I think we can all agree that 2021 has been much better than 2020, but still had its challenges. We found a way to get out and travel and at times our lives seemed back to normal. But for the Maloney's, determining what 'normal' is can be a little difficult. We'll start with the family update.
Jason continues with his masters program at Georgia Tech (online) for Data Analytics. He also added three more letters to his name - CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst). This is one of the hardest certifications to get with the lowest pass rate ever for the June testing. Having already passed 2 parts, he happily passed the 3rd. Alexa continues to grow her blossoming illustration business. She's been featured in several local publications and is associated with a local invitation and stationary shop. All seems pretty right in their world.
Ethan, our grandson, has grown into his own paragraph this year. At three, he is talking (and occasionally crying) up a storm. I sometimes think he has a bigger vocabulary than mine! His favorite word in our house, however, is Papa. His love of cars (really anything that moves) syncs perfectly with David's which means Papa is always in demand. Plus, they're mentally pretty close to the same age. Need I say more?
Brandon is now residing in Washington, D.C. although he's still working for Jackson Family Wines. You might know them better from their flagship brand, Kendall Jackson, but they are really much larger than most people realize with wineries on all continents except Asia and Antarctica. His move was prompted by his new love interest. I'm not going to say more on this but watch for an update in the 2022 letter.
We seemed to have found a way to pack two year's worth of travel into 2021 trying to make up for a dismal 2020. Destinations included: San Francisco, Monterey, back to San Francisco, D.C. (see above paragraph), Maine(peeping leaves), Las Vegas, back to Las Vegas, Chicago times 2, Minneapolis, New York City, Blackberry Farm, Colorado (of course), and Disney World. The later was Ethan's first (but probably not last) trip to visit The Mouse. I had my doubts that a newly 3 year old could overcome the chaos of Disney with a smile on his face but I was proven wrong. While all the travel was fun, we're going to work at staying home a little more in 2022.
David's now the proud owner of a Medicare Card which was both a little demoralizing and also confusing. Confusing because it took Tammie a little research to get the right (if that's possible) combination of drug plan/supplement plan plus the regular plan all sorted out. I guess if the government made things simple Tammie wouldn't have a job.
Photography and cars seems to take most of our time aside from family. Life is good and continues to get better. Until next year, ciao.
Tammie & David
