Resolution 2011

My resolutions for 2011 are in two realms: the food realm and the physical realm.

In the food realm, I want to prepare vegetables at least four times per week. I need a variety of vegetables to keep myself healthy and, due to the lack of a staff, need to prepare them myself. So, each week I shop, I will purchase four different kinds of vegetables in proper quantities (see below) and get them ready to eat throughout the week. I've actually been doing this since November and it is going pretty well, though I think four times to week doesn't happen as often as I think it does.

In addition, I will strive to cook food in quantities that I can eat before it turns and must be thrown out. To do this, I have made a few lists and posted them on the fridge. The first list is "Things to Prepare" where I write down what I have bought that needs to be made into something before it goes bad. I also note the date I bought it, which will spur me into a frenzy of preparation when too much time has passed. I also have a list called "Things to Eat" where I write down what there is to eat and cross it out as I finish it. This will help me keep my eye on when I have forgotten the last bit of Lima beans in the refrigerator. I can then dig them out and eat them before I have to throw it out.

I have a notebook to keep track of what I have prepared this week. This will let me see my progress, track the food I throw out and be able to determine how many pounds of beans I eat in one year. I will also mark my calendar with an F when I do something food related and a V when I cook a vegetable.

In the physical realm, I will do more push ups this year. I enjoy a good push up or two (or ten) and I would like to increase the number of push ups to at least my age, if not more. I'll start with the number I can currently easily do and add one whenever I feel like can hack it. The time to do them will be before I stretch after doing my jog/walk each morning and I will keep track on my trusty calendar.

How is that resolution going?

Readers with long memories will recall that my 2010 resolution is to spend 15 minutes per day working at my desk. The order of operations is: banking, inbox, blogs. I printed each month out and I get a star each day I met my goal. You can see how well January went.
A funny thing happened as the year progressed. I started using the calendar to keep track of other things I had accomplished too. This came about because of an excellent connection of the dots. Often times, self-improvement suggestions make the point that if you have done what you want to do to improve, you should reward yourself. I tend to struggle with the "reward" part. Every single reward I can think of either costs money or takes up time I would rather spend doing other things. So the reward concept, though I'm behind it, is something I never really do for myself. I enjoy my life and at the same time have to complete a number of tasks to ensure my life runs smoothly. Then, I read the advice that marking a star on a calendar could be the reward.

Holy cannoli! I think making stars on calendars is the most excellent reward ever. So the stars for the 15 minutes of desk time were next joined by a circle when I practiced my guitar. Then by a triangle if I swept the house for five minutes. Then a square if I spent time looking for a teaching job. And on and on. Now my calendar is full of rewards and I am one happy camper.
Here's a key for everything that can appear on my day:
5 = Get up at 5:00
M = Meditate
G = Garden
Circle = Guitar practice
Square = Teaching job search
Triangle = Sweep the house for five minutes
b = blog
V = cook a vegetable
e = exercise for 30 minutes
E = exercise for 60 minutes or more.
I don't hit my desk time every day, and I think I've only been able to put everything down for the day once, but this is a great way for me to track what I'm doing and seeing how well I'm staying on track.

Summary of Resolution 2008

It was long. It was hard. I fell off the wagon more than once, but I am glad I made this resolution. I've made new letter friends (all about 30 years older than me) and have reacquainted myself with some old friends as well as the pen and the paper, rather than the computer and the keyboard. I love the stamps, the paper and envelopes and also pulling a letter out of the mailbox and curling up on the couch to read it. In 2009 I will try to write three letters per week. This was too much fun to give up after only one year.

My resolution for 2009? The infinitely easier and much less time consuming."eat while sitting down."

Letters written in December

I want to say that I went out with a bang, but here is what happened: I got tired. The first two days of December I wrote two letters to go in my packet to be mailed off to LEX. Then I decided to count my Christmas Cards as part of this project, even though they were more of an assembly line project than actual letter writing. There were 25 cards, so that brought me to December 28-31. Only four more letters were needed to complete the year. I didn't write them.

So the month breakdown looks like this:
December 1. LEX.
December 2. LEX
December 3-27. Christmas Cards.
December 28. No one
December 29. No one
December 30. No one
December 31. No one.

Alas.

Letters written in November

I kept up with my solemn vow this month, but still missed two days. I also caught up all of the Sara letters, leaving her with a huge packet of my letters to reply to on her end. After that, I turned to LEX and wrote several people who had submitted listings in the Winter issue. Though I am enjoying writing, my enthusiasm for this project is flagging.

