1991

GREETINGS FRIENDS,

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. This hasn't been the happiest year for the Scheid family. Bobette and I have decided to call it quits. Things weren't working out and It just got to be too much. So, we decided to quit having kids. Besides, we're too old for that type of thing anyway.

This year Bobette's special holiday project is converting the local merchants to believe that Jesus was born to save the economy.

Bobette was so busy managing the family, teaching sunday school, being a den mother, and remodeling the house inside and out that she still hasn't heard about the depression, desert storm, or the Oakland hills fire.

She walks four miles every morning at 0545, is losing weight, looking healthy and is beginning to look like my daughter. One day she got home just in time to see the police leave the house (I was already at work). Nicole had dialed 911 on the phone. When a policeman came to the door, she explained that mommy and daddy were gone. Joseph verified this a few seconds later and Michael followed up and confirmed it. He left shaking his head.

If you ever sail into San Francisco, note the lighthouse structure off to the side rising 60 feet out of the channel. Bobette jumped off that rock into the water and really impressed the park rangers who gave us the tour. They said she was the first woman to fall for the old line "once you climb up, you can't climb down, you have to jump".

Derrick is going through that difficult teenage stage when your parents suddenly become retarded and don't know anything. But he is fun to be around in public because he is so easy to embarass. If Joseph forgets to take a bath or picks his nose, Derrick demands his execution. In school, he has made the honor roll, the basketball team and avoided getting beat up. He now makes more money than I do with his paper route and babysitting as a nanny, nagging someone elses kids.

Michael enticed by Derrick's money decided to get a paper route himself. However, Michael with money is dangerous. He bought a couple of parakeets at a flea market and we haven't had a peaceful moment since. The birds are so noisey that even the neighbors complain. He gets back at the birds with his trumpet, but we are still the loser on that deal. Michael wants to trade them in for another pet. He has his eye on a pet worm. He likes his teacher, Mr. Rogers, because he asks him pertinent questions like how high is a stack of a billion pennies, or how many seconds have you been alive. This type of useful information is right up Michael's alley. School still isn't so great, he was a happy camper when he missed a week of school with the flu.

G. I. Joseph, sequel # IIV. The all American boy who revels in dirt and messes, loves to fight and gets out of and into trouble with his cute devilish grin. The Army fatigues are still glued to his little blond body but he occasionally wears something a little more hip like jammer pants. We signed him up for Tae Kwan Do so he could learn some discipline, and maybe not fight so much. After about five lessons he decided he could take on the teacher, so he wrapped himself around the teacher's leg and wouldn't let go. It took two black belts to get Joseph off the leg. In school, his grin has kept him out of trouble the first semester, but is wearing thin and surely will not last the entire year.

Nicole, our relentless 3 yr old girl has laid claims to dad's lap and defends her territory to the death. She decided she's a boy and forces the boy next door to be the nurse when playing Dr and nurse. But she's all girl and has learned almost instantly how to manipulate Dad to get her way. If crying or cunning doesn't do the trick, then persistence usually will. In 5 minutes, Bobette counted her asking 157 times to watch Frosty the Snowman. If she falls asleep, she'll wake up continuing to ask for the same thing. Right now she wants to know when Santa Closet is coming.

I've been busy working as slave labor for Bobette, doing homework for 2nd, 5th, and 8th grade, trying to maintain the spiritual health of the family in Sodom and Gomorra, riding my bike to work, and being the XO at the best air station in the Coast Guard. I still play basketball, but my age is showing as I'm getting beat by the 8th graders. If I'm lucky I'll stay here another 2.5 years and fleet up to Commanding Officer.

Remember us in your prayers, and may Jesus bless your 1992.
THE SCHEIDS,