Meanwhile, in the Great White North, we are expecting mostly rain tonight. (Little bit of snow, though.)

It is perfectly acceptable to send out holiday cards with no newsletter. I say go for it.

Suela, all the ma.

You know my sister once drove to do an errand at lunch, forgot she took her car, walked back to work and then reported her car stolen at the end of the workday when it wasn't in her parking spot. And she didn't have disease or age as an excuse.

I'm considering writing a holiday letter to go in my cards, and it just stumps me, because there's basically no good news.

I typically do this, but I have had writers block. You have had a rough year but maybe concentrate on the highlights? That is what I keep trying to tell myself.

Personally, as someone whose annual highlight is usually a three month long streak where Oz did not pee on something (as if he would go that long), I kind dread people's annual newsletters. I do try to take them in the spirit that they are intended, but combined with the settling of winter gloom, I feel inadequate.

So this might be enough to cheer me up: [link]

Dogs afraid to walk past cats. Of course, I don't have any cats, but my dog is afraid to walk past the furnace intake grate in the hallway. It makes winter kind of difficult for her...

Dogs afraid to walk past cats.

That happens in our house on a regular basis. Big dog, afraid to walk past (mean cranky cat) to get into the kitchen for dinner.

That's great news about your friend's dog, brenda!

Oh man, Consuela. It's hard.

So, my mother made me a loan a few years ago, and she needs proof of my payments to apply for Medicare. So I had to go buy new printer ink and request all of my bank statements to get the canceled checks. Good times, man.

Jessica is right of course, you can always skip the holiday letter. That said, some of the letters I cherish the most and still save are those that chronicaled bad times along with the good.

Okay, heater is on, I'm wearing tights, extra sleeves, and warm slippers. Plus I'm wrapped in a blanket. Tea is steeping. I am so not built for the cold.

Suzi, I'm so sorry about your friend. Fuck cancer indeed.

Consuela, you don't have to do a holiday letter, as everyone else has said. Do what you can this year, and make the holiday enjoyable for you and your family.

It's so hard to imagine houses without central heat, but I guess it's just the flip side of older homes on the East Coast without air-conditioning. I honestly can't remember if our house in Florida had heat, either.