Rose has switched to an updated version of blogger which has confused me considerably. If any of our contributors has problems, Rose's email address is roseholt@aol.com

Back to news. Rose talked to Bernie Sunday afternoon. He sounded like his old self and said he felt good. He got out of the hospital Saturday, and he and Maudie went to a dinner in an ice storm Saturday night. Sounds like he's back to his old self. They did take the truck because of the sleet but, other than that, he didn't slow down.

Pete called Saturday morning. He and Janet were packing for their trip home to Idaho for Christmas. They were leaving Monday morning in the recently purchased Ford Focus. He should know the way by now but was perhaps taking a new route. He told me they were not stopping at any casinos.

We put our Christmas tree up on Sunday. Shirley insisted on a real tree so we had to enlist the help of our Jewish friend, Mark Goldman, to get it up. Once when Mark and Scott were in kinergarten, we invited Markbto have dinner with us. Scott took me aside and told me "Don't pray. He's Jewish, you know." That was 35 years ago so we didn't scare him off. He is one of my loyal helpers. He and I went to Doug and Suzanne's for dinner one night last week. They are another two of my loyal helpers.

Chris took me to St. Lukes to physical therapy this week and last. The hand therapist is trying some electrical stimulation among other things. The physical therapist is concentrating on helping me improve my balance. There's a jogging path there that Chris frequents while he waits. He is reluctant to park in handicapped spaces in his jogging attire so I have to limp.