Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from The Joneses,

Well another year has passed since we last checked in with all of you. 2008 was a pretty normal year in our lives. You know…same old same old….Rick and Susie celebrated their 31st year of marriage, the girls each got a year older (they are now 19, 23, 25 and 28!). Let’s see what else can we share…hmmm….oh, a couple of more minor things….we had a house fire in January and Rick’s job was eliminated….well that is about all we have for you this year. As we said….just another routine year. Enjoy 2009. We will talk to you next December.

Oh…did we get your attention? What was it? Rick and Susie’s anniversary? No? Okay…the girls all getting another year older? No…guess that happens to all of us….Oh, it must be the house fire and the Rick’s job…okay, if you insist we will give a little more detail on each.

Let’s start with the house fire. It was really more like a room fire….specifically Katelyn’s room. We had just eaten dinner on a Thursday evening (1/3/08)….dates of house fires seem to stick with you…anyway…we smelled something burning….Rick assumed it was either a pot on the stove or Katelyn’s room burning uncontrollably…..he is very perceptive you know. Well, when we noticed smoke coming from under the door to the bedroom we immediately jumped from our seats. Oh, by the way….nobody was hurt in this incident…..guess we should have told you that from the start…sorry! Katelyn was not even in the house at the time. She had left her room and the house about 20 minutes before we saw the smoke. You know the old adage? Where there is smoke there is fire? Well guess what…turns out that this pretty darn accurate. So, what does one do when they see smoke seeping from the bottom of a closed door? Call 911? Get out of the house? Grab a fire extinguisher? Save your golf clubs? All very good options…especially the last as far as Rick is concerned. What should one not do? Open the door of course! Guess what Rick did? Well, he did call 911…..while he was opening the door to the bedroom….He said he wanted to be able to describe the scene to the operator. So Rick…what was the scene? What were you observing? …..FIRE!!!!!

Okay, we need to start condensing this story a little bit…..here is the bottom line. The cause of the fire was some sort of electrical issue. We never found out the exact reason. Isn’t that comforting? We were out of our house for a month. The fire gutted Katelyn’s bedroom and caused smoke and soot damage throughout the rest of the house. We spent the first couple of nights at our neighbor’s house. After it was apparent that our friendship would not survive we moved to a Residence Inn. Four humans, three cats and two dogs….what an experience! Our house had to be completely renovated….professionally cleaned, new flooring, repainted….the works. Actually, we were very lucky that we were only out of the house for a month. We don’t have time in this letter to cover each day of our adventure…rest assured we learned a lot, especially how to deal with battling contractors and insurance companies. The only happy person in all of this was Katelyn. She was able to purchase an entire new wardrobe for both herself and her bedroom. This of course came only after the police investigation was concluded. The fact that prior to the fire Katelyn had been overheard many times complaining that she never had anything to wear prompted the police to speak to her.

Okay, sorry to rush through that episode but we need to move ahead 10 months to the end of October. It was during this time that Rick found out that his current role as a Vice President for Coca-Cola Enterprises had been eliminated. So, after thirty one plus years with Coca-Cola Rick was out of a job. Rick went through a wide range of emotions after hearing the news…..mostly crying uncontrollably while screaming…. why me….why me….then he happened to glance at the severance package and started laughing uncontrollably while screaming…. Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord….. He settled on gratefulness to the company for everything he was able to accomplish. There are very few businesses where one can start as a driver and work his way up to the level of a VP. Rick made so many friends throughout his years. They have been the source of comfort and support during this trying time. Rick is also excited about the future. We are pleased to let you know that Rick has already been able to find employment with another company. He is now working for McDonalds . Rick had to start from the bottom (working the french fries). He has already set his eyes on the coveted job of the Filet of Fish chef. Wish him luck as he works toward his ultimate goal of preparing the BIG MAC! Whoa Rick…easy there….let’s not try and do too much to early here. Okay, you got us…we are of course joking. Rick is still unemployed but he has plenty of time to figure out what is next on the horizon... In the meantime he has plenty of time to work on his golf game…..no scratch that…there isn’t enough time to help him. Oh…one more thing about Rick….he was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this year. He is controlling it with pills and a more healthy diet. Yep, his days of consuming a complete bag of chips while watching his favorite football team are over. Please pray for him as he is very feeble, frail old man. At least that is what he tells Susie when she brings up any work needed to be done around the house.

Okay, so let’s move on to the rest of the members of the family starting with Susie....She continued to work part-time at a business named Comfort Keepers. She serves as a care giver to the elderly needing assistance. Susie has enjoyed getting paid for doing something she has done for free for so many years. Susie is also working on an invention. She modified the walker (the official name is a “rollator”) that her Mom uses to get around. Her Mom is on oxygen 24 hours a day. She had to place her tank(s) in a basket located on the front of the walker. This was not very stable. Susie added a cone like holder on each side of the walker. She also placed some decorative fabric on the cones and the entire walker. When Susie and her Mom run errands they receive many comments about the work Susie has done. So, Rick’s job is now to figure out how to market this so we can make millions of dollars. This would also solve for his “out of a job dilemma”. Please stay tuned to those infomercial channels. You may see Rick and Susie hawking their wares!

We already gave Katelyn (19) enough time on this newsletter. Just a couple of more things…. She is a freshman at a local community college. She is majoring in “I have no idea what do to do with the rest of my life”. We are hoping she doesn’t try and break her sister’s record of most attempts at completing one year of college. We won’t mention that sisters’ name except to let you know it starts with a K. Katelyn is also working part-time at a Hallmark store. This is much appreciated by her parents!

Kimmi (23) continues to attend a hair styling school in Orlando. She will be finished early next year. It is her hope (and her parents) that she will then be gainfully employed as a hairdresser, hair stylist, cosmetologist, barber, one who cuts follicles from another’s head….….whatever you want to call it. Kimmi still has her dog, Nancy Grace. We did not realize she had been training Nancy to be a professional dog fighter. It paid off recently when she took on one of Kristin’s dogs, Gary. How did she fare against this older dog? Well, Nancy’s comment was “You should see the other dog”.

Kaley (25) has been working very hard at securing a full time job since she graduated from the University of Central Florida in December of 2007. Rick helped her get a summer job with Glaceau. This company was purchased by Coca-Cola a couple of years ago. You may know them best by one of the products they sell named Vitamin Water. She is now working as a research assistant with a company that works with families with a worth in excess of three million dollars. We guess she will never be working on the Jones family account!

Kristin (28) is getting ready to embark on something very exciting. She is going to move from Orlando to New York City. This should happen sometime at the end of January. While we will miss her we are excited that she is going to be able to fulfill one of her dreams. She will be leaving a piece of her life with us….her car….and the corresponding payments that go with it! Rick says he did not do a very good job of reading all of the fine print when he co-signed for the loan.

Susie’s Mom, Phyllis is still with us…She is doing as well as can be expected for a person that is eighty three years old. We were very proud of her recent appearance on “Dancing with the Stars”. As you can see by her picture she bears a remarkable resemblance to Cloris Leachman. Rest assured….this was not Cloris on the show….it was definitely Phyllis Sasser…..we understand the confusion…they are the same age you know.

Yes, we still have the animal menagerie. Rick went grocery shopping the other day with Susie (hey, he has a lot of time on his hands right now). They had been in the store for 15 minutes and still had not purchased any “human” food. All Rick could do was shake his head…

Well, this wraps up our letter for this year. We can only hope that 2009 is not quite as “exciting” for us. We hope all of you have a blessed year.

The Joneses

The First Blog

This is the first blog for The Jones Family.. Rest assured it will get better!