1 November. Sara
2 November. Sara
3 November. Sara
**Letter back Sara
**3 postcards, Sara
4 November. Postcard to Sara
5 November. Postcard to Matt
6 November. Postcard to Susan
**LB re: LEX listing I posted "Do we still need women's colleges?"
7 November. LEX Letter re: hobbies
8 November. LEX Letter re: Tuesday evening
9 November. LEX Letter re: steady correspondent
10 November. LEX Letter re: poem song etc.
11 November. Beres family
12 November. Thank you to Linda
** 2 Letters back Sara
13 November. LEX Letter "almost frugal grandmother"
14 November. LEX Letter "changed mind"
15 November. LEX Letter "horse across US?"
16 November. BroMAunts
17 November. Postcard to Sara
18 November. Jan
19 November. LEX Michael
20 November. Sara
21 November. No one
22 November. No one
23 November. Sara
24 November. LEX Gerry
**Letter back LEX Diane (food)
25 November. LEX Diane (movies)
26 November. Sara
27 November. LEX Letter "women and books"
28 November. LEX Letter "green"
29 November. LEX Letter "pen pals"
30 November. LEX Letter "last five books"

Letters written in October

After my recommitment I did write a letter per day. Good job me. I feel much better too.

1 October. Sara
**Letter back, LEX Dorothy
**Letter back, Sara
**Letter back, LEX Diane
2 October. Sara
3 October. No one.
4 October. No one.
5 October. No one.
6 October. Sara
7 October. Sara
8 October. No one.
9 October. Laura Oppenheimer (Oregonian article about the Prefontaine run)
10 October. No one.
11 October. No one.
12 October. No one.
13 October. No one.
14 October. No one.
15 October. No one.
16 October. No one.
17 October. No one.
**Letter back (weird Halloween thing)
18 October. No one.
**2 Letters back from Sara.
19 October. Sara
20 October. Thank you to Gardner (for getting the refrigerators out of the Youth room at church)
21 October. LEX Diane (food)
22 October. Postcard to Sara
**Letter back LEX Jan
**Birthday card, Kelly
23 October. Sara, postcard
24 October. LEX Gerry McCoy
25 October. LEX Diane (movies)
26 October. LEX Diane (food)
27 October. Jan
28 October. Sara
29 October. Sara
30 October. LEX Jan
31 October. Sara postcard.

Slacking, and a recommitment.

It's been awhile since I've written a letter. Maybe since last Thursday, maybe longer. I've been busy, sure: work, general life maintenance, school, studying for the big math test, the *cough* blog--however little I work on it. But I've not been any busier than I was in April, say, and I managed to keep up with my letters well enough then.

I miss the daily writing of something. Through my teens and twenties I was a steady journal writer. My life has shifted away from needing to pour words out on pages--my current journal is one of those five year jobbers that you get four lines per day. It suits me well at the stage I'm in. But I think I enjoy writing enough that my year of letter writing has brought me great pleasure. It's different than a journal in that I'm connecting with someone who will read what I'm writing. And it's less formal than the blog in that I don't have to worry too much about grammar and spelling and also I know who will be most likely reading what I write.

(Not knowing who is reading what I write is one of the weirdest things about blogging for me. Recently, I had 99 visitors in a week. Who are those people? They read a little bit, based on the average amount of time visited. But because they don't comment, I have no way of knowing who my audience is.)

So I am recommitting to my New Year's resolution today, October 19, 2008. I will write something (if only a postcard) every single day for the rest of the year.

Are you wishing to get a letter from me? Add a comment saying so.

ps. Next year's resolution will not involve work on a daily basis.

Letters written in September

I wrote to "No one" a lot this month--getting adjusted to school. Sara, my faithful correspondent started school and ran out of time for real letters, but kept my mailbox full of postcards. That was fun.

1 September. Debra Gwartney (wrote a column about Kung Fu Panda)
2 September. Sara
3 September. Sara
4 September. Postcard Deborah
5 September. Postcard Sara
6 September. Sara
**Letter back Jan
**2 Postcards Sara
7 September. No one
8 September. Sara
** Letter Back Sara
**4 postcards Sara
9 September. Sara
10 September. Mom--postcard
11 September. Sara
12 September. Sara
13 September. No one
14 September. No one
15 September. Sara
**Letter back Sara
16 September. Sara
17 September. No one
18 September. Jenna
19 September. LEX Dorothy
20 September. No one
**Letter back LEX Diane (food)
21 September. No one
22 September. LEX Diane (movies)
** Postcard Sara
23 September. No one
24 September. Jan
25 September. Sara
** Letter back LEX Gerry
** 2 postcards, Sara
26 September. Leath!
27 September. Jan
28 September. Sara
29 September. Sara
30 September. Mom, Kelly

