My friends:
I have never found it so hard to write a holiday letter. Usually I have so many great things to share, but this year has been a bit difficult. I suppose we all have our difficult years, and so 2007 was for us.
Professionally, we both did quite well. I've had several presentation accepted to professional conferences. I spoke at my first in October and will be presenting two different sessions (one with Kevin) in February. My wine blog, My Wine Education, has really taken off. In August, it won a best of Cincinnati award, and I'm now working on acquiring advertisers. Look for mention of my blog, and possibly an interview with me in the January issue of Cincinnati magazine, which focuses on wine. I'm also doing some freelance writing on food and wine, and have had two articles published thus far in TASTE Cincinnati magazine. The food and wine writing help make the day-to-day technical writing more bearable. In 2008, I hope to continue with the wine and food writing and slightly re-focus the Write Technology business to include Web 2.0 consulting. Apparently I'm good at blogging and wikis, and there are other people who need to learn more.
Kevin switched jobs in March. He left 5/3 to work at Bridge Worldwide, a small internet marketing firm in downtown Cincinnati. He's a member of management and stands to be promoted at a much more rapid rate than he could ever have been at 5/3. It's just a smaller, more open company. They also throw great parties and seem to have a great time just being at work everyday. I wish all offices were like that. Kevin is really enjoying using his technical skills but also getting to flex his creative muscles as well.
Personally, the year wasn't as merry. Much of the year was spent dealing with George's illness and the fallout from that, including learning all about hospice, long-term care, and Medicare/Medicaid. I have a whole lot of emotions regarding the medical system in this country, but that's a different thing altogether. Are we buying Kevin's childhood home in Ft. Thomas? I don't know. That was an on-again, off-again roller coaster this year and we're still thinking about it. There are a whole lot of pros and cons to the purchase, and we're weighing them against each other. At the current moment, Kevin is probably learning towards buying the house and I'm not. That, of course, could flip at a moment's notice. That's how undecided we are.
We lost so many loved ones this year. In February, we lost Kevin's Grandpa Ed. That was also the month when Kevin's dad had his final break, and in a way, we lost him then. George actually passed away in September. Shortly after, in October, my little sister Krystal passed away unexpectedly at the age of 21. In my family, we're all still dealing with the aftermath of that shock. It's been a rough year.
On the up side, we flew to Arizona to visit Kevin's Uncle Greg in November. Greg was alone for Thanksgiving, so we fixed him dinner. We also visited the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Tucson, Nogales, Tupac, and Tombstone. While we were there, we dropped in on friends my parents had while I was growing up. Larry and Mary still live in a great house in Tucson with 3 incredible dogs. The trip to Arizona, while long planned, couldn't have happened at a better time. We both needed to get away and begin our emotional healing.
The holidays this year aren't going to be easy. The ramifications of this past autumn will continue to reverberate throughout 2008. But I hope that as time passes, our grief and pain will recede into the shadow of happier memories. And so I have high hopes for the coming year.
As always, you can keep up with us at http://www.kevinandshel.com, which includes this blog (http://blog.kevinandshel.com), and our Flickr photos.
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and a fantastic 2008!
Much love,
Shel & Kevin
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