot this year as well. We took another cruise this summer. It was terrific. We
went to the Grand Cayman Islands and to Cozumel. At the Grand Caymans, we visited Sting Ray City, which is an amazing experience! We also went to Disney World in November and had a wonderful time there as well. Of course since I am usually the one pushing to travel (and therefore responsible for the fact that we spend so much money on travel), I've been forbidden from planning any more travel in the near future (beyond the two trips already in the works: 
Belgium for me in 2009 and France for all of us in 2010)! Alan is still working as a freelancer/independent contractor for three different groups, which keeps him very, very busy. He writes and edits for these groups and has deadlines almost daily, including weekends. He hopes to be hired permanently by Intel shortly after the New Year, which should allow him to give up some of his freelancing and give him so more free time.
I am still teaching, still presenting, still sitting on the boards of three organizations, still very busy! But I love it, which is why I keep doing everything I do. For the first time this year, I gave a presentation at a national language teachers' association conference. I think it was mostly successful, based on the feedback I received from my attendees' evaluations. Next year, I should be very busy with at least four presentations, two of them national, but more on that next year! One of my more time-consuming projects this year was to plan an all-day public outreach event for language education at the California State Fair. I researched and prepared children's games from around the world for fairgoers to play. Then myself and the other volunteers also handed out literature on the
benefits of studying languages, and of course, there was a prize wheel. In a pleasant surprise, Miss Asia Sacramento (Julie Tam) stopped by to see us because she always uses language learning as her platform for beauty pageants. It was a lot of work, but I got it pulled together, and it was so successful that we were asked to return next year!
On a sadder note, our cat of 19 years, E.T., passed away in March. And, as you may recall from last year's posting, we had adopted a second dog from the SPCA, but she had to be put to sleep as well. However, in August, we adopted a nine-month-old cat whom we named Chatterbachs. You can see a fuzzy picture of our fuzzy cat to the right. She is absolutely adorable and fitting in beautifully with our family, which still includes our other adopted pet, Sophie. This nine-year dog just loves her new pet friend, and we think the feeling is mutual (I've caught Chatterbachs trying to nuzzle against Sophie's head).
We look forward to hearing from each of you and we wish you and yours the very best during this holiday season and for the New Year.
With love,
Nicole, Alan and Caelan (and Sophie and Chatterbachs)
Monday, December 17, 2007
Naditz Family Christmas Letter
Welcome!
We gather that since you are here, you have received the Christmas card we sent (a bit late). We're glad you found your way through cyberspace to our 2007 Christmas letter!
It has been many years since we talked to many of you (our last letter was in 2003) so here is our most important news of late.
It has been many years since we talked to many of you (our last letter was in 2003) so here is our most important news of late.
We are still in the same house we bought in 2003--the housing market decline means we'll be in this house for a while yet. Since buying the house, we've adopted two dogs to accompany
our cat--who is now 19 years old! We adopted Sophie in 2004. Sophie (pictured with Alan and our cat, ET) is a lab-Sharpei mix and is a very gentle and adorable dog. She is now seven years old. Then, two weeks ago, we adopted Sienna, a hyper, three-year-old doberman-chocolate lab mix. We've been fortunate to find that she is house-broken and crate trained, which helps make up for the fact that she seems to think that she is a puppy and we are all her toys!
In 2006, we took off for Disney World. Alan had been there as a child, but for Caelan and I, this was our first trip to Disney World. We loved it! There was so much to see and do. Caelan had his first enjoyable upside-down ride experience on an Aerosmith-themed roller coaster called the Rockin Roller Coaster. There were interesting animals at the wild animal park, gazillions of new sights (and great food to try) at Epcot, and, most importantly, a lot of time spent together.In January of this year, we had the very unexpected opportunity to take a cruise to Cozumel,
Mexico. My cousin was getting married and both the bride's and groom's families were invited to join them on the cruise. None of the three of us had ever been on a cruise before and it was so much more fun than we had expected! One of the coolest aspects of the cruise was being able to cruise with so many people that we knew. That definitely made it easier and more fun. There was more to do on the ship than we expected and our port of call in Cozumel gave us the opportunity to enjoy a white sandy beach and turquoise water (complete with underwater Mayan ruins and tiny jellyfish) in January!
