The Canadas

2003 Winter Christmas Essie’s Birthday Lisa’s Catering Mark’s Teaching Spring Circus and a Show Edenton, North Carolina Summer New Orleans, Louisiana Charlottesville, Virginia Cooperstown, New York Vermont and New Hampshire Concord, Massachusetts I Fought the Barn Indiana Chicago, Illinois Michigan Updated September 1, 2003 © Canadas 2003

Movin’ on Up This year has been shaping up to be important one in both of our careers. After our purchase of a 200-year-old farmhouse on the outskirts of Laurinburg, Lisa is looking at the expansion of her catering business. After we renovate it, this home will serve as an event facility where clients can have meetings, wedding receptions, and the like. We began the process of renovating this property in earnest by cleaning up the grounds and the barn, both of which apparently have been neglected for decades. The renovation of the house itself will have to wait until we receive approval from the state, which may offer us tax credits, since the home is a historic property. Meanwhile, I have reached a milestone at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where my request for tenure was approved, and I was promoted to the rank of associate professor. Off the clock, we have continued to enjoy our time together as a family. In and around Laurinburg, we visit playgrounds, go for walks, have picnics and campouts in the backyard, and, of course, read. We also have kept up with our pastime of traveling, taking trips to a variety of places, including Edenton, North Carolina, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Essie turned 5 in January and is busy soaking up the world around her. She especially loves to play with toy horses, read, dance, and put on “shows” in which she and her dad pretend they are traveling on a train or visiting exotic places. Over the summer, she reached a couple of milestones of her own, learning to read and to ride a bicycle. By the time Will turned 2 at the end of June, he had gotten a head start on the terrible twos. Indeed, he seems to have pioneered the onerous ones. When he is not busy reducing our home and our brains to rubble, however, he is a sweet, smart, and playful little boy who quickly wins the hearts of all around him.