We wish all the blessings of the season, whether it be Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, the Solstice, or whatever. In order to be green, we are posting our Christmas Letter.

January

Inauguration Day

We attended an Inauguration Celebration at Flavor with a lot of friends. “Say it loud: post-racial and proud!” (From our lips to God's ears!)

We also celebrated the anniversary of Bill’s broken ankle. He decided he hates to shave and quit. Ann made no comment although she didn’t like his prickliness.

February

Valentine’s Day

Happiness came to live with us along with her brother Ozzie and her mistress Shannon. Shannon sat with her laptop and posted our grammatical corrections of television shows to her Facebook page just for laughs.

March

Lenten Fasts

We loved having four dogs live with us and we didn’t stop vacuuming nor did we burn out the motor. We did take the vacuum in for cleaning.

April

Easter and Shakespeare’s birthday. Ann gave Bill an ultimatum: Either start using the health club or we were going to cancel the monthly fee. Bill started walking in the pool and achieved a 45 minute mile. Ann is up to 180 crunches. That’s per visit, not total.

May

Memorial Day

We found cheap seeds at a local hardware store and planted the garden to our own peculiar tastes: beans, beets, eggplant, fennel, lettuce, okra, tomatoes. Most things didn’t come up and we replanted. Next year we'll order from reputable seed companies.

June

The First Day of Summer

Clockhouse Writer’s Conference and Retreat: Bill went to Vermont for a week, but Ann enjoyed the retreat part. She didn’t have extra laundry, she could cook and eat what and when she wanted. And she tended the garden and pulled weeds.

July

Happy Independence Day!

With Travel Buddies Ted and Carol we went to the Olympic Peninsula for a week and spent a day in Victoria, B.C., at beautiful Butchart Gardens. The town of Forks, on the Peninsula, is the setting for the improbable Twilight vampire series. We read the first 128 pages of the first book aloud while we travelled, adding our own off color comments, of course.

Ann returned to Homewood, but Bill stayed for another week at the Centrum Writers’ Conference in Port Townsend and studied with incredible Chris Abani.

August

Our 42nd Anniversary.

Ann reprised my role of resident gimp from a couple of Januaries ago when she had a stress fracture to her ankle. She had a boot for six weeks. Ugh!

Derek and JoAnn had a beautiful little girl on the eleventh. Ginger haired Ella is adorable, indescribable, beautiful . . . in short, all the things a granddaughter ought to be.

Grandson David went to Quito, Ecuador, for his first semester of his junior year in college. We Skype and email occasionally, but miss him a lot. He’ll be home for New Year’s.

September

Labor Day

Ann had a quiet birthday surrounded by loving friends and family. The best part? In a year we can ditch our VERY expensive health insurance and go on Medicare.

We don’t celebrate Labor Day the way we used to since neither of us is working outside the home. Bill continues to write and Ann picks up after Bill.

Our painting class at the Park District Center began again with our marvelous instructor Carol.

October

Columbus Day

We are in love! We went to Denver to see Ella. She’s even better in person than in photos, and she’s pretty impressive in photos. Derek and Jo are learning to be Ella’s parents rather than people in their own right, roles they will continue until the beautiful baby is out of the nest.

Grandson Jonathan organized a Quidditch Tournament at his high school. The school didn’t sanction it, but eight teams signed up and it too the better part of three weekends. The Golden Snitch, a cross country runner dressed in yellow, ran through the neighborhood until someone made a goal, and then the GS was fair game. It was great fun to watch, and the players enjoyed themselves too. Jonathan got himself a bullhorn and directed the whole thing. We suspect he had the best time of all.

Bill shaved. Ann was relieved. She, of course, had smooth legs for the entire year.

November

Thanksgiving

We joined Bill’s seat mates Gary and Maryanne at the opera for dinner before performances, a habit we have enjoyed for a couple of seasons, now. Gounod’s Faust was beautiful.

We enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving with art instructor Carol and her husband Myron, and Shannon and Ray, her boyfriend.

December

St. Nicholas Day, Christmas

Bill celebrated his birthday with lunch attended by cousin Rochelle, jazz singer Joan Collaso, Our Furry Godmother Ray and Sherry who walk our dogs, and Gwen and JoAnne, who walk a mile with Bill in the health club pool three times a week.

We’re looking forward to Christmas Eve with Tim and Karen, Greyson and Alexa, and to Christmas Day, which Shannon is hosting. We will spend time with David and Jonathan on New Year’s Day after they get back from their Christmas trip with their mom to the Galapagos Islands. And Derek, Jo, and the best baby in the world Ella are coming in early January.

This has been a pretty good year for us. We extend our best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!

As always, feel free to comment below.