(Y2K Compliant)

We moved into the new house and yes it’s nice but it’s a big pain (depending on which of us you ask) and the basement is full of boxes and so maybe it isn’t worth it. On the other hand you have to live somewhere and the basement in the other house was full of boxes too but at least now there’s less grass to mow.

Mary and I are still working together on a project at the state of Michigan. It is just the sort of federally mandated, no-end-in-sight “government works” project that our employers see as a cornucopia of billable hours and which to us is steady work. If they hadn’t restricted our use of the internet (no more www.ourbodies-ourselves.org or www.sliced-baloney.net or www.mashie-niblick.com) and if there were decent coffee available in the building it would be paradise.

Alex started Preschool three mornings a week at the school which is just behind our house. And now for a few words from Alex: “M..OIOK, LKFRDOAWIEMUPE KIUYHF[ 6LKOPNUVA KOP0 LKOJRWATH/” He’s just learning to type.

Emily is a chatter-box and is technically in preschool at the YMCA where she goes for daycare, but she doesn’t type nearly as well as Alex. But man can she sing.

Mary has joined the local chapter of the Sweet Adelines. At first I was very enthusiastic because I thought it had something to do with erotica; it turns out they sing barbershop. Meanwhile, I am now a graduate of the Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Workshop. Next year’s letter might just be really, really, really long.

And just in case we didn’t have enough distractions we’ve gotten a puppy! He’s a Poobrador (poodle labrador mix) named Blue. He’s all right but the cats aren’t quite sure yet. We hope both Blue and Emily are potty-trained by the age of three.

I could go on and on about the adventure of having in-home day care with Sonya during the summer, and the ensuing fiasco trying to replace her in August and hiring a convicted felon, and then scrambling to secure daycare spots at the YMCA. Or the exquisite pleasure of building a shed or clearing a thousand square feet of brush (my Dad did most of all that work) or starting all over again with wallpaper, or Mary’s four bouts with poison ivy, but I won’t. But then, I sort of already did.

May the holidays find you and your loved ones full of spirit and in rapturous wonder of the mysteries of this life. May God bless you all. And, like, we really mean it!