We love to travel, but budgets are limited, so in the past few years, we've mostly enjoyed short get-aways that allowed us to bring the dog (this was before we had two dogs). We had a wonderful camping trip at a KOA on the Mendocino Coast this past summer--definitely the way to go, especially if you can't afford the incredibly expensive hotels in that region. We get away to Lake Tahoe and to Monterey whenever our schedules will allow.We also love to attend county and state fairs. In 2006, our love of the state fair reached
new heights--we entered a contest to write lyrics to the state fair theme (and sing our composition at the fair) and we won! We actually got to go to a recording studio and record our jingle and then we heard it on the radio! That was unusually cool. Caelan loved being in the recording studio and when we had wrapped up our recording of the jingle, Caelan asked, "Is there anything else for me to record?"Caelan just turned 11 this month. He now attends Winston Churchill Middle School, where he is enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program. He won the 6th grade spelling bee this year, much to his surprise and ours since it wasn't even announced. Although the program is far more demanding than it was at his previous elementary school, Alan and I are really seeing Caelan blossom as he works to meet the expectations of his teachers. Although he may not stay in the International Baccalaureate program all the way through high school, this was definitely a good choice for middle school. We wanted him to continue to be challenged and to develop his good study habits and quality work ethic before he reached high school.
Caelan loves video games and still hopes to be a video game designer. He has been asking us to buy him books so he can teach himself computer programming language! We haven't done that yet, but we see the day coming. In the meantime, he likes using movie making software to create short films and commercials and uses these to complete his class projects whenever he is allowed to do so. He also spends a lot of time writing his own stories or plots for future video games. There's a lot of his dad in him. His other interests include animals and the electric guitar. Because of his love of animals, he has chosen to collect newspapers for the
SPCA as a community service project. The guitar is a new area for him--his grandfather just gave Caelan his first lesson a week ago and he has been practicing regularly (and rather well) since then. This year he also decided to grow...his hair. As of this writing he's three weeks shy of going one year without a haircut. And contrary to the picture here to the right, Caelan has quite a bit of hair on his head (note the first shot, above)...yes, he DOES have curly hair, and yes, he DOES look like he's auditioning to become a Caucasian member of the Jackson 5. Or perhaps Justin Guarini's replacement, for all of you Year 1 American Idol fans. But it's all worth it -- he doesn't know it yet, but his lack of haircuts helped pay for a rather big Christmas present...Alan is still writing and editing for numerous trade and consumer publications--all freelance. What's nice about this arrangement is that he is almost always home and his schedule has a bit of flexibility to it. While that helps with the day-to-day running of the house, it also allows him time to pursue fiction writing--something he hasn't done in years. Earlier this year, he entered a Writers' Digest short story competition and actually received honorable mention. Considering that some writers enter every year and don't get recognized at all, that was exciting to us. Hopefully, he'll find time to continue refining his storytelling and developing the horror stories he loves so much. In the meantime, he contents himself with adding more movies to the ever-increasing horror film collection. He has quite a fondness for classic (and less-than-classic) old horror films.
I have been keeping myself busy in my many roles in education. In 2003-04, I was fortunate to be honored in many different venues for my work in education--by the Foreign Language Association of Greater Sacramento, the California Language Teachers' Association, the California League of High Schools, Region 3 and twice by students. It was a very exciting--and humbling--year. In the fall of 2004, I began a three-year leave from the classroom to be a full-time mentor to beginning teachers in my district. I
learned so much from this outstanding opportunity to observe numerous teachers at all subject areas and grade levels. While I was out of the classroom, I received my M.Ed and my administrative credential--just in case! In August of this year, my term as a mentor ended and I returned to the classroom, resuming my role as a French teacher. To prepare myself for my return, I 
applied for and received a scholarship to study in Grenoble, France in July. That was an amazing experience and definitely helped me recoup the French I had not spoken for three years. And the trip gave me my first chance to visit the French Alps! No, I didn't climb them--I took pictures of others who climbed them. Since going back to the classroom, it has been wonderful to put everything I have learned to use in working with my students. My teaching is definitely more exciting and thorough than it was when I left the classroom three years ago. Of course, to go along with that, my work is a lot more hectic--I'm far more heavily involved in local, state, and national language teaching organizations that I was when I left the classroom. It has been...interesting to juggle those many roles. Fortunately, being so active seems to really keep my skills up in the classroom, and that's the most important.
In short, we're busy, happy, and healthy. We wish you the same and more for the coming year!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Alan, Caelan and Nicole (and ET, Sophie and Sienna)
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