Vero Beach, Florida. The outdoor antique fairs have got to be good here. Right? Little or no chance of rain, coatless weather, acres of antiques or junk as my husband refers to the varied treasures I pick up at such events. A person could stay out all day and acquire a healthy dose of Vitamin D to boot!

So snow shoeing looks real easy—strap on the shoes over snow boots and walk in the snow. Right? That’s what I thought too. My husband Tom certainly had a good laugh as he watched me struggling to put one foot in front of the other in the deep snow in our backyard.

We made a joint New Years Resolution this year. No we aren’t going to go on a diet—there is no imagination to that sort of resolution. Everyone knows that in order to lose weight, one must exercise more and eat less, and quite frankly I don’t want to do that just now. Swimsuit season is months away and my pants aren’t snug enough for drastic measures. Our resolution this year—clean the basement. I mean really clean the basement.

I have to respond to your amusing Christmas Tree story, which made me laugh out loud. I think your experience is UNIVERSAL.

The Sun Valley Nordic Center is a perfect place for beginning skate skiers. Despite my snowboarding fiasco, I’m going try my hand at skate skiing. I figure I’ll be a natural, after all, I’ve cross country skied without too much trouble ,and I think I’ve done some sort of skate ski maneuver on the flats on my downhill skies. Piece of cake . .

Yesterday I tried my hand, or I should say wrist, at snowboarding—today I attempted cross country skating. The human body is simply not made to take so much punishment in the span of two days. After a lengthy, moan-filled jacuzzi soak, I’m now ensconced in softest chair in my house. I’m a glutton for punishment, but it does make for a humorous story.

Sun Valley Serenade—a 1940’s comedy, starring Sonja Henie and John Payne, filled with intrigue, jealousy and dare I say it—curse words. No wait, wrong cast but correct location and correct dialogue.

The few Christmas cards we’ve received this year prominently display the family pooch front and center. With that in mind—I’m posting this amusing note from ‘The Writing Bug’. Unfortunately, the author wasn’t listed.

I’m a friend of Daniel the owl—no I don’t make it a habit to form relationships with wildlife, but I do make exceptions when the wildlife is stuffed and a classroom project of my nephew. I try my best to be a good Aunt for my sweet little nephew, as long as my duties don’t involve mathematics, I absolutely draw the line at fractions.

Is it just Tom and I, or do other couples have Christmas tree-stand issues? I mean there are so many other worthwhile things we could be arguing about—like, what color of lights to put on the house, or what does his mother want for Christmas, or how many pieces of sticks and coal our youngest child deserves. Really, she didn’t mean to be sassy and disrespectful to me. She was having a bad day—week—year. But that’s another story. The freaking Christmas tree-stand continues to be the bane of our holiday stress.