Lair Merry Christmas 2005

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Lair’s

Life Begins at 60 – Parade Magazine front cover on December 11, 2005– also referred to as “Second Adulthood” and “Age of Mastery” – good way to start letter since Sandy will hit the 6-0 mark on March 16, 2006. There is an old Satchel Paige question – “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? With that in mind, Sandy is just about to turn thirty.

The Lair family has had a busy year. Christy continues babysitting and day care work at First Baptist Church Mother’s Day Out, and Sandy a day each week at Big Cedar, Sister’s Flower shop, and various interior decorating jobs. Herb is in second career with UBS Financial Services in Little Rock. Having once worked at CIA, working for a Swiss bank makes a lot of sense. Actually their stock has doubled over the last year or so while competitors have been flat. The Swiss are very efficient and continually generate a good rate of return, mainly because they do business in about every country, in their case, neutrality pays off big time. Always plugging business http://financialservicesinc.ubs.com:8080/fa/herblair

(actually, if you can sell software all over the world from the Ozarks, building a financial services business is a piece of cake). 

The UBS arrangement (Herb in LR, 3 or so days a week) works well, since we have 2 grand kids in Little Rock --Cooper 7 – does a lot of reading and is a great student and Sophie 2 – she’ll either be a dress designer or a stripper – she tries on and changes clothes constantly and sometimes prefers not wearing anything at all. Wendy has her hands full.

Craig is doing well – partner at the Rose Law Firm – handles many high profile estate and tax clients. Recently ran a marathon (26 miles) in Las Vegas – check out

http://www.lvmarathon.com/

 and do a search on lair -- actually finished it and has run a triathlon – not sure where he gets his athleticism? Possibly running from the Clinton’s or the mob? There was a rumor that the sports boards at the casinos had 100 to 1 odds that an attorney couldn’t run the marathon (maybe that was on finding an honest lawyer in Vegas?) – I guess we’ll find out if and when Craig makes any big purchases 

Family spent some time in New York saw several plays – Lion King, Spamalot, Dirty Rotten Scoundrel, Sweet Charity,etc. as well as Letterman, Today Show. Sandy and Christy got separated at Macy’s – not sure who was lost – Christy kept her cool while Sandy panicked! Christy also got locked in airline bathroom on way home – other than some banging noise in the back it was a quiet flight for the rest of the passengers.

Big news in Arkansas sports is that the Razorbacks hired a high school coach as football offensive coordinator – shows that after a 4-7 season, they’re willing to try about anything – also might note that Tennessee had similar problems and are attempting a Lazarus maneuver (bringing Cutliffe and hopefully their offense back from the dead). Speaking of dogs, that reminds me that our dog, Camry, nearly died from a liver disease, but we turned him into a vegetarian and he is doing well now.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (remember March 16^th, hint -- good time for a surprise party – don’t worry about this letter giving it away to Sandy – she can’t remember anything that long)   

Lair Merry Christmas Letter 2007

You may recall that last year I sent out a less than flattering picture of Sophie refusing to make just "one" more picture and making a face. Major lesson learned this year is that it's a lot cheaper to send out a "good" picture. Otherwise you may spend hundreds, maybe even thousands, on pictures over the next year making sure that bad picture doesn't happen again.

Sandy has adopted (not literally) several children from the Fair Haven Children's Home in Strafford, Missouri (near Springfield) – she has done some interior decorating for them. Along with other members, she has provided furniture, accessories, shopping trips and a trip to a Razorback game (Burl's Kids). There are plans to have the children down to Harrison for Christmas to attend services, eat, and visit Christmas decorated homes. Just think of it as an "Oprah project moment" on a much smaller scale.

Otherwise Sandy is decorating and working at the Flower Shop, Nice to see her spending other people's money. There are just so many times you can rearrange things in your own home within a year.

Football ended regular season on a "Nutty" note with Arkansas beating LSU, the #1 team in triple overtime, coach leaving, and the Razorbacks going to Cotton Bowl. One resume restriction of new coach is that he and family are technology impaired – no text messaging or e-mailing skills.

Cooper's flag football team also won a game in triple overtime – that was his seasons (and possibly the leagues) highlight game.

Sophie started soccer and quickly developed into a scorer. Also found out that she's a media critic, recently after she and her brother and cousins put together a dance skit – unfortunately there were some technical difficulties, so Sophie was quick to tell everyone the event had been ruined!! She is sounding more and more like an artist!!

Christy is continuing with her day care work and buys gifts for Sophie and Cooper. Enjoys current job more than any other she has had.

