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Okay, what are Harry's excuses for being late this year? Hmm, lets see. 1. Our DSL connection has been screwed up (and still was as of 12/26/06). 2. Life has been busier than ever, even with Ann not teaching 3. Harry ALWAYS procrastinates till the last minute. 4. Harry had so much fun looking at all the pictures from 2006 that he got distracted! We hope you enjoy the pictures also, you might find yourself!

But here is the good news, we are thinking about you, and we still consider our friends far more valuable than any possession. So we hope you enjoy our 6th annual electronic Christmas Card/letter! What did we do in 2006? Wow, where do we start? (Click on the little pictures in each category to see more).

2003 was the year Harry TRASHED his right hip in a bicycle wreck. The surgeons did a great job patching it together, but we knew then that was only temporary. On February 20th, 2006 Harry received a brand new all-metal hip. This added to the metal collection he already had imbedded (4 screws and 2 plates). Yes, the pain is reduced, and the hip is doing great (as proven by a 100 mile bicycle ride on one day in October). Thanks to all of you who dropped by, wrote, or called during my 5 weeks of recovery. I would have gone stir crazy without ya! Special thanks to my friend and Surgeon Tom Pereles. (Feel free to use my x-rays in your sales brochures!) Oh yeah, and if you haven't heard the story of Harry trying to get through Airport Security with all that metal in his hip, you're in for a laugh sometime.

We were of course glad to spend time with family members during the year. Sorry we couldn't get to Texas and see Matt & no.1 Daughter-in-law Sarah (but we have some fun picturesof them anyway! ) During the year, we did host the following family gatherings:

1. The Beard/Wright family reunion (at Sue's)

2. A visit from nephew David & his Daughter Morgan (of course Harry had tow them in from Greenville)

3. A Thanksgiving with David, wife Rene, daughter Morgan, daughter Nina, and granddaddy Frank

4. A quick Christmas visit to sister Connie Oliver (and the rest of the clan, John, Andre, Velma, & Maria)

tied in with a quick drive to Atlanta to see daughter Nina.

5. And of course constant visits to harass Ann's sister Sue (Harry is her favorite brother-in-law). Sorry

Sue, you're the closest so naturally you get bugged the most.

Yes, Harry still can't seem to break this expensive habit! No big trips in 2006, but we did make the state HOG Rally in Lynchburg and several local HOG events at Shenandoah Harley-Davidson (a few pictures here you men will enjoy perhaps!). But this year Harry also had the opportunity to make a dream of his youth come true. The first vehicle Harry ever owned was a 3rd hand (or more) 1958 350CC Triumph. At that time (age 19-21) his dream machine would have been a 650cc Triumph Bonneville. Along with a few other motorcycle pictures, check out Harry's 1969 Triumph Bonneville 650. One owner, less than 4000 miles, last inspected in October 1972. Yes, it is a few months work away from running, but when it does, this collectors item will let Harry take a Sunday ride and feel 20 years old again!!. Ann hasn’t ridden her motorcycle much at all this year, but check out the great toy she did decide she needed. She will have just as much opportunity for broken bones as Harry on the motorcycles!

Wow, if retirement means always being on vacation somewhere, I don't believe we can afford it! In 2006 we treated ourselves to a week in Spain, a week at Massanutten enjoying the new Water Park and the mountain air, and a beautiful November week in Myrtle Beach. Best of all, we enjoyed the company of friends in both Spain and at Massanutten. Spain on the Mediterranean in May was beautiful. We managed to get lost in the major cities of Valencia, Barcelona, and Tarragona. But since Harry was the driver of our rented Opel Zafira van, at least we made great time even when we were lost! At Massanutten, we had 3 different go-rounds of overnight guests. And at Myrtle Beach, we enjoyed great meals, shows, a beautiful beach and each other. Harry admits it was more fun than motorcycle week in May where all you do is watch or join the parade of motorcycles going up and down Atlantic Ave.

