2012 Westbay Family Newsletter

The holidays are upon us already, and so it is time to write up our family news for 2012. It has been a year of milestones for us; read on for the details.

Ben, Pat & David

At the start of the year, Pat had been retired from Verizon for just over a year, and David was still working for Hewlett-Packard (HP) supporting the Belk Department Store client’s telephone systems. Ben was entering the spring semester of his junior year at the University of Oklahoma (OU). We were all in our routines and life went along just fine through the spring.

First milestone: On June 13, David and Pat celebrated their 30^th wedding anniversary. We had been trying to decide on what to do to commemorate the occasion, and eventually settled on a trip to see Niagara Falls. David had been there before but Pat had not, though she had wanted to go for a long time. We flew to Buffalo NY and stayed there, since it is an easy drive to the Falls from there. We visited both the American and Canadian falls; the Rainbow Bridge over the Niagara River has a pedestrian walk which allowed us to park our rental car on the US side and walk over to the Canadian side to see things from over there. You can find some photos from the trip here. While we were there, we got to visit with David’s brother Phil and sister-in-law Bev. They drove down from their home in Burlington, ON, and took us on a drive through the beautiful town Niagara-on-the-Lake and then to their house. We had a really nice visit, but much too short. All told, it was a fun anniversary trip.

Second milestone: In June, HP announced that they needed to cut expenses, and part of that effort would include reducing their workforce. They put together an Enhanced Early Retirement program to try to give some of the more senior employees an incentive to leave the company. They offered a bonus payout based on years of age and years of seniority, plus other enhanced benefits. David qualified for the program; after lengthy discussions, we decided that he should go ahead and apply. At the end of June, he received confirmation that he was accepted in the program, and would retire as of October 31, 2012. Thus, as this message is written, David has been retired for about a month and a half. It has been strange not having to get up early and work five days a week, but the adjustment is coming along well.

Third milestone: On August 12, Ben turned 21. It is hard to believe how fast he has grown up. He is now in his senior year at OU and doing very well. His major is Economics, and we are counting on him to straighten out the US economy as soon as he graduates. J Ben has grown into a fine young man, and we are very proud of him.

Other assorted news: Pat has been visiting her dad regularly in Los Angeles, helping him with errands and keeping him company. She has also been taking some Spanish classes at the local community college here and is enjoying brushing up on that. David and Pat recently went to Las Vegas, where David played in a poker tournament with friends from the poker blogger community. You can read more about that in David’s poker blog here. David has acted in a couple of community theater productions, and hopes to do more of that in the coming year now that his schedule is a bit more open.

We feel blessed to have had a wonderful year in 2012, and look forward to another good one in 2013. You can reach us on Facebook, or via e-mail at texas DOT westbay AT verizon DOT net. We wish you all a peaceful and joyous holiday season, and the best New Year ever!