Wendy has taken a new position as Youth Minister at Chenal Church – just think she can now be around a lot of Cooper's or Sophie's -- OK we can drop that thought.

Craig is lawyering, biking, and running. Everything from 5K's to ½ marathons to triathlons to marathons. Not sure if there is any connection, but would you want a lawyer who prefers sprints or marathons? Maybe I'm trying to relate it to billing?

My time and business with UBS is split between Little Rock and Harrison – I have found a lot of carryover from my extensive international experience to managing portfolios with more international and emerging market exposure – of course there’s lots of carryover from the lessons learned from babysitting grandchildren, as well.

Lair Christmas Letter 2004

Another semi-interesting year in 2004 has come and nearly gone

Early part of 2004, Herb had his 60^th birthday. There were several people at church who thought we should have a big party and celebrate the event, all at our expense, I might add. We were still amazed at how few of those people showed up. Even our preacher, who lives next door, found a way to conveniently be out of town. There was a lot of good home cooked food for the event using some of Sandy’s special recipes - you know, hiring a caterer to do it all. We also had PowerPoint of Herb’s life running on a TV, much like you would see at a funeral home visitation. CD Rom copies are available for a nominal charge and slight shipping and handling fee, we’re still trying to pay for the event. We had a contest to see who would best to handle Herb’s eulogy. Since Herb would obviously not be around for the final event, he used the Apprentice ala Donald Trump format. There was no clear winner, or loser depending on how you would like to “view it”. Herb decided it may be best to just videotape his own eulogy.

Razorback basketball and football has not done well this year. Herb recently wrote a letter to the editor expressing his frustrations. Herb always attempt a little humor and satire. He started by pointing out, “ In a state where dysfunctional actions are considered the norm, it makes sense that the first firing after a 5-6 football season would be a well-respected basketball radio analyst”. There are a lot of people who don’t understand his letters or humor, but there are a lot of silly things happening that Herb doesn’t understand either in sports, government, and the media.

Sandy continues her full-time, one day a week, job at Big Cedar. Same people who own it also own Bass Pro. She helps with their gift shop purchasing and displays. Sandy also helps decorate homes including Christmas. Reason that she has no time to contribute to this letter. Herb always enjoys watching her spend other people’s money. We celebrated our 40 years of marriage in September.

Christy continues to be the most normal person in our family, holding down multiple jobs with kids in daycares and babysitting. She was too busy to write the Christmas letter this year.

At this point, you may have sensed that our family is too busy to write our Christmas letter or we just don’t have a lot of interesting things happening. So if you are too busy to read this, we won’t be hurt too much, if you just stop reading this and do more important things. This is a test to see if you read this far, as well as our friendship. That’s what friends and Christmas letters are all about, that is, testing patience and building long-term relationships.

Our picture with our grandchildren is the only good one out of about 50 shots. We did have a fun family outing in Florida this year with our children and grandchildren. Herb tried to teach Cooper the old Eddy Fisher song – “O My Pa-Pa” on our trip to Florida.

Cooper has started first grade and recently told his parents he had learned some really bad words, they finally got him to say what they started with – Cooper said they start with “S” and “D” so they thought the worst. Then he told them you never call anybody stupid or dumb.

Sophie is now a year and half and quickly becoming a favorite of her Papa.

Got to close, Herb has to dress up like Santa today for Good Works event for singles, widows, and widowers from our church who are coming to our house.

Happy Holidays and best in 2005

Merry Christmas 2010

“10”   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year “11”     

 How about those Razorbacks? BCS bowl bound against Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. If you excluded the Alabama, pay-for-play, teams we could be playing for a National Championship.

No surgeries this year for me, just facing the realities of age – diet and exercise. So far, not doing enough about them, just facing the realities.  After laying off golf for nearly a year, I got better. I know most are thinking, if you lay off golf entirely, how good would you become? Actually I now play from the senior tees, and it’s like gaining a stroke on many holes. I found that passing for a senior is not a problem anymore, I recently ordered at a drive through fast food; and they gave me their senior discount, sight unseen. (Oops, diet and exercise slip).

 I am still Chairman of the Kiwanis Golf Event. We get great support and programs each year leading up to it, as well as the day of the event – Tom Pagnozzi, Chuck Barrett, Shawn Arnell, Rex Nelson, Joe Foley, Mike Masterson, Jeff Hankins, and Ken Reeves (?). This year seemed to be more fun than ever, since Mike Masterson’s team won, and we both beat Ken’s team.

