Another busy year for the Linder family! We began our year with "Out with the Old, In with the New" projects by acquiring a used Macintosh in January from a coworker of Roger's, replacing our original six year old Mac. March saw a new bed for Brad. In April, we decided to purchase a new Honda Accord to replace our aging van. The fall brought us a new VCR, a new kitchen table and a new bed for Matt. After so much time, things just seemed to be wearing out all at once. Our new car has been a particular pleasure. We were able to take trips to the Bay Area, the Jelly Belly factory, the Renaissance Faire and Portland, Oregon, as well as three county fairs and the State Fair. It's nice to have a reliable ride again!
Summer once again gave us the opportunity to entertain friends with a swim party. We invited a number of people from Roger's office, including our friend Cruz. We had a fun picnic and wrapped it up with the whole group watching the Women's Soccer finals on TV. USA!
Roger must have still been a bit numb at the time of last year's Christmas letter, because he failed to mention a couple of significant events that occurred in 1998. In September, he was invited backstage to chat with his musical hero, Todd Rundgren, and in November, he was able to be on stage during Todd's concert in Palo Alto. This year, he got to meet one of Todd's sidemen and discovered a Rundgren Way in Folsom. He rarely comes down off cloud nine as a result of his experiences. On a more personal musical level, he's been playing bass and 12-string guitar with the church's music team "How Majestic." He also serves on church council as leader for the Ministry of Daily Life, and is a confirmation teacher as well. In October, he began working on organizing a 30-year class reunion for his Rio Linda High class of 1971 and has made significant progress so far.
Cece's been spending most of the year hungry, as she has set a goal of losing about 45 pounds. She's shed 25 so far, and really feels good as a result. She maintains a healthy diet, exercises regularly and hasn't touched chocolate since January. How's that for willpower? She's not even concerned about the usual holiday temptations anymore. She maintains a very low fat diet, but still goes in for the occasional Gummi Bear as a special treat. She's looking forward to the holiday break from school (she's an Instructional Aide at Center Junior High) and enjoys having time off in the summer.
Matt is in his second year at CSUS, majoring in Music Composition. He debuted a piece for two bass guitars at the Festival of New American Music entitled "A Love Song For Amber," on his fiancée Amber's birthday. She was pleasantly surprised. After a brief hiatus, he rejoined the church's music team on bass guitar. He's also formed a Christian rock band with some friends from college and they are beginning to perform on a regular basis around town. They also recorded a demo CD with 3 songs.
Brad, now a Junior, in is concert band and jazz band at Center High School and entertained a number of his friends this summer in the family's pool. Although he's 16 now, he's hasn't shown interest in getting his license yet. He is interested in doing some web development, however, and is working on his own web site.