2022 in Review: Happy New Year!

We headed to Utah for our annual ski trip in January while the kids were still on on their winter break from college. We enjoyed some great snow and company, including Leo's mom and sister who cross-country skiied each day. Below is an excerpt from one of my Dad's email updates, in his inimitable style. He's so amazing, still skiing strong at 82!

"Today we skied a half day at Snowbird, and managed to do it right. It was snowing some, but only horizontally. Dense fog. The wind had shut down most of the lifts for most of the day. So we only went out after lunch. They had done no grooming...but the woods were fantastic down in the Gad Valley. As usual, they were completely out of that howling wind. What we got was not light Utah powder. But what it was, was better. A mixture of graupel and fine wind-blown snow, it was butter soft and forgiving with no wind crust. They had just opened Tiger Tail after weeks of it being closed. A horde of people had already gone through but they left gaps from their stampede. The first time down it we did some variations that gave us untracked powder. The second run we got the rare condition of soft carving without the usual moguls. Plus, the far woods had also been overlooked by the crowd. We skied nonstop until the light went bad just at quitting time. Eat your heart out." Utah album

We made some interesting and yummy Hamentashen (cookies for the Jewish holiday of Purim) with our friends the Sitkoffs. We tried to ship some of them to Greg in Pittsburgh but sadly they got moldy by the time he remembered to pick them up. We did successfully freeze some for Julia that she tried later.

In April, Karen and Leo took a Caribbean cruise for two. It started out a bit stressful when our flight was delayed so we didn't arrive until after 1 am. We had originally planned to stay with our family friends for the night but that didn't make sense once it got so late. Many, many flights had been cancelled that evening so it was hard to find a hotel available, but we finally snagged one through the airplane wifi while still on the flight. However, after getting the rental car and driving to the hotel, it turned out that they didn't actually have any rooms available. Now it was 2 am and we were hotelless. We wondered if we would have to sleep in the car but after some phone calls, we finally found a hotel about a half an hour away near Miami beach that had space. We arrived around 3 am and fell into bed, exhausted. Luckily everything went smoothly after that! We enjoyed Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami, fun activities on the ship (aqua shows, origami, ice skating, water slides, entertainers, etc.), and fun in ports, including a thrilling jet ski ride where Karen was excited to speed by Leo in the line of riders. Leo and Karen were among the only guests still wearing masks on the ship, but we were lucky and avoided any sickness. After getting back to Miami, we took a fun day trip to Everglades National Park where we biked in Shark Valley. We didn't see any sharks, but did see lots and lots of gators! Cruise album

We visited Julia at Tufts on her birthday to give her some presents and a mochi ice cream with a candle in it. Greg came home from Carnegie Mellon just in time for us to celebrate his birthday in person. Karen's Dad also visited during this time so we had some nice family time. One of the things he helped us with was putting together a small "catio" accessible from one of our sliding glass doors. It's human height tall and maybe 3 feet by 3 feet, with a wire mesh. We had some adventures where our cat Rosie was able to squeeze herself through the impossibly small crack between the catio and door and waltz herself into the great outdoors unbeknownst to us. The first few times she did this she came back on her own without notice, but finally Leo spotted her in the act and we quickly fixed the gap. Luckily she stayed safe and didn't get into any altercations with foxes or wild turkeys, who can frequently be seen in the backyard.

We took a fun day trip to Newport, Rhode Island while Karen's Dad was visiting. One of the reasons we decided to go to the Newport is because Greg needed to get his new driver's license and the only RMV with appointments available was down in Fall River. We didn't quite remember how the Cliff Walk worked and that once you get past a certain point, you have to go ALL the way so we ended up getting an Uber to drive us a few miles back to our car in order to make the appointment.

