The Christmas Letter Post

Life at the Green house has been through a plethora of changes this year, so we’re sending this letter to catch you up to speed.

In February Elle (Eleanor) fell into a cool job and started a career after all these years of being a mom and working part-time. This threw the kids into a tizzy, but we have all adjusted. Jay is really proud of Elle saying he’s “always supported the idea of Elle having a career—she just never had!” Thanks to a combined effort we still manage to have home cooked meals; who knew Tony could make a mean batch of focaccia when motivated! There are always casualties when change occurs, so new recipes are finding it hard to get on the menu.

Elle loves the new career. She is assistant archivist at the Delta State University Archives and Museum, thus hanging on to the academic calendar since she is unable to function otherwise. Her favorite part of the job is creating new exhibits in the museum. If you have any ideas send them her way. Just remember that you have to find a way to relate them to the Mississippi Delta. Just in case you were thinking to yourself, what happened to grad school, don’t worry, Elle should graduate with a Master of Secondary Education in History degree when Tony graduates from high school in 2010.

The next big event was that Jay (John) went to China with the American Sociological Association. The trip included eleven sociologists from the US, Canada and Finland. They spent 14 days and toured historical sites, universities and met with Chinese sociologists. It was a great experience for Jay. Still reeling from his Eastern adventure, he was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor! For non-academic readers, this is the holy grail of academicians. As defined by the Institute for Higher Learning (the big wigs who govern the state colleges and universities of Mississippi) tenure "serves the best interests of the faculty and the University by protecting faculty members from dismissal... tenure in universities provides protection that scholars require and serves society’s aspirations that scholars should have freedom of expression." Now he can continue being the radical that he is with a certain measure of safety!

Edye has grown about 6 inches and is well on her way to being taller than her mom (no surprise there). She is now in second grade at Hayes Cooper and joined Project PASS, the gifted program. It is really fun, and she gets to skip out of her regular classes every Friday to play chess and other stimulating activities. She is in her fourth year of piano lessons and joined the choir at her school too! Her favorite part of the new school year is getting to ride the bus, which her mama was nervous about, but Edye and Daddy claimed mama said she could ride it in 2nd grade. Supposedly this comment was made when Edye was 4! She says she loves to watch the scenery go by on the bus and Mama will admit that since her school is 12 miles away we sure have saved on gas! Edye spent her second year playing soccer for the Cleveland Park District and attended a soccer camp lead my Major League Soccer at Delta State University this summer! She would also like you to know that she tells Fozzie Bear jokes. I think you all know what this means for the rest of us!

By far the biggest change this year was that Tony moved out to live in a dorm in Columbus, Mississippi! He is attending the Mississippi School for Math and Science, a Mississippi public residential school for juniors and seniors located on the campus of Mississippi University for Women. He worked very hard to get there (273 kids applied—123 were welcomed into the junior class); and we are very proud of him. He sure is missed around the house, especially when we need focaccia. We still occasionally set the table for four and Elle still cries sporadically. He is not all alone as Columbus is only 20 minutes from his grandparents, aunts and uncles in Starkville which is mostly a good thing. He is having a good time over there, making good friends and learning to become one with his trigonometry and AP chemistry. In addition to math and science he’s taking Decade of Change-History of the 60’s, University English, US History-Architecture, Latin, Film and sitting in on band and theatre! He was able to continue running through the woods and made his best time yet at the state cross country meet running 3.2 miles in 21.01 minutes. Tony now holds the honor of having the longest hair in the family!

Tony’s new journey led to a fun experience for Elle and Jay. Parents in each region of the state are responsible for some event during the year at MSMS. The Delta parents host Winter Formal, so Elle and Jay got to chaperone the dance the first weekend in December. Tony looked so handsome and grown up in his suit until he jumped on Jay’s back for a picture, but hey, boys will be boys! His next adventure is a trip to Berlin and Prague for spring break with his history teacher and 23 other MSMS students! Yes, Mom is freaking out!

Hank the Cowdog remains head of house security and loved by all. He is getting a distinguished gray around the edges. He has accepted the fish that showed up in the carpool line with Edye one day (thanks for the head’s up teach!) as he feels no real competition from the fish. We are all impressed the fish is still alive. Her name is Ginger and she is a Gambusia fish, also called the mosquitofish.

For those of you trying to keep up, Jay and Elle will be married 15 wonderful years in August 2009! Tony will be 17 years old in February! Edye was eight years old on December 6th, Hank will be seven in August and the fish is about a year old!