LINKS
Happy New Year to all!  
The ESCALANTEs
157 Silverbell Trace, Athens, Georgia 30606


Finally, after years of "nomadic" existence, we've moved to our own new house!!!  There is actually nothing too grandiose about the house, but we just are too overwhelmed by the feeling of being so free and so independent!  Now our ebullient little boy could run around and jump anytime of the day, without us worrying too much about disrupting a neighbor's sleep. And our budding little lady is excited about decorating her own room and is looking forward to invite friends for a slumber party.  Now, Arlene's becoming restless to put her artistic talents to work as she plans to design her own draperies while I look forward to mornings of hard labor and sweat doing garage, garden and lawn chores.
Aside from the "moving" hysteria, it's been a pretty dynamic year for the family.  I was fortunate to have my family tag along with me to a couple of conferences during the year.  In February, Mac had his first encounter with Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida while Cara was just too ecstatic to "relive" her Disney experiences she first had when she was about Mac's age.  In May we enjoyed the exotic treats of the seaside city of Wilmington, North Carolina where we attended the wedding of Arlene's cousin.  In June, we drove to Pennsylvania and Maryland where at one time we stopped at the Hershey attractions for a glimpse of the chocolate world and its playground.
Through all these adventures, our kids have matured and grown a little bit more.  Cara is now a fourth grader at Timothy Road Elementary School.  When we came to Athens two years ago, she practically begged us to send her to that school (instead of the ones we had in mind) because of the Timothyville program (a micro-societal framework where students take on "professional" jobs that they perform during the school year) and the school's television station that airs a daily TV program.  This year, these two motivations paid off for her.  She was elected as a legislator and worked as a publisher in Timothyville.  And just this month, she became an anchor lady for their daily TV program aired over Athens!!!  Their show only lasts for 15 minutes but for her it feels like she's done a Diane Sawyer stint!!!
The entire school also finally uncovered her musical inclination when she was asked to sing a Philippine love song at their annual Talent show, which also featured her little brother's desperate attempt to steal the show from her when he ran up the stage and danced like crazy with his sister.  In her studies, she continues to attend advanced classes for selected gifted students and was in the straight A Honor Roll during the first quarter of the current school year.
As with Mac, oh our dearest mischievous, funny 3-year old Mac --- he brings laughter at meal times when he would always craftily devise schemes and invent funny stories to derive fulfillment in seeing people around him laugh at him.  He has become a computer whiz kid as he has learned very quickly to start a computer, locate any software in the program directory that he'd like to run, install and run practically any CD rom regardless of how peculiar each software's installation procedures are, and enjoy his CD games that quench his thirst for mental and intellectual stimulation.
Of all his many interests, he is most engrossed with animal stuff.  He tries to transcend generic tags when dealing with animals (won't settle with just plain "tiger" but would distinctly label cheetahs, leopards, panthers, and god knows what other member of the cat family he has come to know).  Every now and then he constructs imaginary worlds with gazelles, elephants, giraffes, orangutans, hippos, rhinos, iguanas, zebras, among many others.
Hopefully, our kids won't transform our new house into a haven of pet Safari animals or a permanent boarding house for the young lady's associates.  But on the brighter side, it's been great to witness these two individuals discover the things that make them truly happy.
As the Christmasy atmosphere is ushered in, we would like to share with you the joys and spirit of the season.  We too hope that your home continues to overflow with love, peace and contentment, not only during the holidays but also throughout the many, many years to come.
Maligayang Pasko sa inyong lahat!!!

Christmas 2002


Cesar, Arlene, Carmina & Mac