Anyway, I always wanted to do a Christmas letter of my own but I’m finding that a Christmas letter is VERY different when you are in your mid-late 20s with no kids like we are…and the more I thought about it, the more hilarious the idea became.

So for you enjoyment (and really I mean MY enjoyment) here is “If The Koppelbergers Wrote a Christmas Letter!”

Dear Family and Friends,

Well another year has come and gone, can you believe it? We celebrated our first wedding anniversary in October by having a Halloween Party but nothing compares to the Hallowedding of 2010. Actually, we just took the last of the decorations from the anniversary party down last week. We are still living in the West Akron gypsy camp known as Highland Square. The furnace keeps breaking on us (5 times so far this winter) but that’s the nice thing about renting, they come and fix it for free…eventually.

We’ve had some good news and bad news this year. After surviving 3 rounds of layoffs Katelyn left OHDELA of her own free will! After numerous, torturous job interviews over the summer and nearly as many rejections she ended up with two job offers right before school started! Katelyn is now working at her dream job! She teaches 5th and 6th grade Social Studies, one section of 5th grade Language Arts, and one section of Exploratory Arts at Falcon Academy. It’s an arts integrated charter school and she loves it!  It even came with a $1,000 raise which is great because with how much  they take out for insurance, taxes, union dues, etc…it’s actually coming out to be nearly $200 less per paycheck than her old job but hey, you can’t put a price on happiness…right?

Jordan is still doing great at the University of Akron. He is loving the computer engineering program and made the Dean’s List this semester again. In May he competed with the “RooBots” at a robotics competition in Marion, OH and they were undefeated and came in 1st place. This fall he competed in a 24 hour programing competition and did well but no one outside of engineering actually understands how well. He will be co-oping this summer and is really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, Jordan is no longer working for Geek Squad because the management decided they no longer wanted to work around his school schedule. It’s been hard on us financially but it will be worth it once Jordan is out of school.

Schrodinger is doing well this year. He continues to study physics and loves to snuggle. When he isn’t napping he is finding new things to hide in. He has really been rocking out in the snuggie Santa brought him this year. The reptile and amphibian zoo in the basement is still going strong and we added a uromastyx and a tarantula this year.

While we didn’t get to go on an official honeymoon, back in May we spent weekend visiting the Newport Aquarium and Louisville Science Center. Like all trips to museums, zoos, and aquariums we over analyzed everything about every exhibit. The highlight of  the trip was to see the traveling Star Trek exhibit that was at the science center. We got to sit in Captain Kirk’s chair, stand on a transporter pad, and see all sorts of costumes, props, sets, etc…from all Star Trek shows and movies. Katelyn cried a little. We also went to a Howl at the Moon piano bar where Katelyn had the biggest drink she had ever seen (in one of those long plastic beaker things.)

Our bar trivia team had a fantastic season this year. We had a few victories and at least managed to keep our dignity for most of the season despite Katelyn and Evan’s tenancies to order the most girly drinks on the menu. Katelyn did more volunteer work with Camp Quality in 2011 and plans on doing even more in 2012 while Jordan does his first co-op which means we are both looking forward to a busy summer!

Well, it’s New Year’s Day and Jordan is already asking when we can take the tree down (he didn’t seem to care about the Halloween decorations) and Katelyn goes back to work Tuesday. 2011 was a good year and we are looking forward to what 2012 will bring (Jordan’s 30th birthday being #1 on that list)

We hope you all had a fantastic year and have an even better one in 2012!

Love,

Katelyn, Jordan, and Schrodinger Koppelberger

Lately some people have been posting these amazingly beautiful classroom door decorations where they turn their doors into giant snowmen, Santas, and presents. I looked at the door decorated as a present and realized it was two long strips of paper taped on the door with a bow made from loops of paper in the middle.Paper crafts are not my strong suit but I decided to attempt this with a little help.

I had a couple of 6th grade girls finish a project early so I showed them the picture on Pinterest and they offered to make the middle part. It came out nice. After school I measured and cut the longer paper and put it all together.

