Cynthia Mehoves:  

Merry Christmas from Minnesota's winter wonderland where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average. Snow has been falling for hours and we may have 8 new inches of it by the time the storm leaves us. It is beautiful and makes for a relaxing weekend. My story in a small amount of space -I don't mean to imply I haven't had my fair share of the tailor made disappoints and challenges each of us is dealt, but with limited space I'll focus on the highlights and the good things. Since I last saw you I went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to attend Marquette University in pursuit of a degree in journalism. There I met my husband David, and we were married just after Christmas in December of 1979 when I was 19. We transferred to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where his family lived, and I graduated from there in 1983 with a degree in Economics. I worked full-time at USC after graduating, but in the summer of 1986, a year after our son David was born, we pulled up stakes and moved ourselves, our things, plants and animals to central Minnesota in a long cross-country trek in a Ryder Van. We had no jobs waiting and didn't know anybody, but it soon became home. I worked for more than ten years as the Registrar at a mid-sized, public two year college, became increasingly involved in technical things, and eventually was recruited for my current position working in software development for the entire MN state college and university system, also known as MnSCU (min-skew). I've been in this position more than ten years too, so now have over 20 years under my belt as a state employee. During this time I also earned an MBA at our local state university. When we first came to MN, we lived on an 80 acre hobby farm with cows and chickens and a very large garden 20 miles north of the city. For the past 16 years, we've been living in a restored nearly 100 year old house reminiscent of Jean Luc Picard's greatest wish when he enters the nexus in Star Trek¿s Generations. I love it, and I love my yard which, though city small, is filled with fragrant or edible bushes, flowers and trees that attract lots of birds and small animals. Half the year we also have koi and goldfish in a bubbling outdoor pond, and once had a pet squirrel named Skippy, who'd been abandoned in our yard when she was just a few days old. Presently we have two dogs, two cats, one bir...Expand for more