Yep, we've been at it again! Take a look at the bathroom project Harry started last year (before & after). It ended up taking from November until about February, but Ann is pleased enough with the results. Of course it was long about February that she started looking at an old house a few blocks away that had come on the market. She dragged us back over there 3 times in fact so Harry was REALLY getting scared at this point. This called for strong measures. So in June, Harry hired a Harley Buddy and some of his friends to start on a major remodeling in the front hall. Don't ask how it turned out with that Harley Buddy, or about the carpenter who ended up incarcerated, just know that TIM & SETH ended up finishing the job for us. Harry did the wiring, and poor Ann was construction foreman for the whole summer plus the chief painter. Check it out! At least Ann hasn't mentioned buying a different house lately.

In these busy times, one of the most common feelings is that we haven't taken enough time just to enjoy our friends. In 2006, in addition to sharing 2 vacations with friends, we also had friends by the pool, hosted a social for our friends in the bicycle club, took a fall train ride, went to several fun fund-raisers (YMCA SOCIAL & WAYNE THEATRE MASQUERADE BALL), did numerous bicycle rides with friends, shared an April Fools Birthday Party with fellow fool (and good neighbor) John Curry, sang Christmas Carols, and shared other fun times. Ann and I both sang in two Waynesboro Choral Society Concerts with friends we’ve made there in our 22 years in that group. Nope, we don't have pictures for every time we enjoyed our friends company, but just a few shots to show you. We are blessed to know all of you that receive this card from the Colmans. We're hoping we can share some times with all of you in 2007.

AS YOU CAN SEE, ON THE LEFT, HARRY WAS ALWAYS CUT OUT TO BE AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER. Ann gave up being a teacher in early June (but drew a pay check thru September so it didn’t count yet!) Hopefully she will get so practiced at enjoying retirement that she can soon convince Harry. She spent the whole summer as construction foreman on our remodeling so it is just now beginning to feel like she is really retired. Harry has retired from DuPont, but still goes into the same office he has had for years to work for INVISTA. He is still drawing a nice check while they try to teach an old dog new tricks as a RELIABILITY ENGINEER. It turns out he was supposed to figure out how to PREVENT all this stuff from breaking. Shucks, he thought just learning how to fix it fast was enough! Same problem firefighters have I guess: All the glory is in in fighting the fires. Fire prevention doesn’t end up nearly as exciting. For sure, no pictures in this category showing you stuff at INVISTA. You can’t even carry in a camera phone, and if I smuggled out a picture we’d have to shoot you after you saw it I guess.

Into every life some rain must fall, and we had some for sure. Right before Christmas, we were saddened to have to say goodbye to our beloved Keeshond Cotton. We had him for just under 3 years and we knew he had some kind of coughing problem when we first got him from a rescue society. All the medicines including his own special inhaler, and all the Vet visits couldn’t keep his lung problem from getting progressively worse. When his struggle to breath began to seem impossible for him to bear, we made that difficult choice.

In June, we lost our friend Dick Johnson who received a bad head injury during our 2000 Tour de Valley Century. The last 5 ½ years of his life were tough for all his friends to witness. I wish we could go back and force him to tighten those darn helmet straps, it might have kept him here with us, still running and bicycling. After 17 years of hosting this 100 mile bicycle race at our house, we moved the start/finish to downtown Waynesboro. We had a record number of riders/finishers and the event can now continue to grow. Dick Johnson was one of the 4 people who completed the first 10 century rides and he always helped with the event. I know he would want us to continue to make this event a success for our Bicycle club and our community.

Lucky for you, I ran out of time without telling you a thing about the 3 pets we have left (Sheba, Buckwheat, & Meatball. There is also no mention of Harry's plan to lose lbs. in 2007 (we'll wait until we see some results). Harry also signed on for another 4 years as a Waynesboro Planning Commissioner and dedicated 4 vacation days to various classes and seminars related to that job. In September, he was again elected to the position of Chairman. We still attend Finley Memorial Presbyterian Church, and sometimes sing in the choir. And yeah, there is much more stuff we could cover but Ann already thinks Harry is crazy for covering this much!