Here’s the end result:

While I am a moderate and I try to avoid discussing politics online I feel I must stand up for my long-time role models The Muppets, in light of them being labeled as communists this week by Fox News. Click here for an article and video clip passed on to me by a friend to find out exactly what was said.
The thing that is bothering me the most is that the folks at Fox either A. Didn’t see the movie or B. Missed its message entirely. Here’s my take on the message of “The Muppets” and why the film has the characters and plot it does.

SPOILER ALERT

Tex Richman is not a villain because he is rich or because he got rich by working in the oil industry. He is not a villain because he wants to tear down Muppet Studios and drill for oil there. He is a villain because he LIED! Tex Richman lies to Statler and Waldorf when touring the studio. He tells them he is turning it into a Muppet museum and even goes so far as to say how he was going to keep Kermit’s office for people to see. This movie is meant to be something children can watch, understand, and enjoy. Children know lying is bad. Richman lies early on in the film. Therefore, children know early on that he is a bad guy. It has nothing to do with his name or the work he does.

Fox news seemed to be under the impression that Kermit and the gang think wealth is a bad thing but when the film catches up with Kermit he is living in a Hollywood mansion that, while not MTV Cribs worthy, certainly wasn’t the swamp he was living in at the start of “The Muppet Movie.” The film also finds Miss Piggy living in Paris as a fashion editor and living exactly the way you would expect Miss Piggy to live. Clearly, the Muppets aren’t against being rich. I doubt Miss Piggy ever was.

Tex Richman is NOT the real antagonist of “The Muppets.” He’s supposed to be over the top and a little unbelievable…almost a stereotype…because Richman’s attempt to buy the studio is only a  reason to set Kermit, Walter, etc…on the quest to put The Muppets back together. The REAL antagonist of the film is that the Muppets stopped believing in themselves and their dreams. It’s really all about their struggle to believe in themselves and know they are still loved. In the end the movie boils down to that same Muppet message we’ve heard a million times that “If just once person believes in you, deep enough and strong enough” then more people will believe in you and “maybe even you can believe in you” (I kept waiting to hear this song in “The Muppets” since so many people associate it with the Muppets but later found out it was originally from “Snoopy: The Musical” and not an original Muppet song.) In the end the whole issue with Richman getting the studio (yes, technically the Muppets lose the studio) is nearly swept aside as Kermit tells the gang it doesn’t matter because they have found each other and their dream again and they can start at the bottom and work their way up again because they are THE MUPPETS!

I don’t know why the makers of “The Muppets” named the character Tex Richman and why he was in oil but I have some theories. I don’t think they sat down and said “Hey! Let’s teach kids that oil is bad!” I think they needed a resonable explanation for someone to want to buy and tear down Muppet Studios. The Muppets have used the “tear down Muppet Theater” routine before. Scooter’s rich uncle, J.P Grosse (pronounced Gross), owned the theater and threatened to close it in original episodes and turn it into more profitable ventures and in “It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas” the Muppets have hit hard times financially and owe money to banker/real estate agent Rachel Bitterman and they need to pay her by the deadline or lose the theater, just like “The Muppets.” Bitterman even tried to trick the Muppets by changing the deadline (and kids know tricking people is bad, therefore she’s a bad character.) I think the movie makers needed to come up with a new character to try and shut down the Muppets. Just like Grosse and Bitterman the character needed a funny name, a reason to want the property, and no morals. Digging for oil, selling the land, or turning it into something more profitable are all good reasons to want the land Muppet studio/theater is on. That gives the characters motive but it’s their lying, cheating, tricking, etc…that make them bad.

If you watch enough Muppets, you see an interesting pattern. The Muppets live the American dream. Kermit starts in the swamp, Miss Piggy works at a fair, Sweetums fixes cars, Fozzie, Rowlf, Gonzo, and The Electric Mayhem are all working small-time on their art. They all have dreams and they all band together to make their dreams come true. Sometimes things get rough and sometimes they break up but they keep working, believing, and do what they set out to do…together again!

“Have you ever just quit something…without regret?”

