| 2008...The Grand Wrap-up |
Last year we tried the online Christmas letter, and found it to be such a success that we're doing it again! Of
course, we're a little late for Christmas (in typical Greenlee fashion), so this is, instead, a 2008 summary
letter. A whole year's worth of information and fun times, all wrapped up in a happily short letter. Could you
even ask for more?
We had a pretty busy year, even if the first half of it was pretty normal. We had planned to take another trip to
Italy in the summer...this time to study Italian for several weeks in Siena. We spent the first part of the year
preparing for our trip. And just before we were set to go things got interesting.
JW had applied for the Head Men's Volleyball Coaching job at King College, in Bristol, TN, but we hadn't
heard anything from them for some time, and had written it off. However, less than a week before we left for
a month of Italian language and food, King called and wanted JW to come for an interview. This was on
Friday, and we were leaving on the next Thursday. So we headed out to Bristol on Monday. We spent
Monday evening looking at houses. On Tuesday JW interview at King while Vanessa drove around NE
Tennessee looking for possible work. King offered JW the job, and after short deliberation, we took it. We
then flew back to Texas, spent Wednesday furiously getting things ready to go. Then we left.
All this conspired to make our trip somewhat more stressful than it otherwise might have been. Vanessa had
several phone interviews from public phone booths, and we spent a lot of time going back and forth with the
bank in Bristol, trying to get everything taken care of for the house that we were buying. It all worked out,
though...Vanessa took a job in Kingsport, and we are living in a beautiful old house with tons of character that
we fell in love with on our visit. As it turned out, though, Vanessa had to be at work 5 days after we got back
from Italy. And so our history of hectic moves added another chapter.
We had great help in our move. Many friends pitched in, including folks from Tivy and from Schreiner. A
special thanks go to the athletic directors in our Kerrville lives...Ron Macosko of Schreiner and Mark Smith of
Tivy. Also Robert Jolly, Tivy's principle, Jane Harris, a Tivy VP, and our indefatigable realtor Cherie Cude
helped us manage the impossible task that we had set out for ourselves. We got everything in the Uhaul
truck, and got ourselves on the road. We arrived in TN at 4:30 am on July 21st, signed the paperwork for the
house at 8:00 am, and then Vanessa was off to Kingsport for her first day of work.
We had decided early on that this was to be The Year of Change, and we were correct. We might well have
named it The Year of Farewells. We spent a lot of time this year bidding goodbye to friends both new and
old. We were exceptionally sad to leave some of our Kerrville folk, especially Don and Tammy Clark, of
Clark Family Bakery fame. We miss you guys...perhaps some Saturday morning we'll stop by to surprise you
and demand delicious pastries. Silvia and Razor, Vicky and Tom, Matt and Becky, Kiley and Tish...we wish
we could have brought you with us.
But we bid farewell to new friends this year, as well. We find that we sorely miss our comrades from Italy.
Alexis is ensconced in law school at Drexel, Jon is back teaching at the University of Wollongong (yes...its a
real school!), and Roly is who-knows-where. Where are you, man? Drop us a line sometime, from whatever
olive grove you're working just now.
After all of that, the rest of the year has been an exercise in trying to return to normalcy. Vanessa is enjoying
being closer to her family, and has made the trip down to Dalton on several occasions. JW's parents came
and visited at Thanksgiving, and helped us secure and set up a great, big Christmas tree. We traveled down
to Florida over Christmas break to see JW's parents and Aunt Margaret. And now we're looking forward to
the coming year...a time which is asking to be called The Year of the Story. We don't know what the story is
yet, so you'll just have to check back from time to time to find out.
We wanted to thank all of you for being a part of our lives this year...we are blessed in our friends and family.
We hope that you have had a great year, and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Have a great New
Year, and let us know how you're doing!
Much love,
JW and Vanessa
course, we're a little late for Christmas (in typical Greenlee fashion), so this is, instead, a 2008 summary
letter. A whole year's worth of information and fun times, all wrapped up in a happily short letter. Could you
even ask for more?
We had a pretty busy year, even if the first half of it was pretty normal. We had planned to take another trip to
Italy in the summer...this time to study Italian for several weeks in Siena. We spent the first part of the year
preparing for our trip. And just before we were set to go things got interesting.
JW had applied for the Head Men's Volleyball Coaching job at King College, in Bristol, TN, but we hadn't
heard anything from them for some time, and had written it off. However, less than a week before we left for
a month of Italian language and food, King called and wanted JW to come for an interview. This was on
Friday, and we were leaving on the next Thursday. So we headed out to Bristol on Monday. We spent
Monday evening looking at houses. On Tuesday JW interview at King while Vanessa drove around NE
Tennessee looking for possible work. King offered JW the job, and after short deliberation, we took it. We
then flew back to Texas, spent Wednesday furiously getting things ready to go. Then we left.
All this conspired to make our trip somewhat more stressful than it otherwise might have been. Vanessa had
several phone interviews from public phone booths, and we spent a lot of time going back and forth with the
bank in Bristol, trying to get everything taken care of for the house that we were buying. It all worked out,
though...Vanessa took a job in Kingsport, and we are living in a beautiful old house with tons of character that
we fell in love with on our visit. As it turned out, though, Vanessa had to be at work 5 days after we got back
from Italy. And so our history of hectic moves added another chapter.
We had great help in our move. Many friends pitched in, including folks from Tivy and from Schreiner. A
special thanks go to the athletic directors in our Kerrville lives...Ron Macosko of Schreiner and Mark Smith of
Tivy. Also Robert Jolly, Tivy's principle, Jane Harris, a Tivy VP, and our indefatigable realtor Cherie Cude
helped us manage the impossible task that we had set out for ourselves. We got everything in the Uhaul
truck, and got ourselves on the road. We arrived in TN at 4:30 am on July 21st, signed the paperwork for the
house at 8:00 am, and then Vanessa was off to Kingsport for her first day of work.
We had decided early on that this was to be The Year of Change, and we were correct. We might well have
named it The Year of Farewells. We spent a lot of time this year bidding goodbye to friends both new and
old. We were exceptionally sad to leave some of our Kerrville folk, especially Don and Tammy Clark, of
Clark Family Bakery fame. We miss you guys...perhaps some Saturday morning we'll stop by to surprise you
and demand delicious pastries. Silvia and Razor, Vicky and Tom, Matt and Becky, Kiley and Tish...we wish
we could have brought you with us.
But we bid farewell to new friends this year, as well. We find that we sorely miss our comrades from Italy.
Alexis is ensconced in law school at Drexel, Jon is back teaching at the University of Wollongong (yes...its a
real school!), and Roly is who-knows-where. Where are you, man? Drop us a line sometime, from whatever
olive grove you're working just now.
After all of that, the rest of the year has been an exercise in trying to return to normalcy. Vanessa is enjoying
being closer to her family, and has made the trip down to Dalton on several occasions. JW's parents came
and visited at Thanksgiving, and helped us secure and set up a great, big Christmas tree. We traveled down
to Florida over Christmas break to see JW's parents and Aunt Margaret. And now we're looking forward to
the coming year...a time which is asking to be called The Year of the Story. We don't know what the story is
yet, so you'll just have to check back from time to time to find out.
We wanted to thank all of you for being a part of our lives this year...we are blessed in our friends and family.
We hope that you have had a great year, and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Have a great New
Year, and let us know how you're doing!
Much love,
JW and Vanessa
