Erik is now officially a high school freshman. The new Prior Lake High School will be opening next year and will house 9th - 12th grades. But this year, 9th grade is part of the Middle School. He is in Jazz Band again (practicing every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30am) and Boy Scouts. No girls yet, or so he tells his parents. Erik is really taking well to this "only kid" syndrome. His room is decorated in typical teenage chaos with an erie glow from the TV, stereo, VCR player, computer, etc. But BEWARE! Next year Erik will begin his right of passage to become a licensed driver. He starts his classroom training the day after his birthday (in just over 1 month). So, if you cherish your parents, children, pets, and your own personal safety, now is the time to plan It won't be too long after that he will be "on the road".
Mark will have been with Goodrich Sensor Systems five years in February. He spent a good share of this year working in quality assurance. Laurel has been with MinnPar Inc. for over 3-1/2 years. Her drive to Minneapolis every day has honed her attitude into a typical manager. She enjoys the HR position and her her job as administrative manager.
The pets are doing pretty good. Shadow, the cat, continues to get fatter and lazier. Spot, at 15 years, is looking a bit peaked. We will hate to see her go. At a 80+ pounds, Xena is establishing her dominance of the Glewwe livestock. This year we raised 3 white Ducks. As we write this, they are butchered, but we have not had the opportunity to dine on the fruits of our labor.
This year the family took two short vacations with the primary purpose to just get away and relax. First, we spent the 4th of July at a resort in Bemidji, right on the lake. Mark & Laurel felt nostalgic as we relived our youth in the town where we met and went to college. The teenage kids attempted to humored us as only teenagers can do. Over Thanksgiving, we stayed at a resort in Wisconsin Dells with an indoor water park. The town was suffering a bit from the off-peak status, but in general Laurel was happy to have her family back under her wing, even if just for a short time.
Diana had a long hard summer trying to earn some money to pay for education. We almost felt sorry for her. Erik had a few weeks at a couple of camps. He was real helpful in keeping the animals fed and watered. Laurel and Mark are wondering what we will do when he leaves home. There is way too much work to do around here without some slave labor.
Mark made good on his hope to plant some grape vines this year. Mark even took a class on vine pruning. We now have 25 Foch grape vines planted. They did quite well over the summer. We have made two batches of grape wine. The Merlot (our first attempt at a grape wine) took 2nd place at the Minnesota State Fair. The Mead and Apple Cider also placed. Mark actually tied for 2nd runner-up for overall winner in the amateur category. Wahoo!
The Glewwe Family in Prior Lake
Mark, Laurel, Diana, Erik, Spot, Xena, and Shadow
P.S. FYI - we are wired. Our WWW site is http://www.glewwe-castle.com/. Even this letter can be found on-line. Our e-mail is “name@glewwe-castle.com” (eg., mark@glewwe-castle.com for Mark and the same is true for Laurel, Diana, and Erik).