I am not a risk taker so I don’t do well with change. In fact, I was talking about taking a risk career wise earlier this week with a friend and I was like “Oh, I don’t know….we’d have to make a lot of changes to do that!” My friend reminded me that “Change is good!”

Since I dislike change so much I like to stick with major things long term. It takes me a long time to decide on things and I tend to research things before I do anything but once I decide on something I tend to stick with it. This is especially true when it comes to jobs.

The one exception: the worst job I ever had.

I had just graduated from KSU. All through college I had the same job (children’s director at a museum) and while it was a cool job I thought it was time to try something new in order to spice up my resume and get a steady paycheck over the winter.  I ended up getting hired at a locally owned kids’ birthday party venue. This venue was looking to expand their programs to include their own summer camp, after school care/ tutoring,  and to make their “Toddler Time” program less of an open play program and more educational.  When they hired me, they told me I would be in charge of these programs and they would give me birthday parties to work on weekends where I could earn pretty decent sized tips. I was getting paid less an hour than at the museum but the owner promised me I would make it up in tips on the weekends. This seemed like a good deal. They were a pretty new company and the people running it didn’t have a background in working with children but they had business experience and the place seemed to run really well.

This place was staffed by like 10 high school students on weekends,  2 stay at home moms who helped during the toddler program, and one college student who was the manager.  Everyone was nice enough and I started training with everyone. Now, unlike many of the younger staff members…this was not my first job. I had already worked on a maintenance crew for 2 years and worked at the museum for 4.  Everyone was surprised that I learned the ropes so fast and that I cleaned up before close without being told (DUH!) I started working some of the parties and the tip money was good but I still wasn’t making what I was at the museum.

In the month I had been there I spent most of my time helping in areas that was NOT part of the job description when they hired me.  I spend a lot of time working the inflatables, setting up for parties, serving food, cleaning up after parties, cleaning up after close, and I even spent a some time in the kitchen cooking pizza and doing dishes! I was getting one tipped party a weekend which was not enough to make up for the pay cut I took. During Toddler Time I was helping the manager teach the class instead of teaching it myself.

After a couple of weeks of this I talked to the owner. She told me it was because the manager made the schedule of where people got placed when they worked and that the manager was mad that the owners hired me to be their educational programs person instead of letting her do it. What it basically came down to was that the manager wanted to run the camps and classes but legally if they want to be an accredited program they had to have someone with a teaching license because they wanted these programs to become full-time day care style camps, pre-school, and after school care.  The owner also asked me if I would be willing to make a curriculum for their camp program and to get it all together in like 2 weeks so they could get it approved. I tried to explain to her that a curriculum of an entire summer’s worth of camp for kids of different ages would like much longer than a few weeks to put together but that I could get her an overview of what camp would look like.

So a couple more weeks went by. I gave the owner the overview of the camp which I had worked hard on off the clock because whenever I was in the building the manager had me scheduled to work on other things. I was getting really fed up. The schedule sucked, I was getting paid $2 less an hour and working less hours than my last job, not getting enough tipped parties, and doing a lot of cleaning, cooking, serving, and bounce house watching along with the high school staff. After talking it over with my parents and Jordan and agonizing over it…I decided to quit my job!

After work the next night the owner told me that what I had given her for camp wasn’t anything she couldn’t have done herself and that she need a curriculum. It occurred to me that she had no idea what a curriculum was. I was honest with her about how much work that was and that my working here wasn’t really working out. She was absolutely stunned because no one had ever quit before. Her exact words were “But I need you on the paperwork for the camp!” Which in my opinion said a lot about the situation. I told her that I think the manager really wanted to run it and that I didn’t want to compete for my job.  She said “But I can’t put her name on the paperwork because she isn’t certified! I know it isn’t your problem but this is my job! It’s how I make my living!” and I told her I understood but leaving a better paying job where I have creative control over what I teach to a job where I was paid less and didn’t get to teach didn’t help me make my living. She pointed out to my that all the high school staff feel they make great money and I agreed that for a part time high school job, this is probably a good deal. She told me “Well, this was a learning experience for me! I learned I can’t expect people to do what they say they are going to do.” I told her I learned the same lesson, which left her speechless (I guess she didn’t think of it that way) and I thanked her for the opportunity, told her I thought the place was great (it is) and turned in my stuff and left.