Letters

From the Writers Almanac 9/19/08

"It was on this day in 1846 that the poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning eloped to Italy. In January of 1845, Robert Browning sent a letter to Elizabeth Barrett. He had just read her book Poems (1844) and he said: "I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett. … I do, as I say, love these books with all my heart — and I love you too." They started writing letters, and they met four months later. Barrett was 40 years old, an invalid; her father didn't let her leave the house, and she only saw a few people outside her immediate family. Browning was 34, worldly, and athletic. They fell in love. Between Browning's first letter and their elopement, they exchanged 574 letters. Barrett's father didn't believe that any of his children should get married, so after a secret wedding a week earlier, the couple fled to Italy and lived happily there."

Yet another reason that writing letters is a good way to spend your time--romantic elopement with a worldly and athletic man.

Letters written in August

It is the dog days of the resolution. During my two weeks off I finished writing notes and sending pictures to all the people who went on the trip to Hungary, then I put my pen down. What letters that were written were to the pen pals I've made through LEX and to Sara. I returned from my trip with about eight Sara letters to respond to and during the trip she wrote me a very long one. It is a fabulous letter, filled with multiple fonts and clip art. Future Historians will love that one.

1 August--YRUU
2 August--YRUU
3 August--YRUU
4 August--YRUU
5 August--YRUU
6 August--YRUU
7 August--YRUU
8 August--YRUU
9 August--YRUU
10 August--YRUU
11 August--No one
12 August--No one
13 August--No one
14 August--No one
15 August--No one
16 August--No one
17 August--Jan
18 August--LEX Diane (movies)
19 August--LEX Diane (food)
20 August--Sara
**Letter Back--Jenna, YRUU parent
21 August--BroMAunts
22 August--No one
23 August--No one
24 August--No one
25 August--Postcard Sara
**Letter Back LEX Dorothy (2)
26 August--Deborah
27 August--LEX Gerry
28 August--LEX Don
29 August--Sara
30 August--Sara
31 August--No one

Letters written in July

This month started with me writing to me while on my trip. That was a successful effort as I did that every day. Good job me. Then I returned (with letters waiting for me!) and caught up on my correspondence. There were five days when I didn't write in the middle of the month. Near the end of the month I began sending photos I took of the youth who went on the trip to their parents. Not wanting to just plop photos in the mail with no pretext, I included a note. That took care of the end of July letters and this project extends into August. Overall a good, if not totally traditional letter writing month.

1 July. Me
2 July. Me
3 July. Me
4 July. Me
5 July. Me
6 July. Me
7 July. Me
8 July. Me
9 July. Me
10 July. Me
11 July. Postcard, Deborah, Sara
**Letters back, LEX Diane & Sara (3)
12 July. Deborah
13 July. Sara
14 July. Sara
15 July. No one
**postcard from Sara
16 July. postcard Matt
**postcard from Sara
17 July. Oregonian--yes to the comic Edison Lee.
18 July. No one.
19 July. No one.
20 July. Sara
21 July. No one.
22 July. No one.
23 July. LEX Gerry
24 July. LEX Jan
25 July. Ben Bridge Jewelers (excellent customer service)
26 July. YRUU Youth
27 July. YRUU Youth
28 July. YRUU Youth
29 July. YRUU Youth
30 July. YRUU Youth
31 July. YRUU Youth

Letters written June 21-30.

Not much to report here. I didn't write people because I was prepping for the trip (and trying to catch up blog posts) and when I left on the trip my letter per day was to myself. I bought special stationary with the plan to glue each letter in my scrapbook. This turned out to be an awesome idea.

21 June. Sara
22 June. No one.
23 June. No one.
24 June. No one.
25 June. No one.
26 June. Me.
27 June. Me.
28 June. Me.
29 June. Me.
30 June. Me.

Letters written June 11-20.

Sara once again received the largess of letters this month, but what can I say? She writes me. I write back.

11 June. Thank you notes. 3 students and 4 student teachers.
12 June. Sara.
13 June. Sara.
**Letter back: Sara
14 June. Kelly, postcard.
**Letter back: Sara, Diane (LEX), Gerry (LEX)
15 June. Sara.
16 June. Sara.
17 June. Sara.
18 June. No one.
19 June. LEX Melody
20 June. No one.

Letters written June 1-10.

Despite my hope to write more often in June than in May, I didn't start off so well. Half of these first days were spent not writing letters. I think the combination end of the school year (work) and end of the school year (math class) got to me. I got a 92 on my math final, though and I am very proud of that.

Sara once again rocked the letters mailed category, but then I get letters all the time from her. We seem to write enough we don't have to email which I think is very cool in this modern world.

