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.

Amy, forget central heat, my house doesn't even have insulation.

Eek!

WOW. Even the houses without central A/C here have that.

I was so looking forward to summer really being over, but six inches of surprise snow is not really what I wanted either.

It turns out that insulation is also good for keeping the inside cold when you have AC.

I just read over a year of my status updates from Facebook and determined that I've had a crap year.

I honestly can't think too much about this year. I'm just hoping next year is a little better.