I really thought I would feel much worse. I mean I felt kind of bad but they didn’t keep up their end of the bargain, so why should I?

I really did not regret leaving that job but I did learn several things:

1. Some business owners assume the success of the business means as much to the people they hire as it does for them, regardless of how the company treat employees.
2. Sometimes employers don’t want your talent, experience, or fresh ideas…sometimes they just want your certification.
3. Some people have NO IDEA what “curriculum” means or how much work it takes to make one. For the record, it’s been two years and this company still doesn’t have a full scale summer camp or after school program. They do have a small once a week camp over the summer. They are just starting a pre-school program this year. I really feel the owner had no clue what it would take to run such a huge program.
4. Some employers have no control over their employees. The way the manager scheduled me was one example but there were also a lot of problems with the teen staff not doing stuff they were supposed to which the owner shrugged off like “Oh those silly kids!”
5.  I guess the most important thing I learned was that I know how talented I am and I know what I am worth and I learned not to take it when people try to take advantage of me!

6. Oh yeah and that Lebron James is a bad tipper and his kids are kinda bratty!

So that’s the worst job I ever had. I quit and didn’t regret it at all!

One of the grooviest…err…most groovy…..things I own has to be my green chair and ottoman set. I used to have a second green chair that went with it but sadly it did not survive college dorm life. I’m just thankful I survived dorm life but that’s another story….

These beauties came from Goodwill and have to be my best thrift store find ever!

Beautiful!

The above picture was taken at my parents’ house the day we bought it in 2004 (I think.) Note the blue/teal and green floral cushions and shaggy green upholstery; it looks like something out of The Brady Bunch’s den. Needless to say, it looks even better in our “townhouse.”

That's Classy!

Check that out! Not only is it a groovy chair but check out the retro accessories!

We have a stuffed frog resting comfortably on top of a crochet blanket we inherited from Jordan’s family. Underneath them we have two of the the most retro throw pillows in the world (also from Jordan’s family,) a lime green shaggy pillow a friend and I bought at Wal-Mart years ago on a late night trip, and next to that we have the infamous screaming monkey…seriously…it looks like a cute little monkey but pull the string on its back and it screams and shakes….I don’t know why! On the ottoman we have a lime green fleece blanket and my America road trip pillow that turns into a blanket that my grandma made me when I was a kid.

See now this is some inexpensive home decor you won’t find in any catalog! Eat your heart out IKEA!

Oh! I forgot the best accessory of all!

The green chair is one of Schrodinger’s favorite spots! In fact, while I am writing this he is napping there right now! Let’s see is we can get another picture…..

Awwwww!

Let’s see if we can get closer……

Why is there a camera in my face? I am trying to sleep?

Jordan and I can’t afford to buy a home right now and rent what is technically a “townhouse.” I always laugh at “townhouse” and I’m sure to use air quotes whenever I say it because “townhouse” makes you picture something much larger than our home.

Here’s the breakdown of our house:

We have two bedrooms. One bedroom is our bedroom but if you ask Schrodinger the cat he’ll tell you it is his. The other bedroom is the computer room where Jordan plays video games and does all that engineering student stuff I don’t understand. This room also houses my gigantic troll collection.

We have the tiniest kitchen I’ve ever seen. I think my Barbie house had more counter space and I lovingly call the oven the Polly Pocket Oven. The bathroom is also very small.

The living room and dinning room are both really nice. I tend to spend most of my time in the living room. It’s my favorite room.

We also have a nice size basement which sealed the deal for us when we looked at this house. The basement is divided into two different rooms. In the far room we store our holiday decorations and the old TV we are saving for some reason. The first room we’ve turn into a reptile zoo! We have a wide collection of reptiles and amphibians living down there!

I love our little “townhouse.” My sister in-law described it as having “character” which I think is accurate. Sometimes I feel like it has the kind of character the house on “Green Acres” had…especially when you try working with the maintenance guys who I like to refer to as the “Monroe Brothers.”

