Merry Christmas 2009!

♫ It’s a sign of the times. ♫
Remember that 1966 Petula Clark song? Well the sign of our times, is job loss and our family has definitely seen that this year. In February, Marty got laid off of his job and in November, I got laid off of my job. My son, Adam, even went through two layoffs this year. The good news is that everyone is working now, even if not in conventional ways.

I went from being a full time employee of my company to being a contract worker. I was actually out of work for 3 weeks. I am now back writing assembly procedures for R&D and I love it. Adam has also gone on to a job that he enjoys. He is operating a laser cutting machine for Owen Oil Tools.

Marty is pursuing the path less taken. After looking for conventional work, he decided to pursue internet marketing. It is like starting your own small business. He has spent most of this year learning about subjects like search engine optimization and latent semantic indexing. We are excited about the things he has discovered. Although he has not yet developed a money making business, we feel he is getting very close. I plan to help him by writing for the business in my spare time.

Besides Adam going on to bigger and better things, two of our other children have passed milestones this year. Fallon, Adam’s wife, graduated in May with an Associate’s degree. She is already taking more courses toward her next degree. Marty’s daughter, Carmen, went to school and got her Certified Nurse’s Assistant (CNA) license. We are very proud of both of our graduates.

Marty and I were very blessed to get to take a vacation to Walt Disney World in Florida this year. We went to the wedding of Chris and Brooke Woodrow in Atlanta and decided to just keep going to Florida. Disney World was great. Even though it was my fourth trip to Disney, I got to see the electric light parade for the first time. Marty got to meet his hero, Buzz Lightyear.

On our trip, we also got to stop in Lexington, South Carolina and see many dear friends I hadn’t seen since I moved away in 1999. They in turn got to meet my wonderful husband. How many prayers were said over my 8 years as a single, that God would bring a good man in my life? The mind boggles. But God is good and my SC friends could see proof of answered prayer.

Marty had a victory early this year. His picture of neon lights in Haltom Plaza won for the category Haltom City Scenes. It appears in the 2010 Haltom City calendar which is available for free at the HC library.

This year I got to carry on a family tradition of making Christmas cookies with the kids. My grandson, Addison, and my sister, Delia, joined me for some messy, but fun cookie making. Maybe next year, more of the grandkids can come.

My goal with my Christmas letter is to go mostly to an online version. This blog version has more pictures than my printed letter and you can click on the links. Marty’s latest website is BuyAdultDiapers.net and this is my new Arlington Barbecue Restaurants Examiner column. If you prefer to receive a paper letter next year, send me a note with "paper letter" in the subject.

We hope that you will have a heartwarming Christmas spent with your family and loved ones and we wish you increased health and prosperity in the New Year.

Love,

Veronica & Marty Hobson