Greetings from Gosselin

Ok, I am finally giving in! I have been reading all of your posts since May and have become equally addicted, entertained and impressed by all that has been accomplished. But what really got me was Matt’s posting of all the songs and the aging process that has been referenced. Why is it that I can not remember what time my daughters’s soccer practice is and if I am supposed to bring snacks when I just received an email with this information yesterday? However, I look over this list of songs and can start singing every word to 95% of the songs?!? How can I free up some of this memory that is being used up by all these great songs? Perhaps then I could throw out my sticky notes posted to the kitchen door that remind me of things or stop sending reminder emails from my work to my home email. Oh, come on, I know some of you guys do it too!


After leaving Chaminade, I continued to work at the same job (Leslie’s Pool Supplies) that I worked at during high school and enrolled at CSUN with Michele Yasiello. In January 1988 I was introduced to a Leslie’s manager, Kelly McNeely, that worked in the Walnut Creek store in N. California. We started dating and flying back and forth and to my surprise he asked me to marry him in Dec 1998! I literally thought he was kidding and told him to shut up and get serious! To this day we still joke that I am not sure I ever told him “yes”. I got tired of flying back and forth to bay area so I finally moved up there and went to school at CSU Hayward and worked part time at Paychex. We enjoyed many weekend trips to Napa and Lake Tahoe. We were married in the Valley on March 17, 1990. Michele Yasiello and Jessica Zada were in our wedding. About six weeks prior to the wedding, my fiancé was offered a position back in his home state of Texas, which he accepted and moved to prior to the wedding. So I was living in N. California, he moved to Arlington, Texas and we were getting married in the Valley – gee, not to much change for someone that wasn’t even 21 yet!

I was able to transfer my job w/ Paychex to Texas, but in a full time roll. I figured I’d take off one year of school to establish residency and go back, but I never did. It’s been gnawing at me every day since! I always joke w/ my kids that after life slows down for me and they are off to college, I’ll go back and I’ll be sitting next to them in college.

I quickly grew tired of the big corporate way at Paychex and realized that was not going to be a job that was conducive to family life. In 1993 I went to work for a small manufacturing company doing their accouting and worked there for abt five years. The company was sold and I took the opportunity to take some time off before our son started kindergarten.

So, I’ve been married 17 years and we have two great kids and a strong marriage! Patrick was born in Dec 1994. He started Junior High this year. He is my book smart kid and very analytical, plays football, and is very busy with his social life It’s hard to believe I will have a teenager under our roof in a few months. Lauren was born in Nov 1998 and started 3rd grade. She is very street smart and quick witted. She plays soccer, loves school and always has some social activity in the works with friends, and she is sooo tall. She is a head taller than most of her class mates.

For the past six years I have worked for a private investment firm doing Portfolio Accounting. I have an awesome job! I am lucky that I have had the opportunity to learn more real world knowledge without the “piece of paper” than a lot of people who needed the degree to just get their foot in the door. You know what they say, sometimes its more WHO you know not WHAT you know.

If I hit the red light on the way to the office, I’ve had a bad commute. I work one mile from home and the kids schools are within a few miles, so I am always able to attend all their functions and serve on the PTA boards and be involved and most days I come to work in workout clothes and tennis shoes. My husband left the retail world of swimming pools in 2000 and started his own service and repair company. I take care of all of his accounting in the evenings. We love to travel and try to fit in a family ski trip & beach trip each year, and a trip for just the two of us to somewhere (we just got back from Cancun on Sunday, see pic). Kelly doesn’t do the theme park vacations so I usually do those trips with girlfriends and their kids. He said he has had enough strollers rammed into the back of ankles to last him a life time. We haven’t been to Europe yet but it’s on the list when the kids get a little bit older. We always go to California to my parents’ house in Woodland Hills for Christmas, but other than that we usually do not vacation there.

Whatever you’ve read about football in Texas is probably very accurate. It rules this state! The best time to go shopping is during a Cowboys game on Sunday afternoon! We live in Arlington (which is located in between Dallas & Fort Worth) and are only a few miles away from the new Cowboys stadium that is being built. My son started tackle football in the 4th grade and I’m holding off as long as possible from starting my daughter in the cut throat drama of cheerleading.

The kids keep us running 24/7 with their friends and activities. There are nights when I sit down to work on my desk at home at 10pm when everyone if finally asleep but it’s all good and I wouldn’t change it for the world to know that we have smart, happy and well balanced kids and I’m lucky to have a great husband as well who is a true partner in everything. He jumps in for cooking, grocery shopping, and doctor’s appointments. When I get the time…. I enjoy gardening, baking, reading and I’m currently training to run a half marathon in December. I really don’t have a passion for running, but it’s just something I want to achieve.

Things I remember:
Absolutely #1 is the beach! So many weekends spent laying out at Zuma 6 (?) and now so much money spent on facials and products to reverse all that sun damage!

Michele and I driving down to the Forum (is it Staples Center now?) at 3am to get in line (before there was online) for Billy Idol tickets. What the heck were our parents thinking letting us going down there in the middle of the night.

Warm summer nights spent at the Winnetka drive-in drinking Tom Collins.

I’ve only stayed in touch w/ Michele Yasiello off and on over the past 20 years. I have enjoyed reading about everyone’s accomplishments and enjoyed seeing the pictures.

If you are ever in the Dallas area or come for the Superbowl in 2011, please drop me a line.

lmcneely@mmcgrand.com

Regards,

Lisa