Jolly Old.....

We are "keeping Christmas" this year. Mom has endeared herself to the local merchants, hopefully to the satisfaction of our kith and kin. Decorations adorn our home, inside and out,
visits have been and continue to be made to family and friends, accompanied by wishes of Christmas Cheer.
So far, we have attended a Kiwanis Christmas Party, watched "Christmas Story", "Santa Clause 2" and "Miracle on 34th Street (The original version), Attended a Christmas Musical Celebration, seen a fine performance of "A Christmas Carol", and I have exuded jollity to the munchkins at our Church by donning Red and Beard, and accepting their holiday want list.
Yet to come are a trip next week to California to see family and friends, with a quick return to Utah for Christmas with the kids who are here.
One of our dear friends from years past, who has now moved on to the hereafter, used to regale us each year with a "Christmas Lettter," wherein she gave us an extended and detailed accounting of the year in the lives of each member of her large family. We enjoyed her effort on two levels: First, of course, we loved her family, and were interested in their life progress, but second, and of equal enjoyment, was the motivation it gave us for our annual "over the top" letter, usually reserved only for family. In our version we would take an instance from the pages of each of our six children, and...er....Magnify it to beyond the limits of credibility.
As an example of what you might expect, lets take the fact that our son Wayne has just received a Fullbright award to teach in Cambodia for six months. Now that is true. Our family letter would, however, read something like:
WAYNE TO REEDUCATE WAR-RAVAGED NATION
Dr. Wayne Earl Wright, BA, MA, PhD, Associate Professor of Bicultural Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio, has been called upon to take his vast foundation of educatioal skills into the third world for the next several months., in which time he dine on the traditional Cambodian delicacies Durian and Brahout, while using his advanced teaching techniques and put into place a complete educational program for the entire Kingdom of Cambodia. "I do not expect that the classrooms at the National University of Cambodia will be an impediment to my efforts," Said Wright. "The temperate climate of that nation will permit the students to enjoy an unimpaired view of the campus through the missing outer wall of the building., and palm fronds make excellent fans, eliminating the need for air conditioning. He will plan class times around the daily power outages that occasionally impair the use of audio visual materials.
Wayne's goal is to leave Cambodia in July 2009, having eliminated ignorance, poverty and public corruption in that nation. In his free time, he will travel to Thailand, where he will bring peaceful resolution to end the civil war now raging there.

You get the idea. We're really happy with our kids and the life they lead. We love to laugh, so maybe our little exercise in puffery is a gentle way to help us keep our heads on straight.
Well, a little straight, at least.