I have always sent Christmas cards - one of the things my mom always did that I guess I figured was just a tradition at Christmas. However, my immediate family was separated by our entire extended family on both sides. We saw them maybe once a year each. Back then, we didn't have the internet and had to pay for long distance calls, so it was a nice way to keep in touch with loved ones and old friends that lived away from us. She wrote long handwritten notes in each and every one. Now that I'm married, I find myself in a similar situation. Dh's family is from the west coast, and the only immediate family nearby are my parents and brother's family. My sister moved away and my extended family is still spread out far from us. In addition, my husband was in the Navy for 9 years so we have many, many friends that we keep in touch with but never see as they are spread out around the world. I have about 110 families on our list. I used to write individual long notes on the cards (with photo of kids inserted), but now with Facebook and email, we communicate a little more regularly. I do photo cards now, but I always leave the back blank and handwrite at least a few lines on each card, longer notes to those we don't talk to often. I do have my addresses saved in label format on my computer, but I don't print on labels - I print it out on regular paper and use it as a guide for handwriting the addresses and then cross off once I've done the card. We've gotten some funny newsletters over the years, but there are two people who send them that always drive me nuts - one tries to get really creative but just sounds stupid (one year, she wrote from the point of view of their dog, but it was really dumb, not cute) and the other is gushing and bragging about her family. But I don't mind them for the most part. I love getting the photos though - since most of my friends have kids at home, it's nice to see how they are growing up. I'll be lucky if my cards get out in time this year. They got delayed and last time I checked, were somewhere in PA. I could probably have driven to the UPS facility and back faster than they'll get here. Bummer - I'm ready for Christmas otherwise, so it would be nice to use this time to be writing them!

My kids like their names. Me not as much. In the maternal side of my family all the women were named Sarah Jane for five generations(first born daughters) but my mother broke tradition and I would rather have been named Sarah than what she chose. But my husbands mother really screwed up. She named him after both grandfathers which is fine. BUT they started calling him his middle name, a rather sissified version of it. So when someone calls him Charles, he never looks although that's officially his name. He always did the initial and then the rest of his name. Very confusing. I named my son a great name which has a good nickname too.

Maire, while you were at the salon I was at the massage school getting a massage. I've been going there for years, almost always with satisfactory results, but my two most recent massages haven't been the best. The name of the school has changed, and I wonder if the curriculum has, too. Anyway, I'm posting here because the student massage therapist asked me the usual questions about my preferences, but she added one I hadn't heard before. "Do you want me to do your hands and feet?" she asked, with a flicker what what appeared to be distaste crossing her face. I said yes. She gave my hands the usual amount of attention, but I can't say the same for my feet. She's going to have to deal with this if she wants to make a career out of massage therapy. I, too, enjoyed the leg massage. :-)

Thanks, larsi. High praise coming from you. It is a small room, but we also squeezed in a pull out ironing drawer, a 36" lazy susan base cab, and drying hooks and a drying rack behind the door. LOL. I love planning and working with small spaces. There is an old thread somewhere that shows the rear access panel to the unit which we open via a closet that backs onto the laundry. The SQ stack weighs in excess of 800 pounds, so if a supply line ruptures, you will have to throw your home's main plumbing shutoff if you can't access the rear. We also have a secondary lint filter in the access panel, plus a Fantech booster fan in the attic to help the dryer speed. I hope the SQ will last as long as I do . . . because hauling that puppy back down the stairs is gonna be ugly.