Dear Friends and Family,
We have a special Christmas gift for you this year: you don’t have to change our address in your address book one more time! That’s right, December 2001 finds us still in Atlanta.
Early this year we suffered a major loss at the death of our beloved furry companion, Honey. After almost 14 years of being “the best dog ever,” she finally succumbed to cancer of the spleen, which evidently has been a genetic tendency in her family. We all still miss her enormously. Steve created a memorial website for her at www.sliwa.com.
Another major change also happened in January. The board of Steve’s company eRevenue decided to sell to Peregrine Systems. Thus Steve activated his consulting company, Capital Synergy Partners, and has been very industrious, traveling all over the country. He has been working predominantly with Insitu Group (www.insitu.com), a company that is developing an intriguing new concept for small, long-endurance, easily-recoverable robotic aircraft. He was recently named President of this company, and is helping them secure Series B financing to bring their product to market. At present he is splitting his time between Seattle and Atlanta.
Nancy continues to work for BellSouth Internet Services as a Senior Project Manager. She managed the very successful launch of a series of releases for an important new product in the second quarter, for which she was given BellSouth’s prestigious “In the Company of Leaders” award. She is now working hard on the most complex product launch BellSouth has ever done, which is really a suite of 5 products that launches on a completely reworked CRM platform. She directs one of 4 product sub-teams, is the integration leader of the 4 sub-teams, and is the program co-manager for the entire project. Needless to say, she is keeping very busy! But the company is wonderful, her boss is great, and her colleagues are terrific people to work with.
Nancy also has been very active in midtown Atlanta’s Peachtree Christian Church. She is doing the 2-year Bethel Bible Study, and is teaching her Sunday School class for 5 weeks over the holidays. She was recently named a deacon for the year 2002.
Even though our non-business travel has been relatively limited this year, we have still enjoyed a few memorable trips. In March we joined the Eagles yet again at the national tournament in Branson, Missouri, after they had posted a 34-2 record, and been ranked #1 the entire season. Although they were eliminated before the final game, we really enjoyed the chance to be with our Embry-Riddle friends yet again.
In July Nancy finally embarked on a long-planned trip with Marcie to “fly Alaska.” We started out in Palo Alto in Marcie’s C-182, “Zack,” and flew to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the Calgary Stampede and the Ninety-Nines’ International Convention. We then joined up with two other C-182s, for a total of 3 planes and 7 folks, to fly to and around Alaska. We went up through Dawson Creek, Watson Lake, and Whitehorse to Northway, Alaska. Due to a delay for weather, we missed Fairbanks, but enjoyed Mt. McKinley/Denali for a few days, then went through Anchorage down to Homer. What a delightful spot! Around the coast through Valdez and Yakitak to Juneau, then Port Hardy, Portland, and home to Palo Alto. A wonderful 3 weeks of breathtaking scenery and really exciting flying.
Tabitha is still in Monterey, and has just finished her employment with Harcourt Brace eLearning. She has become quite an accomplished HTML and Flash programmer. Unfortunately, when Thompson acquired the company in August, they decided to close the Monterey operation. Tabitha’s employment was extended to help them complete the transfer, but due to the change in corporate culture, she was glad to bid them adieu in November, and join the ranks of the soon-to-be-elsewhere-employed. She is enjoying the holidays in “freedom” before concentrating on the new job hunt, and hopes next year brings a better economy. She is active in the local Junior Chamber of Commerce, and has become an avid collector of miniature model shoes (“Just the Right Shoe”). Her website, at www.eTabitha.com, is still under construction, but shows off her collection and some of her professional artwork. (She also was contracted to help develop Insitu’s new website, as referenced above.)
Chandelle and Casper continue to be loveable and cuddly. Chandelle has had more than her share of fleeting health ailments this year, but has always come through them with no long-term problems. She has lost a lot of weight and frequently joins Steve on his morning run. Casper continues consistently healthy and amuses himself with periodically attacking Chandelle and play-wrestling.
The events of this fall have shown us all that it is not riches that matter, but relationships: relationships with God and with one another. This year we are all a little more open to expressing our love, and we want to tell you how thankful we are to have you as part of our lives, even when it means only an annual exchange of holiday greetings.
May the Reason for the Season fill your lives with faith, hope, peace, love, and joy.
And a Happy New Year!
Steve, Nancy, Chandelle and Casper
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