On Wed, 25 Dec 2013 22:06:09 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 12/25/2013 9:27 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 25 Dec 2013 05:11:56 -0500, Poco Loco
wrote:

Leaving to go watch grandkids open presents!

Hope ALL of you have a super Christmas and find the joy and peace that comes with the season. Don't
forget to give the Salvation Army collection man/lady a few bucks to get themselves a nice dinner
somewhere. Oh, and put some money in the bucket too!

Thanks
I hope everyone had a great Christmas.
The kids were all here and we had lots of fun, ate too much and
engaged in the total commitment to stimulate the economy.
The wrapping paper alone would heat the house of a 3d worlder for a
couple days.
Watta country!
70s and sunny so we got out for an evening boat ride after the kids
left

http://gfretwell.com/ftp/Christmas%20sunset%2013.jpg



Christmas was a bit of a downer, especially for Mrs.E. this year for
several reasons. Five of our seven grandkids all live either in SC or
FL, so the only two left up here are my daughter's two boys, aged 17 and
14. Mrs.E., being the typical Italian grandma, really missed having all
the "little ones" around for the first time in our married years and it
showed.

I was able to get Skype installed and running on her 27" iMac, so she
spent about an hour talking and watching my older son's family in SC and
seeing his two older daughters and 2 year old twins (boy and girl)
witnessing the magic of Santa Clause.

We talked later and I realized it's been tough on her. She misses
seeing all the kids, plus her father passed away at the end of November
and then my mother went two weeks later, so the whole pre-Christmas
season has been filled with funerals and burials.

Hopefully we can just chalk it up to a "bad year" and those in the
future will be much better. Maybe I can finally convince her that we
should sell this place, get rid of the horses and move where it's warm
and closer to the rest of the family!



How does the rest of the family get their presents from you folks? My rule is pretty simple - if you
want your gifts, you gotta come here to get them!
--

Have a Blessed Chrismahanukwanzakah and a Spectacular New Year!

John H