Dear Kids,
          What a great party we had at Nora’s last night! And Sharon’s family was there via skype! That means a record number of children were opening presents together. The food was fantastic, thanks to everyone who helped. Congratulations to Tom’s family for passing off "The Grinch." There’s still time for the rest of you–it’s a $10.00 payout to anybody who can do it, and you have until Christmas.
          Dad and I won’t be home tonight, because we’ll be going to Allen’s piano recital in Centerville. It’s at 5 pm, and the address is 1298 North 400 West. It’s a church across from a park. Nora and Al will be playing a duet together, and I’m really looking forward to it. They’ve been practicing together at Nora’s house.
           I’ll be having the surgery on my forehead this Thursday, so Christmas itself will be different for us this year. We won’t be hiking up Memorial Hill on Christmas Eve, because I probably won’t be up for it, and it’s a Sunday, besides. But Dad and I will be home that night, and we’ll have cookies and candy and hot chocolate for anybody who wants to come by. Same for Christmas Day. I want to watch a lot of Christmas movies and really enjoy the real Christmas spirit.
          Normally this time of the year I’m having lots of fun wrapping presents and getting them to all of your families, so this year has been really different. A couple of nights ago I was feeling sort of depressed, thinking "How can it be Christmas, if I’m not wrapping presents?" So I got out "The Tall Book of Christmas" and read it from cover to cover, and I felt a lot better. The Grinch was right when he realized that Christmas doesn’t come from a store, as much fun as all of that is.
          There’s no snow on the ground, and very little in sight, but we’ll still have the sledding party at the cabin the day after Christmas. There’s always plenty of fun to be had at the cabin! I’ll send Dad over with the sloppy jo mix, even if I’m not there myself. Allen will be in charge. Thanks, Al!
          There was a flock of magpies out in the pasture behind our house a few days ago, and a black and white cat cavorting with them. We got out the binoculars and looked closely, but it wasn’t Oreo. He’s probably cavorting with magpies in the sky. It’s been almost three years, but we still miss him. Tina takes up the slack, however. Dad bought a giant lion puppet at the DI, sort of a muppet, with a big mouth you can open and close by putting your hand in from the back. Tina is terrified of the thing. It’s been lots of fun.
          I hope you all have a wonderful week! Love, Mom