Chores, Christmas and Charity…
It’s that time of the year when there are lots of things that need doing that seem to bear no relation to day to day living. Take for example Christmas Cards. This is the only time of the year when we spend time and money writing out the same message to lots of people. For some of these people this will be the only time we ever contact them! Hmmm. Sounds stupid when you say it like that, doesn’t it?
Well, all our Christmas cards are posted and a small fortune as usual was spent. This year we again put together a newsletter that spanned the year’s events and at least that way we don’t have to write the same thing in every card. I don’t really know if it’s any quicker though as it still takes the best part of a day to put together and costs us additional paper and ink dollars.
In the spirit of the economy this year we are not buying presents for anyone except the children. Instead we are donating money to charity. We already donated furniture earlier in the year to a battered women’s home in Seattle and we are continuing to sponsor the upbringing of a child in Haiti through Plan International. For the Holiday Season we decided to set up a personal page on the Salvation Army’s website and would encourage anyone who can spare a few dollars to help our cause. There is also a link in the main right-hand panel of this blog and it will remain there until some time in January.
Christmas seems a slightly more downbeat event this year than in previous years and we are no different. It’s just going to be a quiet day at home with a nice dinner, some movies and snacks. I expect the cats will benefit from it the most! Our thoughts will be with our scattered families and with others less fortunate than ourselves who see each Christmas and New Year as a springboard for a better year to come.
My oldest daughter Becki (on the right in the picture) is currently on a three month trip around various parts of the world. She left with a friend to visit Malaysia and Thailand and then travels on to Australia for Christmas. After the New Year they fly on to New Zealand and then in February come to America for the final leg of their tour. They are expected here in Seattle on February 20th. You can follow the exploits of two young English backpackers on the blog they keep.
So that’s about it for today’s blog post. Nothing technology oriented, and no deep thought messages. In the run up to the end of the year, anything that isn’t changing is a good thing. Sometimes we just need to know that the things we rely on remain consistent…
