Holiday Letter 2005

It's that time of year again....

As many of you already know, I started my own accounting practice which officially kicked off (read: no safety net) this year. Immediately, I realized I needed to have a Palm-powered cell phone to better manage contact information when I was on the road. Okay.. I wanted a new toy - I admit it. I've got a Treo 600 and they - of course - released the Treo 650 a few weeks later. Even though I'm using severely outdated technology, this is the first time I've ever had a camera phone. Now - whenever the mood hits - I am able to snap a shaky, grainy and generally crappy photo. No self-respecting photographer would ever use this thing for anything other than capturing the license plate info of the car that just hit them.

What that phone lacks in quality it makes up for in allowing for spontaneity. As few examples are presented below:

A friend of mine was looking for one of those storage cube / foot-rests for a while. One day I was out at Wal-Mart and was able to snap this little beauty. The color is wrong for his family room (or was it just the camera?) but I was able to show him an option.
Another friend was looking to buy a car (in his words "a beater"), to go to work which for him is less than a mile away (jerk). I snapped this for him. Apparently it was too much of a beater for him and he passed.
Leaving a store I saw what I thought was an older lady slumped in her car. When I rushed to her aid, here's what I saw. *CLICK*
Or how about catching a group of business community leaders celebrating Octoberfest?
What if I hadn't been able to take pictures when Cecilia and I stumbled upon Walter Payton's Roundhouse?
And - the marriage saver - never again will I have to answer the question "Does this outfit make my butt look big?" For safety reasons, I cannot provide a sample.

Cecilia's family came to visit us in July. They came in shifts (her sister's clan first and her parents/brother second). There was a brief crossover where we were hosting seven people (three were put up a the Sheraton for lack of space). My Anglo-Spanglagese was passable and everyone appeared to have a good time. Included was a day-trip to Milwaukee. We even brought our families together to meet for the first time.

I ditched the Durango (aka Gasseus Hoggus Maximus) shortly after Cecilia's family left and am now driving a sedan like everyone else. I will miss being called on regularly to help people move furniture and spending an extra 10 minutes scraping its enormous windows in winter. Cest la vie. Along with dropping all that vehicular weight, I've continued to drop pounds from my frame as well. There's no secret to it. 8 glasses of water a day allowed me to sweat in unholy quantities this summer. The trick now is to maintain until next summer and go for it again. In the meantime - nothing I own fits. We are trying to be conservative in buying things in case there is a little retreat, but I did have to buy underwear so I'm clearing out the old inventory.

On the critter front, Mr. Peepers is the sole remaining parakeet in the family after the passing of Cleo early this year. Bela & Zoe continue to gain weight and now provide the majority of dander-related allergy fits.

Louisstone.com whipping boy, Bob Moats is getting married on New Year's Eve in Columbus, IN. Okay.. the nuptials aren't actually in Columbus - they're 20 minutes up the highway from Columbus where the reception will be held. I will never understand non-Jewish weddings where the reception is miles away from where the ceremony is held. This shaves a week off a planned trip to Brazil and will probably cost me some much needed beach time. If either of them ditches the wedding, there's a good chance that I could spend New Year's in prison.

Rumor has it that the Banco do Brasil coin exhibition is open again, so I may have to stop by and visit the attraction that has eluded me twice before while I'm in Brazil.

So, on behalf of Cecilia and myself I'd like to wish you all a Happy/Merry Whatever It Is That You Celebrate In December and a Happy New Year!