Brian and I went to an amazing and magical Christmas party last night. The theme was “My Favorite Things” and was complete with raindrops on roses, girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, brown paper packages tied up with string, and yes, even a real cream-colored pony. I’ve been singing the song for the past 2 days and also trying to think of how to write another Christmas letter: this one marking 25 years of Christmas letters from the Danahys.
So here, in no particular order, are “My Favorite Things” from this year.
1. Spring Break saw us in New York City. Edwin, Brian and I took in the tourist sights – and food, (thank you Sean Danahy for all the amazing recommendations) and shows with a few days spent visiting Colin in Troy, NY. “Dear Evan Hansen” was definitely a highlight for all of us – and the boys took in Madison Square Garden for a Knicks game.
2. Colin and Aidan took at 5000 mile road trip from NY to CA this summer. It was circuitous and involved Cleveland, Nashville, New Orleans, Dallas, Kansas, camping, Yellowstone, Utah, more camping, and parts up down and in between.
3. Colin graduated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Masters degree in Technology Commercialization & Entrepreneurship. We watched the livestream of it in the parking lot as:
4. Aidan graduated University Nevada Reno with his Bachelors degree in Art with an emphasis in Digital Media on the same day in May.
5. Julia finished her first year at Gonzaga and we were able to catch a glimpse of her on TV cheering for the Zags as they made their way through the NCAA tournament. We are hoping for another good, long run this year too.
6. Edwin started his sophomore year at Saugus High School and has jumped full into the theater department: as part of the large group drama, he and 5 other thespians took first place at the fall competition in a piece based on vampires and bullying – and kissing. Which… was a surprise to his mother when she saw it performed for the first time.
7. Edwin turned 16, got his learner’s permit and will take the driving test on December 21. He spent much of his summer break working on and fixing my Dad’s old Buick – aka the eyesore in the driveway - and hopes to be driving it proudly to school this winter. As it lacks functional a/c, it will probably not be driven when it hits 90. Which could be as early as March around here.
8. Julia spent her summer as a Day Camp Counselor – and found that she had an affinity for working with kids. Her no-nonsense, take charge attitude (wonder where she got that from…) – sprinkled in with bribes of candy on field trips to get kids to cooperate – made for an interesting summer full of great stories. Life lesson: always bring a spare set of chonies in case yours get wet.
9. Aidan purchased a bus.
10. Brian’s former Baxter/Baxalta/Shire Building 8 project was the 2018 Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) Overall Winner at the 2018 ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo in Philadelphia, PA this November. Years of hard work, company and personnel turnover followed this project and as Engineering Program Leader, it kept Brian extremely busy. We were all proud that the hard work was recognized in the industry.
11. I was selected to a new non-profit board: Raising the Curtain Foundation, the supportive arm of the newly renovated Newhall Family Theatre for the Performing Arts. There are many creative people on this board, who will do great things for the community and arts programming. My (non-creative) role has been to set them up and secure non-profit status for the board. And may possibly lead me to bigger things for 2019. Stay tuned…
12. Aidan has found employment as a Ski Instructor at Squaw Valley and a substitute teacher for Innovations, a non-traditional, alternative high school in Reno.
13. Aidan is trying to sell a bus.
14. Colin is working hard at his startup company – Storagy. A solar optimization software for utility companies. He is based at home, but we don’t see much of him, as he’s usually in meetings, at conferences or networking.
15. Julia is in her second year at Gonzaga. Her club soccer team (again) made it to Nationals – this time in Alabama where they made it (again) to the Sweet Sixteen. The soccer field was not kind to Julia (again) this year – a hand splint and concussion recovery were on deck this season. But it has not slowed her down a bit. When not studying, she volunteers with Meals on Wheels, and at a Crisis Nursery every Friday night. She has recently taken up salsa dancing, and her mother couldn’t be prouder.
16. Edwin is doing his best Napoleon Dynamite impressions around here. AP Chemistry, Soccer, Engineering, Theater and Science Olympiad are doing their job in helping fuel the stress and proper angst required to pull off the impersonation. He’s getting quite good at it – must be the theater.
17. I still enjoy coffee. A lot.
18. Notre Dame’s final season win was attended by all of us Danahys here in LA at the Coliseum. While we all appreciated the win, I think the street hot dogs after the game were appreciated more (by some of us.)
19. Brian says he doesn’t miss coaching soccer. While this may possibly be true, he doesn’t miss a chance to practice with his kids when they ask him to shoot around with them at Central Park or the high school. And I believe Julia and Edwin can both beat him on workout runs.
20. I laced up my running shoes and ran 2 5ks this year – one surrounded by 3000 women dressed as Wonder Woman. I highly recommend this race as the energy and motivation surrounded by that many strong women can’t be beat.
20 favorite things for 2018.
No schnitzel. No noodles. No wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings.
But there’s always room for a bright, copper kettle on a list of favorite things.