For the long Memorial Day weekend Karen, Leo, and Greg headed up to New Hampshire with Leo's mom, sister, and cousin. We took some beautiful hikes to see lakes and waterfalls, and one morning three of us drove up Mount Washington. We had picked a beautiful, clear day so could see for many miles. The drive up the mountain is a bit notorious because of its narrow and winding nature, but really the scariest thing was the outrageous price (although definitely worth it for us). One notable and slightly odd thing on our hikes and around our beautiful rented house was that it was constantly raining caterpillars. When standing in the woods you could hear the steady pitter patter of caterpillars falling (or was it caterpillar poop falling? I am not sure which is worse?) Thank goodness this is not a thing in Massachusetts. We did our best to check our bags when we got home to ensure none of the little critters had hitched a ride. But all in all it was a great trip with beautiful scenery and wonderful company! New Hampshire album

We celebrated Ded Vladik's birthday in the beginning of July and then went on another long weekend adventure, this time to the Berkshires for more hikes and fun family time. Those with sharp eyes may be wondering where Julia was during all these summer trips. The answer is that she had an internship that was in-person with the Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach so she lived with Karen's sister Barb and family during the summer and wasn't home much. She did very much enjoy both her internship and spending time with her cousin Grace and was very grateful to be able to stay with them. Greg had a summer internship working with Harvard Medical School on statistical models.

Leo's cousin Tanya and family came to Sharon just as we were in our pre-vacation "paranoia" stage before our upcoming trip to Ireland. We decided to have an outdoor meeting near the lake in Sharon and it was great to catch up!

We finally got Julia back in time for our big trip of the year to Ireland! We had 10 days, with 3 days to explore Dublin and 7 days on a private, guided tour of the south and west of Ireland with the fantastic Anam Croi Tours. There were so many highlights that it's hard to list. We loved the countryside, the people, the music, the castles, the cliffs, the museums...basically everything. Well, Karen didn't like the Guiness, but that's to be expected. One lucky break was being able to see Kilmainham Gaol. We didn't realize that we needed to purchase tickets immediately when they went on sale 90 days before. When we checked 80 days before, they were already completely sold out for all the days we would be there. Karen checked periodically but never saw any tickets available for the relevant days, let alone 7 spots for the same time slot. So imagine our surprise when Karen checked the website again after landing in Dublin and discovered that an entire time slot had freed up for that very afternoon! We had taken a red eye to Ireland and were all a bit beat by the end of a very long day, but also grateful that we got to see an important and interesting historical site! Other memories: Karen's Dad was a little too proud of his viking ancestors' invasion of Ireland when speaking to the Irish, Leo bravely hanging upside down to kiss the Blarney Stone, Julia falling in love with a street cat, hilarious Irish name pronunciation contest, accidentally forgetting our passports in a hotel safe, occasional massive downpours of rain, and a stampede of giant "lambs" running for the bottles we were holding for them. Ireland album

The kids headed back to school. Poor Greg had a bit of a rough fall semester because he came down with COVID shortly after returning to campus and then had the flu (or something like it) a month later. The rest of us managed to escape, and as far as we know, the other three of us haven't had COVID yet (knock on wood). It's especially impressive for Julia who in the past had her roommmate and several close college friends get COVID. Some fall activities for Karen and Leo were attending King Richard's Faire and going apple picking with friends.

Karen's Dad came for his usual fall trip and we enjoyed some fun hikes and a visit to Topsfield Fair. One remarkable thing about Karen's Dad is that with his engineering mindset he is an inveterate "fixer". He sees broken things and is compelled to try to make it better without you even needing to ask! This makes him an extremely welcome houseguest for us. While staying with us he: ordered and installed a new ice maker for our fridge (it had been broken for several years), took apart and fixed the electric panel on our microwave (we had been thinking we would have to order a new one), repaired our trash drawer which hasn't been closing, brought in the hammock for the winter, and sanded and painted a rusted cat-shaped paper towel holder! Thanks Dad! Bepa Fall Visit Album

We have lived near Cape Cod for the last 20+ years but have only been there a few times. That's probably because the traffic is legendary and we are wimps when it comes to swimming in cold water. However we knew it's supposed to be nice and we have been looking for more local destinations for mini trips so we finally made two fun Cape Cod trips this fall. First Karen and Leo took a long weekend couples trip, where they took some nice scoots on their scooters, hiked, visted Provincetown, and explored sand dunes and generally managed to have a good time despite the rain. Then when Karen's Dad was in town she took him on a fun bike ride along the Province Lands Bike Trail. Cape Cod Album

