Update - April 2009

Items for this year:

• Our son Jim came for a delightful, but short, visit during his March Spring Break from his teaching job at San Francisco University of the Arts
  
  
• Irene is enjoying retirement from her job with Hadassah. This year she has stepped up her volunteer activity with the local Hadassah program; Because of Madoff investments and the slow economy, Hadassa programs are now more local and volunteer-based -- in many ways an improvement, though the cutbacks in Israel travel-experience programs is a real loss.
  
  
• Phil still goes climbing with Pitt Outdoors Club and Explorers Club of Pittsburgh, and helps with instruction of beginners, but he has given up "trad leading" ("the sharp end") and generally needs a rest day after a day on the trails or rocks.
  
  
• We look forward to an early June week of Family Camp at Deer Valley with Julie, Randy, and our three grandsons (Denali, almost 6, and twins Ryder and Zephyr 2-1/2)
  
  
• We are still trying to get rid of our overwhelming load of stuff, so we can make the move to California. We have disposed of a lot through Yard Sales, Craig's List, Donations to Thrift Stores, and sales (of books) on Amazon and Ebay-Half.com - We sell about 100 books a year, but it is a drop in the bucket when you look at the 1500 or so in boxes and shelves to be sold.
  
  
• Irene now has her own email address, irene.sidel@gmail.com, and Philip still has two: sidel.climbing@gmail.com for climbing and outdoor activities mail and philip.sidel@verizon.net for other mail.

2006

• Dateline November 22, 2006
  Twin Grandsons, Ryder and Zephyr Wildera, are born in Santa Cruz, California
  They each weigh-in at about five pounds - pretty good for 3-weeks premature. When they get a little bigger, they will join their big (3 1/2 year old) brother Denali in the home of their Dad, Randy and their Mom, Julie.
• We sadly learned that our dear friend Dorothy Bott passed away last year. Dorothy had been the Secretary for the Social Science Computer Research Institute from the mid-seventies until her retirement. She was Phil's right-hand person and had all the skills and good will to keep us working smoothly in the University maelstrom. Dorothy had been a widow for many years, and had just remarried to her good friend Ed Yost less than a year before she died. All of us who knew her miss her deeply.
• We also sadly learned that our close friend Peter Graham had passed away in August of 2004. Peter was our colleague at the Bureau of Applied Social Research (BASR) at Columbia and was the Best Man at our Wedding. In 1970 Philip was able to reciprocate as Best Man at Peter and Lew's wedding on a snowy day in York, PA. Peter was a very bright and capable man, and was the Head Librarian at Syracuse for some while before his untimely death. He maintained a wonderful personal and professional website in which he recorded in an amazing, positive way his bout with Lymphoma. Our hearts go out to Lew and to their son Andrew and daughter Rae; their loss must be devastating.
• Phil took on the job of 2006 Activities Chairman for the Explorers Club of Pittsburgh (ECP). His major goal was to get the activities listed on the calendar. ....
• We are actively working on clearing out our houseful of unnecessary "stuff." We had a Yard Sale last August, and will have more later this year. Meanwhile we have listed over 150 books on eBay-half-dot-com. Go there to see what is there and what the prices are. If you are a local (Pittsburgh) buyer, contact me by email to buy direct rather than through half-dot-com. You can save the shipping charge (pick up at our house or maybe I can deliver). Proceeds from local sales will go to selected charities .....

Annual Newsletters

2005

• In late June we took a wonderful trip to the West Coast to spend a couple of weeks with our children in San Francisco and Santa Cruz. Most importantly we got to be with grandson, Denali, and watch his progress in the weeks around his second birthday.
• The trip started in Reston Virginia (we flew out of Dulles), and we got to visit our cousins, the Cooks, including their newest grandchildren, John Nicholas and Ava Rose
• Our health problems (osteoporosis for Irene, and lumbar stenosis & marginally high cholesterol for Philip) are chronic and rather typical for our age group. Fortunately, our Medications (Actinol for the osteoporosis and Lipitor for the cholesterol level) combined with the excellent Silver Sneakers exercise program for seniors provided by our health insurance carrier and with a tobacco free life-style (Irene quit smoking in August, 2003) are enabling us to continue to be moderately active in the things we like to do.

2004

2003

2002

• November-December 2002:
  Phil took a wonderful two weeks plus trip visiting and climbing in Maryland, Virginia, NorthCarolina, and Florida. A full report of the trip is posted at Phil's Thanksgiving Trip
  
  
• November-December 2002:
  Irene had a wonderful time visiting Julie, Randy, and Jim in California for Thanksgiving week. The Thanksgiving Day meal was hosted by Randy's parents, Bill and Marley Widera.
  
  

--- Phil