Happy Holidays to our friends. We are well, as are our families, 1998 has been kind to us.
I continue to work for Lexis-Nexis, where I've been since 1985. I am part of a 24x7 rapid response team supporting in-house written software. I enjoy both the job and my coworkers. Andy has just completed his first year working as a consultant with the 3X Corporation, doing UNIX system administration. This past year he has worked primarily with Reynolds and Reynolds and Pet Warehouse here in Dayton, and with LensCrafters in the Cincinnati area. Andy has been enjoying his assignments, tho I think the commute to Cincinnati is starting to get a little old. ;-)
We are still big fans of Champ (aka Indy) Car racing and NASCAR Winston Cup racing. We attended the Cup races in Vegas and in Indianapolis this year and while I think their race team is very talented, I'm sorry to see Jeff Gordon win another championship. :-p I sure was pulling for Mark Martin! As always we attended the Champ Car race, and other races, at the MidOhio Sports Car Course this year.
Andy did a couple driving schools with TrackTime again this year. He took his Eagle Talon on the track at Putnam Park and also did the TrackTime NASCAR driving school. This is where you get to drive a real Winston Cup car at Michigan Speedway. Andy had fun driving a car previously driven by Robert Pressley, and I had a ball getting a ride with an instructor in a car previously driven by one of my favorite drivers, Jeff Burton. It was a lot of fun!!
I've been volunteering at a local animal shelter called SICSA (Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals) all year, just trying to help out by walking dogs one night a week. This is the organization I adopted our two cats from, about 10 years ago. It's a good place. If anyone in the Dayton Area is considering getting a dog or cat, or likes animals and has some time to give, please consider SICSA!
Andy's enthusiasm for rock climbing has continued. This year he was able to climb at Red River Gorge in Kentucky, at Seneca Rocks in West Virginia, and at Red Rocks in Nevada, as well as much local climbing here in the Dayton area, both outdoors and at Urban Krag. Unfortunately he had a fall at Seneca near the end of August where he whacked his foot on a small ledge, and his foot was broken.
It's good to note that he did not fall to the ground, and that all his climbing gear and his climbing partners worked as expected. He just happened to hit his foot on a small outcropping as he fell. The talus bone does take a long time to heal and he still has not been able to resume climbing. He's been climbing the walls around the house because he can't climb the walls! so to speak... He should be cleared to climb again soon tho.
The broken foot kept Andy from driving in the 3X car during the Cincinnati Mini Grand Prix this year - which is a fund raiser for the Arthritis Foundation. This was the first year 3X participated in this fun event. Andy did act as the 'crew chief' during the races tho, and worked in the 'pits'. He is looking forward to hopefully being on the team for next years race.
We have been fortunate to attend a couple performances by my favorite band this year. They 'retired' in 1996, but the psychodots still do a couple performances a year and they're still very very good. :-)
We had two trips to Las Vegas this year, for an auto race and for rock climbing. While there we got some hiking and horseback riding in too. The desert was beautiful with a lot of plants in bloom when we visited in May. I'm looking forward to going back again in 1999. (the edited photo at the top was taken in Red Rocks Nevada)
We visited Andy's relatives on the Dailey side this year for Easter and for Thanksgiving, and we attended the annual Welter side reunion in New Jersey this past summer. We got together with my parents and my brother and his family in Michigan for the 4th of July and are looking forward to seeing them all again at Christmas time.
We also were fortunate to see some of Andy's college friends in November and to spend some time in the Smokies with friends in October.
We hope this holiday season finds you healthy and content.
Sandy and Andy Welter, December 1998