Anyway, lately I’ve been feeling a little down about our living situation. So many friends of ours live in newer or bigger places and some can even afford to buy their own homes. We really don’t have a lot of money. Considering I’m a full-time teacher and Jordan is a full-time student and part-time Geek Squad Agent I should really just be happy we have what we have.

These feelings inspired an idea for a series of blog posts “Around the Townhouse.” These posts will include things in or around our home that I think are great/unique/groovy. My posts may not be Offbeat Home or ModachromeHome worthy yet but I’ll share anyway.

Five years ago I was 19 and a sophomore at Kent State University. I was probably getting ready for finals week and looking forward to going home for Christmas break. I was living in Terrace Hall but getting ready to move to Leebrick. At this point I had already had several different roommates and realized that I’m not good with roommates.  College made me realize how much I like my space. That was the best thing about college! I had my own space and I made my own schedule! Moving to Leebrick would turn out to be the best decision I could have made.  Five years ago I didn’t have many friends at KSU but I was less than a year away from having some pretty great adventures!

I had started working at the museum the summer before but we hadn’t started any big programs yet. Jordan and I had been together two years but with me at school we didn’t get to spend as much time together as we wanted. It was an uneventful time in my life. I didn’t really like college much, I didn’t have many friends and nothing major was going on. I really didn’t venture out of my dorm room much other than going to class and I went home to work and see Jordan every weekend. I wanted more out of life,  I just hadn’t found it yet.

I honestly think this may have been the most boring time of my life.

Inspired by Wil Wheaton I wanted to share my own memories of the future. Star Trek was an important part of my childhood in a way. Beyond being a freaking awesome show it was something my dad and I bonded over.  I remember watching the original series in reruns with my dad when I was very young. I remember eating Little Cesar’s Pizza and watching new episodes of The Next Generation. In fact, this was such an important tradition to me that I vividly remember being really annoyed that I had to leave my sci-fi and pizza one night after my little sister broke her arm at the roller rink and we had to take her to the emergency room. “Couldn’t we just take her after the show?” I said, “Her arm won’t be any more or less broken an hour from now!” When I was in middle school I remember rushing home from cheerleading practice to watch Star Trek Voyager with my dad, which is always funny to people for some reason.

I remember my dad explaining to me what an android was and telling me they were machines like our TV or our refrigerator. I remember being very upset because this meant that Data, who seemed so human, did not have a soul. I remember bringing this up to my second grade teacher during religion class at my Catholic school and asking her if androids go to heaven. The teacher scolded me and told there were no such things as androids. Looking back, this was a pretty intelligent concept for a second grader to understand and something I have seen in both science fiction and philosophical debates many times. I’m a teacher myself now and when students bring up things like this I am sure to praise their thinking and address the concerns. I guess Star Trek made me a better teacher. I also remember how traumatized I was my junior year of high school when my friend Jon told me he went to see Star Trek Nemesis over the weekend and I said was planning on see it the following weekend with my dad and he looked at me and said, “Data dies.” I had to sit through that entire film knowing the thing I had feared in second grade had come true. I still get a little upset when I hear the song Blue Skies. That was seven years ago and I am still plotting my revenge against Jon.

I think my family’s favorite Star Trek memory is my tradition involving the open credits of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Whenever I would hear the start of the show: “Space, the final frontier” I would pretend to be the U.S.S Enterprise and run around the couch, sometimes removing the couch cushions to make a landing pad and climbing onto the couch. I would wait until it got to the line “To boldly go where no man has gone before” and the song would start. At that point I would leap off of the arm of the couch (on a good day I’d land on the cushions) and jump back up and continue to run around the room pretending to be a starship until the end of the song. My sister recently pointed out that the fact that I only sometimes used the cushions as a landing pad probably explains a lot.

It hit me the other day how much Star Trek means to me. It provided a lot of fun memories with my dad. While I always realized this the other day I think it hit home for my dad. My dad had on a rerun of Star Trek the Next Generation on and he said “I think I have seen this episode, the more I watch it the more I remember.” I took one look at the TV and said, “Yeah! We’ve seen this one! We saw it when it was new! It’s the series finale remember? Data has that funny hair and Piccard is like skipping around to different times in his life, and Q is there! I remember you and I sat in the old gray recliner we used to have and watched the whole thing even though it was an extra long episode and it went on late. You even late me stay up to watch it on a school night. Remember?”

