Andrew and Jennie's
Christmas 1999
Letter

Have a Cracking Christmas

Wallace you a merry Christmas
Wallace you a merry Christmas
Wallace you a merry Christmas
And a Gromit New Year

(A parody of Wallace and Gromit
from Aardman Animations)

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(See this newsletter in full graphic layout)

Hello and happy new millennium! Fortunately the Y2K bug hasn't prevented us recapping what we did in 1899 (oops, computer glitch) so here's another mass-produced, ego-centric, steam-powered A&J newsletter.

We continued to avoid doing anything responsible (such as getting married, buying a house or having children) and instead frittered away our time having fun. Hence there was more sailing (twice a week with the boys for Andrew), coffee (once a week with the girls for Jennie), a holiday in England, and weekends in Mexico. Andrew's brother Patrick visited for three months and his parents stayed for one month which inspired our only responsible act -- buying a sofa-bed. In the meantime we concocted a variety of irrational stories to fill an imaginary Christmas newsletter. Here they are.

January: Patrick in San Diego

4 p.m. is a good time to celebrate the New Year, especially at The Shakespeare Pub, since it's midnight in England!

Spending their first long period of time together since 1986, Andrew and Patrick discover a new sport: disc golf, where you throw a frisbee into a basket.

February in England

Our annual holiday is once again to -- England! Surprise! (Poor Jennie only gets two weeks off a year and gallantly spends them with Andrew's family).

This is our first visit to Andrew's parent's new house in Barnstaple, Devon. We discover Dartmoor ponies, Tintagel Castle, Clovelly, Andrew's mother's childhood home in Truro, several pubs, Coronation Street, and relatives in Cheltenham, Oxford and Bristol.

March in Paris

Like excited children we take the chunnel over (under?) to Paris. Cool! Meeting our Parisian friend Laure we explore the cafes and catacombs of the City of Light.

April

Exactly three years after starting his publishing company PhotoSecrets, Andrew wins the Grand Prize in the National Self-Published Book Awards for PhotoSecrets San Diego.

Visiting friends Roland and Heather Hanbury are taught disc golf and how to tip over a catamaran. Then we join the usual suspects (Andy 1 and Gray, Andy 2, Steve and Kelli) for a weekend at a beach house in Las Gaviotas, Mexico.

May

Jennie celebrates her first year as Special Events and Public Relations Manager for Macy's San Diego. Andrew is a finalist in the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Travel Guide and wins the San Diego Press Club Award for Best Book. We queue up for hours for the opening of Star Wars, what a waste of time that was.

Jennie's sister Justine graduates with a Master of Arts, ready to get a Ph.D. and teach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. To complete the karma, Jennie's dad retires after nearly 40 years of teaching.

June

Andrew publishes his fourth and fifth books, PhotoSecrets Balboa Park and A Photo Tour of San Diego, the latter becoming a staple of local bookstore window displays.

August

Andrew's cousin Sue (plus John, Alex and Sarah) visits. Later in the month we spend a blissful week drinking margaritas and testing the jacuzzi in Mexico. Again.

September

Mum and Dad Hudson visit our hurriedly re-decorated apartment. They are promptly whisked into sailing and disc golf and discover the pleasures of hanging out. Mum falls in love with the San Diego Zoo's new arrival, Hua Mei, the adorably cute baby panda.

October at the Grand Canyon

We get Andrew's parents hooked on Drive-Thrus and gambling with a road trip to Las Vegas. Where else can you visit New York, Venice and Paris in one night? But the highlight is watching dawn rise over the spectacular Grand Canyon.

November

Hudson Bond celebrates 0036 with the occasionally-annual James Bond birthday party.

December

Patrick moves to Courcheval, France to be a ski-tour leader. Andrew's sixth and most romantic book, The Magic of Balboa Park, is pre-released to a terrific response. After selling over a hundred copies at the first book-signing event a second printing is hurriedly ordered.

Andrew spends two weeks writing and printing the annual Christmas newsletter and swears, like every other year, never to do it again. Next year's letter will be posted here!

Wishing you the best for 2000 and hoping your computers don't cr*~~

Andrew and Jennie
December 20, 1999.