My friend Deborah's partner Val was recently diagnosed with cancer and I am going to try to send her a little note every week or so. Everyone likes mail, (at least I haven't found someone who doesn't) so perhaps something every once in awhile in her mailbox will be nice.

1 June. Sara
2 June. Sara
**Letter back: LEX re: "college"
**Letter back: LEX Jacqueline
3 June. LEX Jacqueline
4 June. No one.
5 June. Deborah
**Letter back: Sara
6 June. No one.
7 June. No one.
8 June. No one.
9 June. Deborah.
**Letter back Sara.
10 June. No one.

Letters written in May.

Before my resolution, whenever I had to write a letter for business purposes I was annoyed at the actual sitting down to type the business letter. Not to mention the hunt for the stamp and the envelope. Now it's one of those things I look forward to, because I can whip them out in about 7 minutes and I have fulfilled my resolution for the day.

I wrote letters or postcards 21 days this month. While there were more days in which I wrote than days that I didn't write, I hope to write more next month. Mid-month June the new LEX listings come out and I look forward to responding to some new listings as well as seeing if I get responses to my listings.

I received 12 things in the mail this month, which was wonderful. Sara hit on the idea of sending me the free postcards available at bars and restaurants and other places. She places labels over the advertising part on the back and writes a quick thought. They don't have free postcards in Portland, but I think this is a clever way to use them. When I lived in Boston, I would always take them, but because of the advertising, could never send them to anyone.

1 May. Sara, postcard.
2 May. No one.
3 May. First Unitarian Church. Business.
4 May. Bank. Business.
5 May. Joan. Card.
**Letter back. Sara.
6 May. No one.
7 May. No one.
**Letter back. LEX "Will you be a good old person?"
**Letter back. LEX "Do you have to suffer to write?"
8 May. LEX Jacqueline.
9 May. No one.
10 May. LEX Jan.
11 May. LEX Diane.
12 May. Sara, postcard.
13 May. Vivian McIrney. Re error in article about shoes. I would link to it, but now it costs $$
14 May. Sara.
**Letter back. LEX Diane (I have two Diane pen pals)
15 May. No one.
16 May. No one.
17 May. Sara
18 May. No one.
19 May. No one.
20 May. Kelly. (Written from the Multnomah County Courthouse while on jury duty!)
21 May. Sara.
**postcard. Sara.
**postcard. Sara.
**postcard. Sara.
22 May. Sara.
**postcard. Sara.
**letter back, LEX Diane.
23 May. LEX Gerry.
24 May. LEX Phyllis.
25 May. Sara.
26 May. No one.
27 May. LEX Diane.
**Letter back, Sara.
28 May. LEX Diane.
29 May. Aunt Pat, birthday card.
**Postcard, Sara.
**Postcard Sara.
30 May. Aunt Pat, birthday card. (I sent two, so one would get there on her birthday.)
31 May. No one.

Letters written in April

Two things paid off this month. My LEX membership proved itself well worth the $15.00 joining fee. Without it, I would not have had eight letters in my mailbox. Also my friendship with Sara. Six items from her appeared in my mailbox including a very nice care package with some stationery, postcards and an eraser. An above-and-beyond level of support as far as I'm concerned. Thanks so much.

Also this month the resolution morped into "write a letter most days" as there were 8 days of 30 where I did not write for various reasons. I'm not really beating myself up about it too much as I had the resolution, the garden and the math class going on. And full time work.

Note that my SAPE letter came back as undeliverable. I'm okay with that as LEX has brought me great dividends, but in case any of you were pining for a pen friend from the former Soviet Union, you should know that SAPE didn't work for me.

AND this month I finished off my first tablet of writing paper. It's the 200 sheet lined- jobber that we always had around when I was growing up. I like the size, it is great to hold onto when writing on the train or bus, and the less-than-$3.00 price is right for me.

