Happy Holidays from the Holcombs!!

Thankfully, we again missed all Hurricanes this year! We had a bumper crop of some 300 mangoes but our lovely pink grapefruit tree apparently has suffered a fatal blight and no longer produces.  Despite our small hunk of land, we still have a massive growth of tropical plants that need regular cutting back. The little “bird of paradise” plants we planted last year turned out to be self-propagating 20-foot monsters! Pen has reluctantly surrendered part of her garden maintenance and we now have a fellow helping her every other week. 

Another year in the growing, nurturing and perfecting our two young ladies!!  The girls are doing great in their sophomore year at St. Pete High School. The homework load in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program has been massive and often keeps them hard at work to very late on school nights. We found some great tutors in Geometry and in Spanish who helped the girls where they had the most difficulty. Jenni, with a small video camera and some classmates, made a creditable DVD movie as part of a school project! Both girls continue their volunteer work at St. Pete Beach Library where they do scrapbooking for the library and teach kids how to use the Wii programs! This summer they attended a Career Discovery Camp and were presented with options for their futures. It seems that Sammi is leaning toward a career in radiology, and Jenni in Graphic Design. The girls continue to play in the SPH Concert Band and were both selected to play in the All County Band. Next spring, the band has been invited play at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. as part of a national parks festival. They continue both instrument and piano lessons and have become very proficient in sight-reading. Happily, there is always the “sound of music” in the Holcomb home!!

In the summer, the girls again had great fun at the St. Pete Yacht Club Sailing Camp where they sailed the fast 2-man 420 dinghies. Near the end of the summer, they attended Band camp where they learned how to play and march at the same time!  Pen made good use of the summer break by attending nursing school and was awarded a new diploma as a Certified Home Health Care Technician (in addition to her license as a Nursing Assistant). She already has a built–in patient! 

This has been the year of the Marching Band.   We never guessed what we getting into when we agreed to support this activity for Sammi and Jenni. In any regard, they truly love playing in the marching band!  Jenni had to switch from her French horn to a bell-forward Mellophone played with the right hand! The logistics of hauling them to school daily, rehearsals Tuesday and Thursday evenings, Saturdays afternoons, plus football games on Friday nights, has kept Pen on the road constantly - logging some 500-mile weeks at peak season!!

Unfortunately, Phil has not been able to share in the driving this year.  He currently is lucky to just get to the car to attend a doctors appointment!.  The severe back and leg pain before his 2008 back operation has come back big time! Further, the lengthy periods in hospitals and rehab facilities have seriously weakened Phil’s legs so that he is no longer able to walk normally. Despite pain medications, he is not able to stand or sit more than 30 minutes - when pain drives him back to a horizontal position. To keep Phil somewhat mobile, we installed stair lifts and keep an electric wheelchair on both levels - plus Phil’s “all-terrain” scooter in the van!!  We even installed an electric/hydraulic pool lift.  This employs a harness, which lifts Phil in a sitting position and lowers him ignominiously into the pool! He spends most of his time on his tummy in bed - where he has no pain. When his MacBook died (temporarily), we had to set up his 24-inch iMac computer at the foot of his bed! This, along with his TV and phones, he is now fully functional in this position!! He still has a dynamic - but nostalgic - view of our “Vina Queen” on davits, Opti sailboat races,  all kinds of squawking birds, and the occasional dolphin in the canal.

Early this year, Phil’s colonoscopy turned up a malignant tumor - resulting in immediate hospitalization and a colon resection. Phil recovered surgery quickly- and was faced with 6 months of weekly Chemotherapy.  A recent PET scan and CEA tests indicate that Phil is now free of Cancer!  A CT scan of Phil’s Lumbar Spine however has showed some of the 2008 hardware has come loose and is floating around………….What’s Next??

Despite the pain and medical setbacks, Phil remains alert and positive – especially trying to keep ahead of our two lively teenagers! The girls love to listen to Dads stories of his life- so he has recently bought the new Dragon speech recognition software - permitting him dictate directly to his iMac - documenting these stories.  Phil continues with his website www.rugs-n-relics.com which has become an internationally recognized reference on brass musical instruments and carpets.  We sell a carpet or horn from time to time, but Pen and kids have stopped all further additions to either collection!! Despite noisy opposition, Phil couldn’t pass up a truly great find and recently won an auction on very rare early tuba ca.1840!!  Pen, in her new role of a superb and talented Home Health Care Technician, also moonlights as a mommy - and a full time Chauffeur!!!

Best wishes for a Happy and Healthy 2012!

Pen, Phil, Sammi, Jenni