The Liebermans'
2001 Year in Review

Hello my friend we meet again
It’s been a while where should we begin… feels like forever
— Creed, "My Sacrifice"

As usual, it seems that 2001 has come and gone much too quickly.  As I looked back at the past year, I realized how many friends I have lost touch with.  I remember attending my 10 year high school class reunion in November 2000 and saying how I would make it a point to rekindle old friendships and strengthen current ones.  You'd think that with this great invention called e-mail it would be easy to stay in touch!  But somehow more than a year has passed and while I have been in touch with a few old friends, I have let others slip even farther away.  So although I'm not much for New Years resolutions, I have decided that now is as good a time as any to try once again to get closer to my friends, whether I see you once a week or once a decade.

Our new house (before replacing the siding and repainting the garage door this past November)

2001 started plainly enough, with Jen and I both working as web developers in different departments at Cable & Wireless in Reston, VA.  Encouraged by the low interest rates and still confident (or should I say naive?) about our job security, we started looking for a new home.  Because of the rapidly rising price of single family homes in the area, we felt we should plan for the future and get in now while we could still afford it!  In February we sold our townhouse and moved into a five-bedroom single family home in Herndon, VA.  With all those bedrooms and no kids (yet), visitors are always welcome!  We actually sold our townhouse to my father, who now rents it to my brother and his roommate.  For those of you who know my brother Scott, he is doing well and is working as a teacher and computer technologist at a private school in Vienna, VA.  

April marked my one-year anniversary with Cable & Wireless.  Unfortunately we soon learned that our annual salary review, normally conducted in June, would not happen this year.  Although still secure in my position, I knew the future was bleak.

Zuzu and her favorite toy, the floppy frisbee!

With a big, empty house all to ourselves, Jen and I decided that it was time to expand our family.  No, not a baby -- a dog!  In May we adopted a five year old standard poodle named Zuzu.  She is very sweet and energetic and loves to play ball and Frisbee.  Believe me, she is no "foofy dog"!  Although financially it may not have been the best time to get her (with our jobs in jeopardy), she has certainly helped us keep our sanity through the tough times.

At the end of June, Jen and I celebrated our fourth anniversary with an 11-day vacation in St. Maarten.  It was the first extended vacation we had taken since our honeymoon, and the first 7+ day vacation I had taken in many, many years.  The weather was picture-perfect almost every day, and we had plenty of time for activities including snorkeling, scuba diving, a "Rhino" excursion (an inflatable motorboat slightly larger than a jetski), and a catamaran trip to an uninhabited island called Prickly Pear.  Unfortunately the trip to Prickly Pear left us both badly sunburned, so we stayed out of the sun for a few days and explored the shops and casinos downtown.  By the way, if you have never been scuba diving, I HIGHLY recommend it!

The view from our room in St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles

We returned stateside on July 3rd, just in time to receive our 30-day layoff notices from Cable & Wireless.  Although we expected Jen might be cut this round (turned out her entire department was cut), the axe unfortunately fell for both of us at the same time.  On August 6th, Jen and I packed up our stuff and left C&W after 2 1/2 years and 16 months of service, respectively.  We did receive four weeks of severance pay and I felt certain that one or both of us would have a new job by Labor Day.

By mid-August it was clear that there were simply no tech jobs out there, so we decided to rent out a room in our house.  We were lucky enough to find a great guy named Tom, who works as a contract lawyer for Lockheed Martin.  His family was moving to Hershey, PA to be closer to relatives, but Tom needed a place to stay during the week.  He also travels extensively for work, which means we only see him about 10 days a month.  Talk about the perfect roommate!  He doesn't even use the kitchen!

The next few months were spent searching for new jobs.  Although nearly a full-time project in itself, we also kept busy with some new web projects.  We completed a new website for a company that produces hidden camera "mystery shopping" videos, which you can see at www.videoeyes.net.  I also spent some time helping out an old friend on a project called GesherCity (www.geshercity.org), including creating their summer e-newsletter, and working on my own hobby website, indypacecars.com.  Of course I never got around to updating my personal website, but I will someday, I promise!  I also had the opportunity to get back into the music business as an assistant sound engineer, doing a few gigs this fall.  Although things have tapered off for the winter, it's something I hope to continue doing this spring.   We also spent a few days in Dewey Beach at my aunts' beach house, which they just bought this year.  (Renters are always wanted!)

In October Jen started a job as a webmaster with the Virginia DOT.  Unfortunately it is only part-time (30 hours per week) but it's enough to tide us over.  At the end of November I started with a small consulting firm called Cairo Corporation.  I spent the first two weeks redesigning the company's website (although the new site won't be live until later this month), then went out to Computer Sciences Corporation in Arlington as a subcontractor, where I will be working on the internet and intranet websites for the Patent and Trademark Office.  (Did you follow all that?  Don't worry, it took me a week to figure it out myself!)  I work just down from the Pentagon and must say it is somewhat unnerving to drive past Humvees armed with 50-calibre machine guns every day.

The holidays were spent in their usual hectic fashion.  We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house in Allentown, PA, followed by a trip to Newark, DE for my cousin Harrison's first birthday the following weekend.  2001 also saw the arrival of another cousin, Devon Rose, who will celebrate her first birthday in February.  For the Christmas weekend we made our traditional tri-state loop, visiting family in PA, NJ, and Delaware before heading home, and we returned to Allentown a week later for a friend's New Years Eve party.  So as you can see getting a dog and being unemployed hasn't slowed us down one bit!

The end of the year also marked another important milestone — Jen has finally completed her undergraduate studies!  Although she'll have to wait until May for the actual ceremony, Jen now holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer and Information Science from the University of Maryland, University College.  Now let's hope it lands her a full-time job!

All in all, although 2001 wasn't an extremely exciting year, it was certainly one of change... a new house, new dog, and new jobs.  I'm certain the future holds brighter things to come.  I hope you have enjoyed reading about our activities from the past year and I certainly hope you will stay in touch.  If you use a chat application, please let me know!  Also, if you happen to have your own webpage please send me the URL because I will eventually get around to updating my own!  (It's at http://www.iwcreations.com/marc/ but it's almost three years old.)  So take care and write back when you get the chance... and don't forget, the offer to visit is open to each and every one of you!

Best wishes,
Marc and Jen

We’ve seen our share of ups and downs
Oh how quickly life can turn around in an instant
It feels so good to reunite
Within yourself and within your mind
Let’s find peace there
— Creed, "My Sacrifice"