Sandy has been decorating and assisting at Sister’s Flower Shop. After cataract surgery, she can now actually see what she is doing and that generates a lot of repeat business. She resisted it at first, saying it was just for “old people”. Her schedule of decorating homes for Christmas is definitely not for “old people”, and she will always be “young at heart”.

Christy still enjoys working at First Baptist’s Mothers Day Out. She remains on the kidney transplant list at UAMS. She has a new puppy, Ozzie, a Malti-poo; and he is definitely more Poodle than Maltese. Her dog, Camry, lived over 15 years.   As you get older you buy cars that now outlive your pets, and you get pets that now can outlive you.  

Craig’s lawyering is with clients in NW Arkansas as well as Little Rock. He is still running marathons. He took the family to Washington, D.C. this year. Nice to know if you ever need someone to deliver a message 26 miles away, that you know someone who can deliver it to them in less than  4 ½ hours in most major cities.  Craig along with Cooper and Sophie “enjoy” climbing Pinnacle Mountain. We “enjoy” seeing the pictures.

Wendy is wrapping up her tenure as Children’s Minister which involves the handling of VBS, children education, and Breakfast with Santa. She has done a great job, but looks forward to spending more time with family and serving her church in a different capacity. She’s willing to share the fun.

Cooper and Sophie are outstanding students at Little Rock Christian. Cooper enjoys soccer and Razorback games, but not so much Cotillion. Cooper loves music from strings to guitar to piano. He loves playing and winning board games, especially beating his family. He’ll be a teenager next year, we’ll see if his interests change?

Sophie is 7 and enjoys piano, soccer, and basketball. She recently attended a birthday party, for a friend, where Miss Arkansas appeared. Unlike Cooper, she continues to mature and change sooner than later. Last summer we were ordering a dessert at Dick Clark’s Grill in Branson, and there was the  Ooey Gooey Chocolate Brownie Orgy, and she asked me what’s an orgy? I told her it’s great Chocolate, and don’t you ever forget it! Didn’t realize you now have to censor menus?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Lair’s – Herb, Sandy, and Christy

Christmas Letter 2009

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year “09”

After Time Magazine referred to the oo’s as a decade from hell, it was ironic that recently “Bad Day" was named the One-Hit Wonder of the Decade; and the singer’s only “good day”.

I guess history will determine but I’m still leaning toward the 60’s as the worst decade with hippies, social unrest (burning cities), Vietnam, poor people march on DC, and assassinations.

Of course, once I say that, I recall that we were married, had a son, and Razorback football was at its pinnacle.  So there are many good things, if we look for them, even in the worst of times. As Charles Dickens wrote over 150 years ago, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times”. That could also apply to 09 and the 00’s.

Sandy said “09” was all about Christy and me. It started with our trip to NIH in Bethesda, Maryland in late March. Christy was part of a clinical trial researching her oral-facial-digital syndrome and polycystic kidneys. Bottom line, we found out she was eligible (now on it) to get on the kidney transplant list and the syndrome, through a DNA test, was determined to be a one time event, not an issue for Craig’s family. Side benefit for me was there was a determination, through an ultrasound test, that I had a small tumor on my kidney, which since has been removed and appears isolated with grade 2 cancer, requiring no further treatment. Christy is taking credit for saving my life. Another good day from a bad day.

My kidney surgery and back surgery (not related) occurred within a month. I told Dr Kent Westbrook (UAMS distinguished professor of surgery) I was spending more time at UAMS than he was. Everything went textbook; Westbrook sagely told me there’s another textbook that covers when things go wrong. After my second surgery, within an hour after getting to my room I sent the infamous e-mail to all our church members that I had discovered what hell was really like – most expected me to say something about my pain level and surgery, but I said riding with Sandy for six weeks was my taste of hell (she found out about it and then proceeded by hitting every pothole on the trip home). I guess a good day for her?

Grandkids have had a great year; Sophie and Cooper are learning to play several instruments from piano to guitar to violin and are involved in soccer and gymnastics. Growing up fast. Wendy keeps busy shuttling both kids, as well as serving as Church Children’s Minister with classroom planning, VBS, and Christmas activities. They all had fun at the beach in June and in New York over Halloween.

Craig was born in “69” between man’s walk on the moon and Woodstock, something that may explain why he celebrated his 40^th by running the New York Marathon. Another way to be low tech in a high tech world, not unlike the happenings when he was born. I’ll stay with high tech when I travel in NYC.

Sandy says the best thing to come out of 09 was her new motto which she has taped to her refrigerator and her heart, “Watch me trust in the Lord”.

