There’s nothing as sure to make one feel inadequate and small than perusing the annual bounty of holiday newsletters that tell of all the wondrous accomplishments of our beloved correspondents and their families. Don’t they know what would really make us feel good? Something like the following:
Dear Friends and Family:
It’s been a long year, but finally it’s almost over, and all I can say is we’re really looking forward to 2008!
We started the year with the unexpected treat of having Junior not return to Salinas State. In February, he finally admitted he had been expelled after failing all but one of his classes the past two semesters. The dear boy did get through “Introduction to Japanese Film,” so maybe that is an area he will explore if he ever returns to school.
In the meantime, Junior has been honing his skills playing World of Warcraft online. We’re so proud of his progress there, where he reached level 70 after only three months of daily play and is well on his way to killing Illidian, which he tells me is as good as you can get in the game!
Hubby has also been at home a lot, since he got caught up in the options backdating scandal at work and was put on unpaid leave. He’s had lots of long talks with some nice-looking men in suits recently, but says he doesn’t think he will have to spend time in jail if we can figure out how to repay the $2 million he gained from the stock sales.
Much of that money went into the new wing of the house, which the contractor has been working on for six years now. It’s gotten so that we don’t know where we are if there’s not a jackhammer in the background! The little electrical fire was a bit of a setback, but we were promised several months ago that we should be able to use the kitchen again any day now.
In April our loyal dog, Max, was tragically killed after a sagging hinge on the gate caused the latch to not hook and Max ran after the neighbor’s cat and was run over by a Hummer full of teenaged boys. We miss him and also the dog we got to replace him, King, who managed to get out the same gate, and was run over (repeatedly!) by a pack of bicycles. We fixed the gate before we bought Rex, but he somehow got himself locked in the garage for a week and couldn’t be revived.
We’re thinking of trying a cat.
I’ve been keeping myself diverted from some of the other things happening in our lives by the pleasure I get out of my new granddaughter, Brie, who was born in March. While her mother, Courtney, may only be 14, and we’re not quite sure who the father is, Brie is such a lovely child that her colic and tendency to stay awake all night can easily be forgiven.
There’s so much more, but I’m afraid I’ve run out of room, so until next year. …
Happy Holidays!
Barbara Wood is a freelance writer, photographer and gardener from Woodside. Her column runs the third week of the month.
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