For some reason dad and I are the only ones who watch Star Trek at our house. Mom and Kelly never really got into it but I’m ok with that. I like that it’s just something between dad and I. It’s probably the reason I swore I’d never even go on a date with a guy who didn’t know what a tribble was, and look how that turned out! I’m engaged to a guy who is as much of a fan as I am. However, when I hear the word “engage” I smile for a reason that has nothing to do with me and my fiancé. It’s all about me, my dad, and Star Trek.

When I was in high school my favorite outfit consisted of bell-bottom jeans, a fitted “Wonder Woman” t-shirt, cat-eyed glasses, black dress shoes with funky laces, an assortment of tacky jewelry,and a purse with like a dozen key chains hanging off of it. Throw my Speech Team bowling shirt or my varsity jacket over it all and I was ready to take on anything.

Today I put on boot-cut jeans, a dress shirt, vest, high heels, silver and crystal jewelry, and my beautiful engagement ring to feel my best.

I think I still dress in my own unique style I just wear the grown up version of it.

I have run in to a few people who look exactly the same and dress exactly the same as they did in high school. I think this is sad in away. I like changing. I like looking like the adult that I am and getting the respect I have earned.

I am a different person on the inside now, shouldn’t I look like it on the outside?

Sometimes I wonder if people think I am a “sell out” but honestly I don’t care. I am who I am and I believe what I believe. I dress how I need to in order to get my voice heard.

My big fashion epiphany happened a few years ago as I was walking through the Kent State Student Center.

There we two tables set up with information about a political issue. On one side of my was the conservative view point. Manning the table was a female student about my age wearing dress pants, dress shoes, and solid color sweater. She politely came up to me, handed me a pamphlet about her issue and explained her organizations view point in a short and straight forward way. I thanked the nice lady and moved on.

On the other side was the liberal view point’s table. Manning that table was another female student about my age. She was wear jeans with a variety of pictures and quotes scrawled on with sharpie, a “Reptar” t-shirt, an excessive amount of jewelry and piercings, and multicolored hair. Unfortunately, I did not hear the liberal position on this issue because…to be honest…this young woman looked a little unfriendly and intimidating.

I walked away thinking that it was sad that people might not hear what this woman had to say because they may have been intimidating like I was.

When you are dealing with people you need to dress the part. People will judge you on how you look. I don’t know if my students would take me seriously if I dressed like I did in high school but I know they do now. I didn’t take this girl in the Student Center seriously because she was dressed like one of the girls you’d see smoking in the girls bathroom back at my old high school.

I realized I could easily be this girl. That my voice may not be heard because people were too intimidating by how I dress or think that my choice in outfit means I am not serious about my message.

I guess what I am trying to say is that my look has evolved to reflect who I am in life and so my voice can be heard. Has your look changed?

On February 14^th, Mojo and I will be out being Cupid’s little helpers and we would love to stop by YOUR house!

How does it work?

*Order any Noah’s Ark Animal including our special Valentine Bears.

* Select a time on Valentine’s Day.

*Mojo will come to your house and deliver your NAAW Animal, Valentine Card, give hugs and kisses, and even pose for some pictures. That monkey is such a ham!

Cost:

Noah’s Ark Animals: $13-$18.

Valentine Special: A cute brown Baby Bear in a Candy Hearts T-shirt: $11

Mojo Delivery: $40

Mojo delivers for FREE on order of $100 or more.

Day Cares and Schools:

Book you’re a workshop on Friday February 12^th for your Valentine’s Day Party and Mojo will make an appearance for FREE! Mojo the Monkey Mascot visits are normally $75-$100 per hour. Don’t miss this exciting chance to have him visit your group for FREE!

All orders for Mojo Deliveries and group workshops must be placed no later that Thursday, February 4^th.

Please call 330.410.0414 or e-mail katelynpauline@gmail.com to book today!