Christmas Letter 2015/2016

Here is the annual Christmas Letter enclosed within the cards we sent out this year. Enjoy if you're the kind of person that like that kind of thing!

Hello!

We hope this letter finds you in good health and good spirits.I’m not entirely sure if we sent out a letter last year, but to be completely honest I find it hard to believe that it’s already Christmas time. Then again, with the weather the way it is the only thing dictating Christmas is the turning of the calendar. 

Speaking of that calendar, here’s a recap of 2015 for our family, a year most notable for its transitions. If I went month-by-month, this letter would end up being three pages long, and most of that timing would be pure guessing based off a Google calendar. So here are the highlights by person.

First, my brother Matt. He has been involved with the local volunteer fire department (Glendale Hose Company #1) for about a year and a half now. He has completed all of the training he is allowed to as a junior fireman. There’s some sort of magic training he can only do after he turns 18, so he hasn’t done that yet. He did turn 16 this year and after a test he has a driving permit. Pennsylvania drivers beware: he is planning on taking the driving test for his license in January. He’s a fantastic driver honestly; I say beware because adults generally say that, also he could possibly show you up with his skillset. 

He’s now also employed at the Shop ‘n Save in Scott. Last I checked (he’s not around much) he’s working in the stocking department and seems to be enjoying himself there. If nothing else, I’ve enjoyed his stories from working on the front lines of a grocery store. He is excelling at Parkway West Career and Technology Center studying electrical systems technology. As for what he’s doing with the other half of his day at Carlynton, I plead the fifth.

Rotor the Killer Wiener Dog is also in good health. I’m pretty sure. He does some weird stuff sometimes, but then again he’s a dog and not actually my brother. Then again, at times he’s nicer to me than my actual brother but that’s neither here nor there.

My mother is working at Saint Clair Hospital in their Pathology department typing and filing documentation for the stuff that comes out of people from surgeries. I enjoy her stories also, but they tend to center around fickle doctors instead of bizarre grocery incidents like my brother’s stories. She’s also slowly going insane with two teen drivers in the house, a schizophrenic dog, and a college student (yours truly).

My father is about the same as last reported. He doesn’t change much: he works for the state (his stories are a mix of gripes with Marcellus shale workers and state lawmakers), he’s a homeless scout leader (our boy scout troop folded in April unfortunately (much to my personal chagrin)), and does general priest-like things like making bulletins and answering phone calls from people the state over. Recently he’s been doing sleep studies in hopes of figuring out what makes him snore, but reports from my mother lead me to believe this isn’t a new thing and personally I’m not sure this is a fixable thing. My reasoning? When we were staying over for a recent family function, my brother, then father, then dog, then mother all started snoring causing me to sleep on a couch in another room.

Which brings me to, well, me. This year I became an Eagle Scout, graduated Carlynton High School (with a 4.0 GPA), and began working toward a degree in journalism at Point Park University. I live on campus there with a group of guys and girls whom I’ve come to call my second second family. My first family is the people actually related to me, and my second family is the people in Slickville. Already I’ve become involved with the campus newspaper as an editor, with the campus radio as a DJ, and with the student government. I work part-time for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as a high school sports stringer: those guys who take calls from high school basketball coaches seeking score reports for print. 

For us, this year has been crazy busy and 2016 shows no sign of this trend stopping. 

Here's wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas, and a Blessed New Year!

Sincerely,

        [Signed Alex, Matt, Gina, and Father Bob Popichak]

On Valentine's Day: The Bonus 2/14/14 Post.

So this is an alternative post to the one on on the main site, which you can read later.

Today is Friday, February 14, 2014: Valentine('s, s'?) Day. I'm not exactly sure what that is supposed to mean. Last year for me it was a show-your-girlfriend-you-care-despite-the-fact-you-see-her-nearly-every-day* thing, but even that felt a bit hollow (though I planned it at least for a week ahead of time). It seems like a lot of emphasis is put on proving things. Proving that you're right, that they're wrong, that you truly love XYZ, that you are loyal to such team or such person, it all seems like it all hinges in this innate distrust people have for one another.

That being said, I think that if you're going to show someone affection, just do it. Don't wait for some arbitrary date to tell someone how they feel (especially holidays, because then those holidays will become associated with said response), use holidays like Valentine's Day as an excuse to go over-the-top. Get him or her two flowers instead of one, I don't know. If you're looking for sound relationship advice from a single, high school junior/web designer, you are doomed.

Nevertheless, I think the holiday is brilliant for expression, a random bright spot in the middle of winter, and here's the best part: not necessary to participate in. But if you want to eat some chocolate, or send some hobo some flowers or whatever, by all means do it!

It has been my experience thus far that the human experience is an experience that requires interaction, and that people rely upon each other to keep moving forward and to stay sane. It seems counterproductive, but who ever said humans were logical?

For the Main Site Post, Click HERE!

*Yeah, so I never talked about this relationship. At all. Honestly, I don't feel it was necessary; she was quite private about the whole thing so I never acknowledged it here, my blog, my choice.