January 11, 2000
Like most of the world, the Gehlkes are still adjusting to the turn of the calendar and writing "2000" or "00" on things -- a transition made no easier by the fact that life here still seems much as it did in 1999, so you'll forgive us if we aren't real hyped on this mellinnium stuff. At least the water still runs, the gas still flows and the electricity still courses through our receptacles, allowing us to provide you with another in our series of monthly family newsletters.
Ignoring the fact that the 21st century doesn't actually begin until Jan. 1, 2001 (hey, everyone else has!), our introduction to the millennial year was rather uneventful. Glenn spent New Year's Eve watching for nonexistent Y2K havoc while working at the newspaper until 2 a.m., while Roni and Benji kept the lights burning at home and took in the neighborhood fireworks spectacular at the stroke of midnight. It was Benji's first New Year's Eve all-nighter and he managerd to stay awake for the entire time. He even took part in the yearly ritual of dining on sour cream herring at midnight, but apparently it is an acquired taste that he has yet to acquire.
The celebration out of the way, the first days of 2000 have been moderately eventful.
* Glenn failed in his bid to retain the perpetual trophy that he and brother Sean vie for each football season through their Gehlke Bros. Football Picks competition. Glenn made a valliant attempt to make up ground near the end of the season but fell short by five games.
* Roni embarked on plans to upgrade her garden, taking advantage of our unusual spring-like weather to rearrange the grape arbor and clean up dead leaves around the strawberries while Glenn relaid some stepping stones to eliminate weeds and smooth out some bumps. Roni now has her heart set on Glenn building a greenhouse.
* We received the news that Glenn's sister Jennifer and husband Tom may be expecting their first child or children following a long series of fertility procedures. We all are holding our collective breath and hope for happy news from the Ferreiras sometime around late September or early October.
* Our recent Tuesday ritual of attending Pokémon trading night at Burger King came to a heartbreaking end Jan. 4 when the restaurant ended its Pokémon promotion and Benji had to face the fact that his quest to catch all 57 of the little characters would have to end -- just five characters short of completion. The bright side is that Roni and Glenn received a reprieve from their recent diet of hamburger kid's meals.
With Glenn off of work for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we traveled to Hayward on Dec. 24 to exchange gifts at the Ferreira home with the rest of the Gehlke clan. We enjoyed a tasty Christmas Eve dinner in a festively decorated atmosphere. It was a little odd not getting together with everyone on the 25th, but our first home-alone Christmas was nonetheless busy as we spent much of the day assembling the some-assembly-required gifts for Benji and checking out all the new toys. Benji did pretty well, scoring a ton of Pokémon stuff along with games, puzzles, books, music and a few trains. He also received a Gameboy Color system along with the Pokémon Yellow cartridge that has consumed many of his idle hours as well as ours. We are well on our way to electronically catching all 151 of the little pocket monsters.
With his broken tooth successfully repaired Dec. 14, Glenn has consumed himself with train magazines and the Railroad Tycoon II computer game he received as a Christmas present from his folks. He is attempting to squeeze in a few hours of sleep as well time with his family and friends. If you don't hear from him for a while, chances are good he is trying to become the next Cornelius Vanderbilt ... But drop a line and he'll be sure to respond.
Until next month, we hope your winter is wonderful.
Glenn, Roni and Benji