Wow, what a whirlwind year 2002 was! Fortunately, it's been a good year for my family, and I hope was a good year for all of you, too.
I completed 16 years of employment at JPL in September -- I'm still the Cassini Program Secretary (yaay!), and our spacecraft is still working fine (double-yaay!) on it's way to Saturn and Titan. I was fortunate to be allowed to travel for this summer's science meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. It was my first time there, and even though I worked a lot of long days, I had a great time. I managed the Bruisers softball team again and once again survived the season with no injuries that required a hospital visit (notable, believe it or not!).
Our church concluded it's 50th Anniversary Jubilee celebration with a church-wide camp in September and Deacon Ordination in November. Can you believe my dad's been at our church for 49 of those 50 years?
Mom and Dad remain in good health, and continue to busily serve at church and attend many church and social functions. They also travelled all over the place, including Africa in February, Europe in June and China in October. They've already got at least three trips planned for next year, including a cruise to Mexico. Mom earned quite a bit of acclaim amongst her friends for her success in having a productive lychee tree in our backyard. Kevin and Susie are also doing great, and took their summer vacation to Europe in June.
Life on my calendar was busy as usual, with the normal activities of work, church, softball games, Dodger games, Jazzercise classes, Mary Kay events, several weekends in Las Vegas, and some trips to more distant places. The most exciting trip of the year was going on safari in Africa (Kenya and Tanzania) with Mom and Dad in February. It was an awesome trip, travelling in jeeps through four different game parks and coming "that close" (daily!) to "real-life, undomesticated, in-their-native-habitats" lions, elephants, wildebeest, and hundreds of other animals. Definitely an unforgettable trip. If you ever get the chance to go on a safari, I highly recommend it! In June I went to Lisbon, Portugal for 1.5 weeks and even though I was there for work I was able to do some fun and enjoyable sightseeing during the weekend. In August Scott's sister Sue got married so we went to New York for the wedding and then spent a few days in New York City, including a visit to Ground Zero. Next year, if my work situation holds I'll be going to Venice, Italy to support our science meeting in May, and will take some vacation time to do touristy things.
My personal coordinates remain the same -- 1717 Pilgrim Way, Monrovia, CA 91016; home phone (626) 303-2206, email: kmchan@linkline.com, work phone: (818) 354-2987, and work email: kmchan@jpl.nasa.gov. You can also drop into our family's web page from time to time to see what else we're up to: http:/ /www.linkline.com/personal/kmchan/index.html -- the really good stuff is in the family gallery. Feel free to drop me a line any time!
So, it's back to the fray I go now, with wishes for you all for an awesome holiday season and a very happy and prosperous 2003!
With love and good wishes, Karen
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