No time to write a blog today as I am plotting up a storm with friends and we are in blizzard conditions. I will be in touch tomorrow.

Wayne and I are in Las Vegas for a plotting session with writing friends Jodi Thomas and Linda Rohrbough. However we have yet to plot. We have gone to dinner, we have gambled and today we had lunch with a group known as The Tea Tarts. We have also gone to Two Crazy Ladies yarn shop and then we ate again. This is a working vacation yet so far all we have seen is the vacation. Tomorrow we really are going to work, we promised ourselves, we really are going to plot!

The very warmest of Season's Greetings to you, my loyal readers and friends. I'm only in the office a short while today, but I didn't feel I could head out before I wished everyone Happy Holidays. The entire family is coming for Christmas Eve at the house. Our family room addition is complete, but void of furniture, so I thought we'd take this golden opportunity to spread our wings and have fun. After the big family pot luck we're cranking up the karaoke machine, taking off our shoes, and dancing with the grandkids. Santa is scheduled to arrive at 6 p.m. and after the flurry of opening gifts, we're heading to church to celebrate the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas, and I'll check in with you next week while Wayne and I are driving to our winter home in Florida—that's 3,323 miles from Port Orchard, Washington to Vero Beach, Florida.

I'm cleaning off my desk today. I haven't seen the top of it in weeks. Thus far I've discovered some really incredible stuff. A letter, for one, written some time in October from a young man who sent me a copy of an essay he wrote comparing the writings of Mark Twain to mine. I am honored and deeply touched by the comparison. Another letter came from a woman in Texas, a harpist, that struck a chord with me (no pun intended), who read the article about me in Guideposts magazine. She's passionate about music in the same way I'm passionate about writing. A recent addition to the growing stack of stuff on my desk is from my precious Aunt Betty. She mailed me the decorated placemat her friends made for her to help celebrate her 95th birthday. If I keep digging there's no telling what other treasures I'll unearth.

My Christmas cards are mailed. It took five people two days! I had my entire staff working on the project and even managed to rope my unsuspecting cousin Shirley into stuffing envelopes. I feel I can enjoy Christmas now. This afternoon will be spent with Jazmine and James, two of my grandchildren, baking cookies and having fun together.

One of the joys of the holiday school break is that we swimmers have the entire pool to ourselves. Normally we share it with the high school class, for what is known as zero period. Oh yes, I swim with those teenage girls and their sleek young bodies. This, my friends, is true bravery. But during the break not only do the rest of us have the entire pool to ourselves, the dividing wall is down and we're able to swim the entire length of the Olympic-size pool. This is swimmer's nirvana.

I'm finishing up my Christmas cards today, taking my son and his wife shopping, and Wayne and I are having dinner with friends this evening. This is a good example of what Christmas week is like at the Macombers.

Now that revisions have been mailed off, I'm ready to deal with Christmas. I have a few things I still need to mail—like ALL of my Christmas cards. I don't know how I got so far behind this year.

My cousin Shirley is stopping by for lunch today–I always enjoy my time with her. She's almost ten years older than me, so I barely knew her while we were growing up; but my cousins as adults have been a tremendous blessing to me. Both Shirley and Karen have signed up for the next Get Caught Reading at Sea cruise. They made such an impact last cruise that they became known as The Cousins. Okay, enough for today, I've got to get those cards going . . .

The family is breaking with tradition this Christmas. We usually have a family Progressive Dinner the Sunday before Christmas Day, but this year it will be held on Christmas Eve. The kids double-tagged me and want to make it a family pot luck instead. I'm flexible, and everyone is willing to pitch in so that I'm not the one doing all the cooking. The reason it's so important to change a long held tradition? Would you believe football? Apparently the Seahawks are playing and Wayne and the boys are afraid they might miss part of the game traveling from house to house. At least we'll all be together.

I'm gearing up to write my annual Christmas letter. They get more difficult to write every year. So much has happened, and yet it seems as if the year flashed by in a blur. I'll do my best to keep it short and sweet and let a few photographs tell the story. The pictures of the grandkids are enough to steal your hearts. The one with Jenny's three little ones all eating with chopsticks is priceless. We have a great shot of Wayne's Mom celebrating her 90th birthday. She chose the photograph because it didn't show her wrinkles. How I wish I could send each one of you a personal card to thank you for your support and friendship. I'll let this blog do it for me.

My son Ted and I went Christmas shopping the other night, fighting the crowds at our local Costco. We went to dinner after we finished our shopping. It's such fun to spend time with my adult son. Wayne and the boys do their annual getaway every summer,and the girls and I have a number of mother/daughter traditions, too. It's rare for me to spend time with my adult sons one-on-one, and I so enjoy them. It's difficult to think of Teddy Boy as a mature teacher and soon-to-be school principal, and not remember him as the dare devil little boy who broke five bones in two years. Last evening Ted phoned and suggested we do it more often. I think my son might be on to something fun.