Merry Christmas and a good new decade –---------------- Herb, Sandy, and Christy

Christmas 2008 from Lair's

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

From Lair Bank Holding Company, LLC – Principals include Herb Lair, Sandy Lair, and Christy Lair

Thought that would be an appropriate way to start our letter. No hidden agendas, just exploring ways to access the $700 billion TARP funds in the “Year of the Bailout”.

A year that was eventful and challenging –

From $4 a gallon gas to under $1.50 a gallon. From a time when we couldn’t afford to make a trip to a time when we could afford to go about anywhere, but didn’t have anything to spend when we got there.

A time when we were “paying” the Government to hold our money in short-term Treasury bills. Sounds like one of the top three lies of the 60’s, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you”.

A time when we elected an African American with an odd sounding name and a woman from Alaska ran for VP. You betcha!

A time when the “big three” auto manufacturers are hitting new bottoms (and I’m not talking about a catchy marketing phrase). GM is currently worth less than Mattel.

A time when Arkansas and Tennessee didn’t play each other and bragging rights are more BS than BCS.

A time when we mourned the passing of Sandy’s brother, Graydon; but celebrated his life in a unique memorial where friends and family told “true” stories that sounded like they had to be made up. A Doctor in attendance said it was more like Comedy Central and another person wanted to hire us to do his memorial. I told him it would be all payable in advance, and the more he paid the better his memories would become.

Sandy continues to do interior decorating, she’s actually getting very good at it, and we all admire her spunk and sense of humor, at her age. She told me the other day, if things got real bad we could sell everything and move to Newton County. When I think about that I realize just how lucky I am to have her!! Then reality sets in – How much interior decorating can you do in Bass and Mt. Judea?  How much shopping can you do at the one general store? How many mysterious deaths have occurred over there?

Christy continues her work at Mother’s Day Out -- she loves her work and taking care of children. She also loves her computer, and she stays busy playing games, e-mailing (christylair@cox.net), and looking for bargains – found us a coffee pod maker just the other day – didn’t know they even made them.

Wendy is busy with Cooper and Sophie, both now going to little Rock Christian, and she is working at the Church with youth programs. She had a great VBS and Breakfast for Santa with the proceeds going to a Honduras orphanage.

Cooper’s flag football team got to final game, their Super Bowl, and were defeated by a team coached by a former major college head coach, Fitz Hill – they take it serious here.

Craig stays busy at the Rose Law Firm, running marathons and coaching soccer (Sophie). I have to say Sophie’s a better player than Craig is a coach. Craig’s words of wisdom are that you never schedule a team where the other team’s coach wears a shirt with “Coach” on it.

Lair Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year  “11”

With all the social media it seems anticlimactic to still write the dreaded Christmas Letter. So if you are, or were, interested in the minute details of 2011 you can friend us on facebook, connect with me on Linkedin, or even follow my Tweets @herb5247. There’s no need to read any further, unless you are either “social media” challenged, or enjoy punishment.

Highlights include Christy’s kidney transplant, Craig’s Ironman, Cooper and Sophie’s progress in music and sports. Still interested?

Christy got the call in April about the availability of a matched kidney, after being on the list at UAMS for about 18 months, and with the possibility of dialysis, it was very welcome news. Christy serially recalled each step of the day in detail, with lots of humor, later at a Kiwanis program on transplants. Getting the kidney of an 18 year old has left us wondering if she is actually 40 years old? She has been a great patient precisely following all the Doctor’s instructions.

Craig ran an Ironman in Phoenix, leaving some people to wonder if we had ever matched up our DNA.  Something I’m smart enough to accept and move on. An ironman is about the equivalent to getting from Harrison to Little Rock in less than 15 hours and being told you would have to swim the creeks and rivers, bike for 112 miles, and run 26 miles.  Driving the 140 miles seems a little less tiresome for me now, glancing out the window occasionally to see if I’m being passed by an ironman.

Cooper really enjoys playing musical instruments, (I see another DNA challenge coming), and plays piano, guitar, and violin. He’s now in the Arkansas Junior Symphony. Other milestones include chess championships and quiz bowl wins.

Sophie is a great student and enjoys music as well and playing soccer and basketball. OK no DNA check there. Her coming of age questions this year were “Will LSU dominate Arkansas?”Another one came at the Miss State game in 4^th quarter, when the Hogs got a big lead, when Cooper was ready to leave; and she asked, “Why were all the people leaving?”

Sandy and Wendy continue to be iron women, getting less credit than they deserve, but always helping family and others to find the stuff that dreams are made of.

                     Herb,  Sandy, and Christy Lair