Views of the Monkeynut

Peter

Louise

Madeleine

Toni

New from the Monkeynut - I am very sorry to report that Louise's mother, Phyllis, passed away on Tuesday night, January 13, 2004. She had been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia the week before and seemed to be doing poorly. Louise flew out on Friday to see her; on Sunday she was feling better and she and Louise were able to converse. (She told Louise she looked cute.) But after a minor surgical procedure, she took a turn for the worse and died in her hospital bed. Louise and her two brothers were with her at the time. The funeral took place on January 17 in Chicago; our heartfelt thanks to all of those who came to say goodbye to a remarkable woman. New from the Monkeynut - In March 2004, Madeleine appeared in the Mamaroneck High School production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. Her role was Mistress Page, one of the two merry wives who match wits with Falstaff. Fatherly modesty prevents me from relating how marvelous a job she did; suffice it to say that the show was a great triumph. Madison Associates now has a product that we are actively marketing, which ushers in a new and exciting (and nerve-wracking) phase of the business. Bill and I have made a number of presentations, mostly in Boston and New York. We have been well received, but the product isn't cheap and the sales process is a lengthy one. Louise is still looking for a permanent job, but it has now been nearly a year that she has been doing free-lance business for Time, Inc. and it has provided vital financial support while I have been investing my time into Madison. New from the Monkeynut - This is our Christmas letter for 2004. First, as befitting my British heritage, I am obliged to comment on the weather. Goodness gracious! Winter arrived with a bang, less than a week before Christmas, with temperatures approaching the single digits. We had a rather modest dusting of snow, but it seems unlikely that we will have a white Christmas - the temperature is now in the 50ies and it is raining gently. By and large, I'm sorry to say, this was not a banner year for the Monkeynut - we got sick, our dear friends got sick, Louise didn't get an offer of the perfect job, Madison Associates didn't sign up a dozen clients. Bummer! At the risk of sounding maudlin, I will now detail the woes refered to above. I had repeated knee problems in the first half of the year, culminating in arthroscopic surgery in July. Actually, this story has a happy ending - the surgery was a great success and my knee now seems to be as good as new. I also, earlier in the year, started suffering from an unidentified malaise which the great minds of Westchester medicine have been unable to run to ground. (At least it doesn't appear to be anything unspeakably dreadful, which is a relief.) Toni got pneumonia but recovered - hey, that's not so bad! Madeline and Louise stayed reasonably healthy - that's good! Louise continued to do freelance work at Time, Inc. where she raked in some decent money which kept our finances alive all year. Excellent! She has been working with the international licensing group, which means that the next time you are in Lithuania and see a Time magazine on a newstand in Lithuanian and containing both stories translated from the American edition and stories of Lithuanian interest, the chances are that Louise was behind it. And while Madison Associates hasn't made a huge splash in the marketplace yet, we have signed up our first client who is going to be thoroughly spoiled by us until we sign up enough clients for us to get blasé. Well, now I am thinking that it wasn't such a bad year after all. No major disasters and everyone reasonably healthy and happy as the year comes to a close. The hardest part has actually been when friends of ours have come down with more serious problems. JJ, we love you and wish you all the luck and support we can give you. Our summer vacation was fun. We went up to Lake Winnipesauke in New Hampshire for two weeks and splashed around in the water. No-one drowned, despite our best efforts. For full details, see our write-up. I also had a most delightful trip to England in September to help celebrate my Uncle Russell's 90th birthday. It was a major family get-together and made me remember how lucky I am to belong to such a fine family. The girls continue to get older, wiser and more accomplished. Madeleine is part of the school's Semi-royal Shakespeare group and performed in the Merry Wives of Windsor in March to enthusiastic reviews. She is now taking voice lessons and dreams of being a big star on Broadway. Toni is still taking violin and has started studying French, so she now walks around the house muttering "Mon Dieu!" to herself. On my 61st birthday: Getting older, I am losing my mind. Now, where could I have put it? To all of our friends and relatives, wherever you are, we wish you a joyous holiday season and a happy and healthy New Year!

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