News & Notes 2022

 News & Notes 2022

Dear Friends & Family,

2022: the year virtually everything changed for the Swopes, except for our physical address… and there were a few months there where that was a very real possibility too!  We realize that News & Notes has not gone out for the past two years (interesting times).  But all this stuff isn't "since the start of the pandemic", this is all 2022 news.  It has been. a. year.

TL;DR: 1) Earl changed jobs, 2) Lisa picked up a second choir to sing with, 3) we changed churches, 4) we had a complete turnover of our squigg herd, 5) Earl's mom made what we think will be her last trip to NC, and 6) Lisa’s dad moved into assisted living.  Also, 7) Lisa's mom is turning 80, so please send cards!

Earl's Job Change 

In the spring, Earl changed teams within TE, moving from automotive sensors to automotive electronics.  This was a great change of teams for him; unfortunately, this summer was a terrible time to work in the automotive industry.  He put out some resumes and providentially got an offer from General Dynamics on a Tuesday, right before a big layoff hit him at TE on that same Friday.  He started in Sept.

Bookmarks 

Lisa still delights in giving book recs as a bookseller with a heavy lean towards kidlit, murder mysteries, and historical fiction.  As an end-of-year surprise, she was awarded a James Patterson bookseller bonus, which means some of the Bookmarks faithful wrote in, lauding her.  Thanks!  Some of her fun projects are the Kids Club subscription program, in which books curated for each individual child go out in the mail every month, a fun way to tell kids that books mean love!, and the 4 on 4th author showcases, where Bookmarks and Winston Salem Writers host a themed group of authors for short readings every month.  Bookmarks Festival, which is where the nonprofit has its roots, pulled in numbers matching pre-pandemic attendance, and the next big weekend-long event is Movable Feast the first weekend in February – we'll have 20+ authors and, unlike Festival where you'll find me in the bookstore tent, I get to meet them all!  Come visit us – the store & us personally – our guest room is ready!  https://www.bookmarksnc.org/ MovableFeast2023

Singing

When there was one tenor at the first rehearsal of the year for Heart of the Triad Choral Society (HTCS), Lisa dropped down the vocal part, which means now she has to sing in bass clef.  It's an interesting mental stretch!  (Fortunately by the concert there were half a dozen tenors including Lisa.)  Additionally, she joined Winston Salem Symphony Chorus this fall (as an alto).  It meets at Wake Forest University and also is a community choir, but it sings more of the big choral works so it stretches her in a different way.

Church

This summer and fall was an interesting time for us as we literally have never had to go church shopping before; God has always placed us immediately.  And God is faithful.  We've enjoyed seeing the different worship styles and welcomes of a number of churches in our area, and for this season in our lives we are worshipping at St Paul's Episcopal in Winston-Salem.

Squiggs (guinea pigs)

We had 100% turnover of our squigg herd, and while we miss #WeThreeSquiggs, we now enjoy the ongoing #SquiggLife antics of Twix, Lilikoi, Wendy's and Trader Jo (TJ).  (see photo at bottom right, names are in order.  Twix has the black face, Lilikoi has one rosette crown on her head, Wendy's has a check mark on her back, and TJ has a bandana marking.)  All are girls, and they all have food names.  They live a charmed life with free range of our breakfast nook, although if you ask them, they haven't been fed lately, or possibly ever..  

Travel

The extended Yee family called together some gatherings this year, so Lisa went to Phoenix in the spring to join with a dozen Yees: aunties, cousins, a niece, and a nephew.  There was a group trip to Arizona Ren Fest (the direct sister faire of Carolina Ren), and a small group went to the Grand Canyon (it snowed!).  Lisa even got to go to Tucson Festival of Books – unlike Bookmarks Festival, where she can be found working the book tent, she got to go to author panels and hear TJ Klune, Victoria Schwab, Craig Johnson (Walt Longmire series), and meet her very favorite illustrator, Dan Santat.

For Earl's birthday (#50YearsofBigFrog) we took a quick Broadway getaway and stayed right in the theater district, across the street from the Winter Garden, where we saw The Music Man with Sutton Foster (although not Hugh Jackman, because God has a sense of humor).  Broadway Tourettes is real, but we restrained ourselves from singing along *loudly*.  We fortuitously went to Come From Away on the very day it became the longest running show at the Schoenfeld Theatre, and we're looking forward to seeing it touring again in a few weeks at DPAC.  

From there we went directly to Ann Arbor MI for another Yee gathering, with a dozen uncles, aunts, and cousins (50% overlap from Phoenix's Yee gathering) for a UofM focused time full of family heritage stories and visiting places that sparked other memories.  Let's Go Blue!

Our Parents

Earl's mom Betty came to visit us this summer for three weeks, and we took a lovely trip to Atlantic Beach with her for one of those weeks.  She told us, though, that this was likely her last trip to NC, that the travel is just hard.  It's not easy getting older!  She is still living independently, and we are always infinitely grateful to Earl's sibs, especially his sister, for being there for the daily stuff, from grocery runs to doctor's appointments.

Lisa's dad Henry moved to assisted living in March.  It's a good fit for him, and he's eating better, has lost a significant amount of weight (mom says he's back to his college weight), and is walking better and relying less on his walker than he was this time last year.  If you want to reach out to him, his cell is 443-251-9312 and email is henryyee@umich.edu.  He's in a residential home that's been converted to a group home for 8 residents; it's about 5miles from mom.

        Lisa's mom Nancy, freed up from being primary caregiver, is learning all kinds of things that she never had to before, like getting the taxes paper- work together.  We're all grateful for the support she has from church and neighborhood friends.  

Also, Nancy is turning 80 on Jan 21.  With her ongoing love of snail mail (even though she finally has a smartphone and is happily emailing people directly (nancy.yee5@gmail.com)), please send cards, notes, kidart, old photos, and if you happen to have any, mom loves rereading old personal correspondence if you happen to have saved her old letters!  9073 Bellwart Way, Columbia MD 21045-2302  Earl and I will be up that weekend to see them and we'll celebrate at Toby's Dinner Theater with Something Rotten, a show that we've seen touring twice and are looking forward to introducing them to.

Looking Forward

For 2023 we trust in God.  We are hopeful that there will be less upheaval than this past year, but we are glad to rest in him.  One of the books that impacted us this year, Out of Chaos by Jessica LaGrone, reminds us that back in the beginning, when the earth was formless and void and darkness was over the face of the deep, God was there, and God made us out of that chaos.  Like it or not, we should expect some of it to persist in our lives!

As ever, if you wander in our general direction, let us know – and within a few hours is fine, any excuse to go to Asheville or Roanoke or Raleigh/Durham, or come stay at our place!  We'd love to see you and catch up in person.

Love, Lisa & Earl

NOTE: We have obviously redacted contact info for the blog, but if you know them (or us) and want to reach out to my dad or be involved in mom's card shower, feel free to reach out to me.