Mai Daily Bild: December 2012

In 2012…
…Dan is a software engineer at Google in Chelsea, NYC.
…Gianna turned 6 in November and is in 1st grade at Featherbed Lane School.
…I am a scientist at L’Oreal.
…Bruno is still a spunky min pin, even at 8 years old.

This year started with a February trip to China and Vietnam. We spent most of our time relaxing in the Vietnamese beach town of Nha Trang with a visit to a mudbath, ancient temples, and Vinpearl amusement park. China was bitterly cold compared to Vietnam. Dan and Gianna spent two days with me in Shanghai before I left for a business trip to the factories and farms of Western China. In March, Dan’s sister Cori got married to Mike Rittenhouse and his Grandma Schmidt got re-married the same weekend.

April began with a trip to the ER to patch up a big gash is Gianna’s head. Later that month, we planted Christmas trees at my dad’s farm in Potter County, PA with Jeff and his son Ryan. In May, we got a new nephew, Benjamin Kent Landis. I had the privilege to watch Ryan while Jeff and Nancy were at the hospital and to see Ben when he was just a day old. In June, Gianna graduated from kindergarten and started swim camp the following week.

For July 4th, we took a camping trip to the Adirondacks and New England to see the Ben and Jerry ice cream factory. The following weekend, there was a Schmidt family reunion in PA to celebrate Grandma Schmidt’s 80th birthday. Around the same time, Bruno got attacked by a wild animal in our backyard, requiring 6 stitches in his hind leg. He's OK now. In August, we sold our house on Culver Street that we bought back in 2005 when we first moved to NJ. In some regards, we were sad to leave, as we had put so much work into the house and garden. Plus, it was Gianna's first nursery. But the house was in a poor school district and far from both our jobs. We moved into a rental in Westfield, NJ, closer to our jobs and a good school for Gianna.

Into every life a little rain must fall...and then there are super-storms. Hurricane Sandy turned NJ and NYC into a disaster area. People lost their homes, vacation homes, cars, and some lost their lives. We are thankful we only lost power and were able evacuate to Baltimore to stay with Jeff and Nancy until the crisis was over. In September, I had shoulder surgery to repair torn tendons from a fall at a bounce house. It turned into a super-storm; the spinal nerve roots were damaged. When I asked my neurologist about prognosis, he said, "You're hosed". The arm and hand may never recover function. You can see "corpse arm" trying to look natural in this photo from Google's holiday party (compare to photo above). To those that may offer up idioms like, "Get back on your horse", or minimalizations like, "It's only your left arm", I say: let me sever your spinal nerves to one of your limbs, then tell me it's not so bad. Thanks to everyone who has been there for me. Your visits and kind gestures have meant a lot to me.

So what's in store for us in 2013? Who knows. We will go on vacation somewhere, probably move again, maybe someone will get a new job. Hopefully no more spinal injuries, though...no more super-storms of any kind.

Peace, Love, and Kindness for 2013,

Dan, Barb, Gianna, and Bruno