Eric is now nine years old. During the year he took the first standardized test required of homeschoolers. He did extremely well. We are homeschooling in an unstructured, nonstandard manner and it was affirming to see he's doing well from the perspective of formal testing. Eric learns best through physical activity. Among the new experiences Eric's had over the past year are: having a leading role in the play put on by his homeschooling drama class, learning how to fly a radio-controlled airplane, surfing (ocean waves, not the web), and earning money (mowing lawns and baby-sitting). He invests significant time and energy in Taekwondo. He is a member of the White Tiger Leadership team and is a Tiny Tiger who has performed dozens of demonstrations--some solo--and been interviewed for a TV newscast. Eric has earned a bodan belt and is now taking classes and attending seminars that will enable him to test for his black belt next spring. He is the driving force towards making our house a menagerie. Over the past year we've housed three fish, two frogs, three toads, two lizards, two turtles, and a snake--though only five of which are permanent residents.

Missy is in her fourth year as a La Leche League District Advisor supporting North Carolina League Leaders and eighth year as a League Leader supporting NC moms. She will seek to become a certified lactation consultant next year. Missy is also a bodan belt in Taekwondo working towards black belt testing in the spring. While testing to earn her bodan belt, she broke a 2? slab of concrete with her bare hand! During this past year Missy played on three different soccer teams; a co-ed outdoor and women's indoor and outdoor teams. She was surprised when, during her 40^th birthweek, her brothers, their families, and Uncle Rich traveled over 5000 people miles to celebrate it with her. Her favorite birthday present was a 10-day trip to her ancestral land of Denmark with her mom.

Curt started Taekwondo classes in April. His high energy level, dedication, and attention to detail is enabling him to improve his overall fitness--though his flexibility still needs work. His job at IBM was up and down. At the beginning of the year he received a $16,000 bonus for his contributions to a $100 million software project. Three months later the project was canceled and Curt was looking for a new job within IBM. During these tight economic times, the job search took more than two months (Curt was down to his last month of looking before he would have been laid-off). He's now a project manager in a planning department for IBM's award winning ThinkPad line of computer laptops. Curt had a major disappointment when his 30-year driving record of no tickets and no accidents was broken by a driver subsequently ticketed for making an unsafe move. On the plus side, his sixteen year old Honda Accord, which had only minor fender, hood, and grill damage was considered totaled so he was given $1400 while keeping his car.

In addition to Missy's Denmark trip, we traveled quite a bit this past year. We spent four February days skiing, snowboarding, and tubing at the Massanutten resort in Virginia, five May days in Baltimore and Washington DC, a week in Pennsylvania with Curt's family of origin in July, a week in Michigan with Missy's family of origin over Thanksgiving, and nearly three weeks in Hawai'i in September. We have one more week to spend in Pennsylvania in December during which we plan to visit Ground Zero in New York City. We also had people visit us during the year. Missy's parents were here in January and her mom, Joyce, stayed with us in August. In July we hosted the Korean Tiger Master Kang Young Min. Missy's brother Jeff and his family also graced our home.

© 2000 frantzml@juno.com