Christmas Letter 2016

December 2016

Dear Family and Friends:

	The big news for our family is that Stephanie is getting married. She and Blake Lerdall are tying the knot in September 2017. My duties are: propose a toast, attempt a father-daughter dance, and write a check. I am qualified for only one of those duties. Actually, Sheryl and I are thrilled as we think the world of Blake. Stephanie and Blake continue to live and work in Chicago where the small nuptials will take place. Stephanie still works in PR for Hyatt, and Blake manages logistics for Constellation Brands who distributes alcoholic beverages. And yes, there are fringe benefits associated with Blake's job.
	Steven completed a semester at ASU but decided that he missed Texas. So now he's attending Sam Houston State University (SHSU) where he's majoring in marketing. Sheryl and I are happy that Huntsville is not far from Houston where he can visit family and New Braunfels where he can visit his Marine Corps buddies. In addition to school, Steven's been doing CrossFit training to stay in shape. He has a part-time job for the Veterans Administration helping students with their benefits. He gets to field crazy phone calls like parents trying to get benefits for their child who was kicked out of boot camp because "completing 2-months out of a 4-year commitment has got to count for something, right?" He's looking forward to his upcoming years as an SHSU Bearkat.
	In Sheryl's world, she has returned to full-time teaching. I guess you should never say never. After full time in third-grade last year for a teacher on maternity leave, Sheryl thought she'd return to occasional substitute teaching. Unfortunately, one of her teacher friends needed to take the year off on medical leave, so Sheryl stepped up to the plate to teach Kindergarten full time this year. This year is a marked change for the school as Kindergarten is full-day for the first time ever, and the district has a new math program. It's long hours for Sheryl, but she adores her students. The children and parents adore Sheryl. One student remarked, "I love Mrs. Sheppard." Another chimed in "Me too. I love her more than my mom." Sheryl's retort was "Oh don't say that."
	After being the Program Manager for Autodesk Labs for the last decade, I will start a new job at Autodesk in February. I will still be in the Office of the CTO, but I will be working with our research group to convert their new discoveries into technology that actually makes it into the hands of customers. The approach is to develop cloud-based services that are made available via application program interfaces. As this job is more internally focused and less customer-facing, I might not have to use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram so much in an attempt to "try to be an interesting person" which has been my marching orders from the CEO for the old job. I know my family will be thrilled to see my over-sharing cease.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Scott, Sheryl, Stephanie, and Steven

"Be true to your words, and your words will be true to you." — Arthur Wood
"The way my luck is running, if I was a politician I would be honest." — Rodney Dangerfield