In mid-December we took a week's trip to Puerto Rico with extended family. We stayed in Arecibo on the North coast which had a spectacular coastline with huge waves and interesting rock formations. We visited the Arecibo Observatory, which sadly collapsed in 2020, and swam in some beautiful waterfalls. We also really enjoyed family time, with board games, bridge, watching the soccer world cup finals, and enjoying the feasts prepared by Leo's mom. Leo also had a fight with some rocks and waves (he lost), and Karen's Aunt Linda made friends with the local cats and a little troupe of local puppies at the harbor. Puerto Rico album

Leo continued his work on Game of Thrones: Conquest with WB Games Boston. He now drives into the office once a week whenever he can. He is continuing the usual activities from previous years - MTG Arena, bridge, disc golf, and more. The main new thing is he has now started to play Rocket League which is like online soccer with cars. Greg is so much better than him that he made a special second account on which Greg only drives his car backwards, which makes it so it can be a little bit even.

Karen is still enjoying life as a solo Salesforce consultant for nonprofits along with her side hobby of fostering cats and kittens. This year we had 39 fosters for the Medfield Animal Shelter, which brings us to over 100 fosters total! We sadly had our first kitten who didn't make it, but we know that's part of the fostering journey and that was offset by the many, many hours of joy. We had a few interesting foster cats this year. Two came from a hoarding situation where 91 cats were rescued from a home. They were each blind in one eye, but among the sweetest and nicest cats ever. We also had an adorable set of 4 kittens where three were little ones around 6 weeks old and the last was an older "cousin" named Rain who was about twice their age, although still just a kitten himself. We called him "Mama Rain" because he was very gentle and caring with his little charges and let them suckle on his neck. So cute! We also had a sweet cat named Gibson for a 4 month rabies quarantine who we got very attached to because he was with us so long. People always ask how we are able to let go of our fosters and the answer is multi-faceted: 1) We go into it knowing that the goal is to find our fosters their own forever home and that with our existing 3 resident cats we are not the right home. 2) The shelter does a great job finding wonderful families to adopt so it always feels like a happy ending. 3) There is a never ending stream of kitties who need help. Once we help a foster find a home (and Karen gets some extra chocolates and extra snuggles with our own kitties to get over missing whoever left), the shelter is often in touch again soon asking if we're ready to help the next one! Fostering has been so fulfilling, and we recommend it for anyone who is able! In other news, Karen is continuing to enjoy the regular online family chats, bridge games, and board games (usually through Board Game Arena) and in-person book club with friends. Finally, Karen is so grateful to have Leo as a life companion.

Karen with foster kittens, Leo, and playing online games with four kittens on her lap

Gregory is in his senior year at Carnegie Mellon, and his plan is to graduate in May with a Masters in Mathematics and a Bachelors in Computer Science, and then start working. He's been really enjoying being a part of the badminton team at school. A highlight from the Fall included when their whole club traveled to a tournament to Washington D.C. He also still enjoys playing online games with his four best friends from high school and hanging out with them in person when he's home.

Greg ice skating in Pittsburgh with his badminton friends

Julia has been loving her time at Tufts! She is currently in her second year, is studying Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, and is continuing to be involved with JumboCode and Tufts Engineers without Borders. She also started working as an intern for Tatum Robotics in February and has continued through the Fall. This Fall semester, she also worked as a TA for 3 courses (the Introduction to Computer Science course (CS11), an Intro to Engineering: Robotics course, and an Engineering and Science course using robotics for K-12 educators), which definitely led to quite a busy semester. She is especially grateful for her wonderful support of friends and the many sunsets, hikes, game nights, picnics, and more that she's shared with them this year. She is so excited for next year! :)

Julia enjoying life with her friends

Our resident cats (Bliss, Rosie, and Momo) get plenty of love from us too. Momo and Bliss have a very odd love-hate relationship. They spend a lot of time snuggling together but erupt in a big fight about once a day when Momo gets too annoying with his mother Bliss (he wants her to lick him and gets all in her face). Silly cats! We love them so much!

Rosie, Momo, and Bliss

Zelevinsky 2022 Recommendations!

Wishing all our friends and family a happy and healthy 2023!

Previous years' sites: 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021