Dear friends & relatives,

Can't believe it's that time of year already. Course, lots has happened (to me) in the last year. Most notably, I sold my townhouse in Plymouth and moved to RidgePointe, a senior citizens high rise apartment near the junction of I-494 & I-394 west of Minneapolis. It's only about 3 miles from my old townhouse, so it's still convenient for the kids to visit me. If you know where Ridgedale Shopping Center is, it’s across the freeway and a block north.

I'm really liking this style of living. They take care of everything for you and provide lots of stimulating lectures & excursions & parties. If you want to view our web site, go to this link - http://www.funatridge.com. And here's a link to a tour of my apartment -http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7280161/RogersNewApt.wmv. In case you don't have my new contact information, it is: Roger Meyer, 12800 Marion Lane West, Apt. 707, Minnetonka, MN 55305, and phone: 952-540-6512. My cell phone is still 612-718-5499.

The kids continue to take very good care of me. Each come visit me every week and we go out for supper nearby. 

Dan & Dawn continue to live in Mounds View and enjoy trains and being rail fans. Dan continues maintaining Sprint's 4G data network in the Twin Cities while Dawn continues designing web sites for clients.

Kath & Cam & Connor & Kyla still live nearby. We attended several Wayzata High School football games where Connor played in the marching band. Since he's a high school Senior, he's currently in the process of deciding what college he wants to go to next year. He's inherited math skills from both his dad and his granddad, so he's interested in engineering. Kyla is a Freshman this year at Wayzata High School and enjoys it much more than middle school. Kathy and Cam both started new jobs this year. Kathy is back with Fingerhut after an 8 month break and Cam is working downtown at an ad agency as a web developer.

Dave & Garth & Hannah come to see me every

Monday evening. Garth is completing his schooling at Minneapolis Media Institute and will graduate in early February. So, he's looking for a job now. Hannah is attending Hennepin Technical College and will probably go into some sort of a childcare job. She's still learning lots and sorting all that out. Dave continues as a bill collector, although he went to a different company this year.

Besides my move, I've made several other trips this year.

In February, I went with my brother - Jim & his wife, Diane and spent the whole month of February at their lovely Park Model in Pharr, TX (near McAllen). The temperature was 85 almost every day. We spent a lot of time in the pool. Can hardly wait to go down there again in another month.

In late May, I flew out to Reston, Virginia, where I judged a barbershop singing contest. Had a wonderful time working with a man who's taking over maintenance of a contest scoring program. I first wrote that program way back in the early 80s and it's still used today for all barbershop singing contests.

Spent several weekends in Blue Earth visiting relatives and several in Vining with David at his cabin.

And of course, I couldn't miss the great Minnesota State Fair which I attended on opening day.

Besides my move, the highlight of the year had to be attending the Great Reno Balloon Races on September 10th. Mike & Mary had invited me out to spend a couple weeks with them at South Lake Tahoe. The highlight of the trip was the balloon races. Here's a link to my report on that event http://ca201109.posterous.com/. And of course, I had a wonderful time with Mike & Mary and their family. We went hiking, mountain biking, sightseeing, and did all the great things that the Lake Tahoe area offers.

In early October, Jim called me to come haul corn for him as corn picking was early this year. I spent 10 days in Blue Earth hauling corn from the field to the elevator. On a couple of trips, I was pulling more corn in the 2 wagons behind me than the amount hauled by semis. Didn't try any quick stops, though.

This last item doesn't seem possible. I graduated from St. Thomas College 50 years ago. So this year, I attended my 50th reunion. I also helped plan it, as I was on the committee. Lots of fun seeing all the old faces.

Now that I'm settled into RidgePointe, I've decided that my work for the rest of my life is to help Senior citizens use all the new electronic technology. So far I've taught or helped Seniors at RidgePointe, Minnetonka, & Plymouth. It's lots of fun.

Lastly, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you & your families.