Merry Christmas from the Melang Family

Happy Holidays! I'd love to say I'm saving the Earth one piece of paper at a time and not doing cards this year, but honestly, I just forgot about it.

So here's our Christmas newsletter, electronic edition:
We are doing great! Especially this snow season as we have snow on the ground for Christmas break! Remember last year, the year of "skiing the patch?" This time last year we were hiking Profile Trail of Grandfather and not on the slopes. Any day on the snow is a good day.

Wolfgang is coming into his own with Watauga High School and I am thrilled. He now has his core group of friends and seems over his shyness. How do I know?

He asked a girl to Homecoming, and went.
He went from "get me out of here" to "Can you pick me up late, we're hanging out."
He stayed for all football games, and now the basketball games

Most of all,
He and two friends decided to go shirtless singing a country version of "Santa Baby."

So with all the doubting myself, I am breathing a sigh of relief as he is now living the high school life, something he couldn't do if we were still commuting every weekend for time on the mountain. We've found our home.

Max is enjoying Valle Crucis Middle School, and all the awkward things that go with being a pre-teen. He participated in the Color Run, and has a core group of 5 friends, good boys who really enjoy each other.  Max is getting straight A's in school in addition to being moved a grade ahead in Math for this year. Definitely didn't get the Math gene from me!

I took several jobs this year.

I became a yogi, teaching classes for visitors this summer at Elk River Club, then continuing my teaching and practice with locals with Beech Mountain Club. I absolutely love this, especially when I sit at home with a glass of wine watching yoga videos, planning my classes (did I just say that?) My practice is getting better, my flexibility along with it, I'm even moving into the intermediate poses and pulling my winter friends class with me. I can honestly say yoga has helped me breath literally and figuratively, I don't know what I would do without practicing at least 3 times a week. Right now we are enjoying the "Lion's Breath" pose. Look it up, it's pretty cool.

I took a job as Administrator for Beech Mountain Academy, a non profit helping children become something bigger than themselves by joining a team. We have two divisions, Alpine Racing (gated racing Giant Slalom etc) and Freestyle Ski and Snowboard.  There is nothing better than coaches who are proud helping their kids achieve their goals and watching how these kids gel together. Both teams are an awesome representation of Beech Mountain and I'm humbled being part of this process.

My writing is going well, I'm enjoying the phrase, "If I don't write it, I will do it," phrase when people read some of my short stories, looking up with a "WHAT?" I've finished editing a Contemporary Romance and plan on releasing it through Medium.com in January. One more pass through! Since you're here on my blog, you're in the right place, I'll post the links on all my social media sites as well as here!

Jeff's work is going well, two big things of interest. If you see the new "Most Interesting Man in the World" (Dos Equis) commercial, looking the helicopter in the background. Jeff setup that deal, getting that helicopter to Tampa for a big Dos Equis promotion. Honestly, to me Jeff is the most interesting man in the world.

Jeff received his Aircraft Appraisal Certification this year, helping sellers and buyers determine the correct price for their aircraft. One of his cool appraisals was finding the correct value of the original AirForce One, Eisenhower's plane sitting for years in the airplane graveyard. This airplane  almost collided with another airplane in mid air, creating the VIN number system we use today, determining aircraft by a number rather than make and model.  If you want to see something cool, visit the airplane graveyard in the desert by clicking here.

Shawnee the dog got attacked by two dogs last Thanksgiving and is vibrant today, our pocketbook not so after the $2400 vet bill.

Both boys had a great mountain biking season except for Max breaking his arm in the last race of the season. He crashed at the finish line and asked with a bent arm, "I crossed the finish line, right? What was my time?" His next question at the ER after learning it was broken was, "This is great, I'll be ready to go for snowboard season, right? 6 weeks!" Wolf's last race was riding for a local bike shop, Magic Cycles, he was thrilled to ride their gear wearing their colors.

So where are we now? Sitting in front of a fire, with a glass of wine arguing about whether we should watch A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation or Elf! Here's to our electronic hug coming through your computer wishing you a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Much Love, the Melang Family



Oh and did I mention this?

Yeah, this.