This is NOT a holiday letter. It’s merely a brief update of lives in the Rinehart household — since once again, Karen procrastinated too long to write personal notes in each of your cards. You can see by the plain paper on which this letter is printed, and the plain white envelope in which it was mailed, even Karen, Queen of Procrastination, felt uncomfortable mailing “Merry Christmas!” cards in February.
Morgan is 15 ½ and possesses a Learner’s Permit. He’s a rather good driver and actually thinks Mom’s minivan is cool. Mom says he can have it. She wants a BMW. Morgan just began his second semester of 10th grade with Latin IV, SAT Prep, Principles of Technology, and Honors Biology. Should be a stress-free winter and spring. He still swings a golf club and has lots of neat friends with whom he does all sorts of varied activities that keep him off dark street corners. He’ll be embarrassed the word “neat” was used to describe his friends. Please don’t tell him.
Melanie is 12 ½ and begs her brother to drive anytime Mom grabs the keys. Wait until he has to drop her off at a school dance. She continues to live and breathe all things Horse. Larry Byrd has been her weekend horse for a year now. Much fun was had buying saddles, bits, and blankets. If this keeps up, Mom will never get her BMW. If you ever need to find Mel on a weekend, check the barn. She began her second semester of 7th grade dreading another 9 weeks of PE, but looking forward to other classes. If she doesn’t get an A+ in Drama this year, something is terribly wrong with the universe.
Karen is constantly asked when she and her book are going to be on Oprah and morning news shows. She continues to tell everyone her Bat Phone is busted. Editor and Publisher Magazine recently named her as a possible replacement for Dave Barry. From their lips to God’s ears! Keep up with her at www.busstopmommies.com. She still needs to post pictures of her surprise 40th birthday party. She and her friend Amy are telling everyone they’re older, so folks will coo, “Oooooh, you look so good for 45!”
Scott is still employed, which is good since the kids eat like horses, both cars have over 100,000 miles on them, and Karen said she’d settle for a Volvo. When Scott occasionally has to travel over a weekend, Karen gets sole possession of the remote control and the kids eat ice cream for dinner. For his birthday, Scott received a black and tan miniature Dachshund named Nugget. After a couple days, Hank the Alpha Dog decided he’d keep her — even though he (or the kids) could eat her for a snack at any moment.
Life continues to be full of blessings beyond our belief. Wishing you much joy, peace, and happiness in what’s left of 2005.
The Rineharts
Karen Rinehart is a newspaper humor columnist, public speaker, and the creator of The Bus Stop Mommies™. She is also author of Invisible Underwear, Bus Stop Mommies and Other Things True To Life. You can read more of her work at karenrinehart.net. Karen lives in Concord, North Carolina with her two kids, one husband and goofball dog, where they attend St. James Catholic Church. (Well, they leave the dog at home.) She enjoys hearing from readers across the States and as far away as Australia, Japan and England.
