Every December, many of you snail mail us holiday cards with a page or two of updates about your children, pets, activities, and accomplishments. The reason we haven’t been sending one ourselves is that we weren’t sure what to put in it. But we’ve figured it out.
Here’s what we didn’t do this year.
We didn’t have lunch with somebody who designed a costume for Taylor Swift. We didn’t go to Paris, Auckland, Vienna, Honolulu, Chicken-Bristle, or Whimple. We didn’t fulfil an internship supporting the improvement of bilateral relations for a more peaceful world. But we are proud to say, from cards that we received during the holiday, that we know somebody who did! And now, by associating with us, you know somebody who knows somebody who did! Maybe some of that mojo will rub off indirectly (not that you need it, judging by your cards).
Hercules is in eighth grade again this year. John planned to coach his rugby team, although he never quite got around to it. That was fine because Hercules didn’t join the rugby team, so when he (almost) got a concussion and a broken bone it was from goofing around in the cafeteria. Go figure.
Cassiopeia is in the tenth grade. She’s still thinking about taking guitar lessons and writing songs. If she does, she’ll learn classical, rock, folk, flamenco, jazz, and country, and then possibly take up the trombone as well. She would play in senior centers, subways, and mid-size stadiums. I don’t want to overdo the proud parent thing, but someday you might be able to say you “knew her when.”
Portabella is already a senior in high school. Time is sure flying! She’s mulling over improving her grades so she can think about applying to med school. We are so pleased! We’ll probably entertain the idea of getting her a laminated dry erase chart to put gold stars on, for incentive.
We didn’t rescue a dog or a cat. We considered rescuing a goldfish until we discovered there were no goldfish shelters nearby. We would have thought about naming it Piranha.
John almost got around to looking at reviews of table saws he could buy so he could learn woodworking. If he had, he would have made a charcuterie board and a spice rack. That’s so awesome because Lisa often thought about cooking tasty nutritious meals from scratch. Also, Lisa entertained the idea of joining a book club, which is so perfect because she also contemplated downloading some Spark Notes book summaries.
We’d better get going. We’re batting around the idea of making twelve dozen cookies for the neighborhood dessert exchange, volunteering at a food bank, writing some novels, and nailing down some New Year’s resolutions.
Don’t be jealous that you didn’t do as much stuff as we didn’t do this year. There’s always next year! Lisa, John, Hercules, Cassiopeia, and Portabella Yorgendorf
Looking for something longer to read? You can find Susan’s novels here:
Sorry, Wrong Afterlife
The Climate Machine (The Athena Disasters, Book 1)
The Time Philosopher (The Athena Disasters, Book 2)