Without further ado:
1 April. Sara
2 April. Sara
**Care package arrives from Sara
3 April. Elizabeth Gilbert
**postcard from Sara
4 April. LEX "Please, sir. More lighthouses, more bridges.
**postcard from Sara
5 April. LEX "Arm chair traveler? Let's trade p/c's of our trips. -Bob."
6 April. No one.
7 April. No one.
**letter back from Sara
**letter back from LEX Blogging (wrote on 3/13)
8 April. LEX "Ah, spring! When all thoughts and letters are fresh and new! As we throw off winter, let us LEX together in the warm sunshine!"
**letter back from Jenna
9 April. LEX "Will you make a good old person?"
**letter back from LEX "Topic letters"
10 April. LEX "Must one suffer before one can write?"
**letter back from LEX "ready to discuss serious subjects"
11 April. LEX Jan. Topic Letters.
11 April. Postcard to Trimet re: really cool bus driver.
**letter back from LEX "Favorite Food"
**letter back from LEX "Movies"
12 April. April, Sara, Shawn. (Winners in my comment contest.)
13 April. Jess, Kathy. (Winners in my comment contest.)
14 April. Sara
**letter back from Sara
15 April. LEX Diane. Movies.
16 April. Sara
**SAPE application returned.
**Also of note, finished first 200 sheet writing tablet.
17 April. Jordan. Birthday Card.
18 April. No one.
**letter back from Trimet.
19 April. No one.
20 April. Marilyn Sewell. Senior minister at my church re: sermon "Is Marriage Obsolete?"
21 April. No one. (my notes say "exhausted")
**postcard Sara
**card from Kathy thanking me for the prize sent on 13 April
**letter back from LEX Jan
**letter back from LEX "Favorite cities, travels, rivers, campgrounds."
22 April. Sara
23 April. Diane.
24 April. Sara.
**postcard Sara
25 April. No one.
26 April. No one.
27 April. Jenna.
28 April. Sara.
**letter back from LEX Diane.
29 April. No one.
30 April. Sara

Resolution 2008 Update. Letters written March 21-31.

I finished another group of LEX letters. I like to send them off in batches of five. Sara also did a good job of keeping my mailbox from being empty, sending me letters and postcards.

(I'm having trouble with formatting, so sorry I can't do the bullet points this time.)

March 21. None. Exhausting last day of work before Spring Break. Ironically the most exhausting thing was dealing with the Postal Service, who had me on hold for an hour and made me call back two times to get the information I needed.
2 Letters back! Both from Sara.
March 22. LEX Letter. What's your favorite food to fix for yourself when you're home alone?
March 23. LEX Letter. Tired of kids and grandkids? Ready to discuss serious subjects? Paint drying. Grass growing.
March 24. LEX Letter. Prefer movies on the big screen? Enjoy the previews as much as the movie? What makes a good movie good?
Letter back! Sara.
March 25. LEX Letter. Favorite cities, travels, rivers, campgrounds?
March 26. No one.
March 27. Sara.
March 28. People who own my favorite undeveloped property in my neighborhood.
March 29. None. Dealing with end of spring break and the fiasco.
Postcard back! Sara.
March 30. Sara
March 31. Art & Sole. Business letter.

Do you want to respond to one of the LEX listings? You can, without becoming a member. Write a comment and I'll tell you how. If you like to write, you should become a member, it's easy and not expensive and fun.

Resolution 2008 Update. Letters written March 11-20.

Mid-month saw the arrival of my Letter Exchange magazine and provided relief from poor Sara who would probably get a letter every other day if I hadn't found discovered this great source. She would like the letter getting, but then feel guilty when she didn't respond promptly, which I've told her isn't a huge deal as she certainly hasn't resolved to write a letter a day, but you know how she is. When I wrote a letter to a LEX member, I've included what they wrote in their listing.

• March 11. Sara. Letter.
  
• March 12. Sara. Letter.
• Letter back! Nestor Ramos.
  
• March 13. LEX Letter. Do you blog? Where? What about?
  
• March 14. LEX Letter. Charm bracelets. Tell me the story behind your favorite charm. If you don't have one pretend you do and tell me the fictional version of your favorite charm.
  
• March 15. LEX Letter. 1.5 miles from an empty mailbox.
  
• March 16. Jenna. Letter.
  
• March 17. LEX Letter. Let's write topic letters. Simple start: five favorite T.V. shoes and why. Initially, no politics or religion. Your topic next.
  
• March 18. LEX Letter. College student living in Savannah, Ga. Send me your tips on surviving college life.
  
• March 19. None. Bad mood.
  
• March 20. LEX Letter. Thirtysomething writer looking for a penpal who can be supportive like the perfect bra in a world where gravity wins.

Nestor Ramos is my movie review boyfriend, as I think I've mentioned before. I enjoy him because he is very funny, as his letter back proved. An excerpt:

Thanks for writing! Always nice to hear from someone who enjoys my work. Actually, you're the first. But I imagine the second will be pretty nice too. Mostly I just get mail from people who are upset because I've mocked some movie in which they were an extra. The time I said Cher was built from wax and car parts, some lady offered to spit on my grave.

I sent off a big packet of five letters to the letter exchange on March 19. It will be interesting to see if I get any letters back. It's a little weird writing letters to people you don't know. But I excel at blathering on both on and off topic, so it isn't too bad. I really need to work on my handwriting. I hope people can read my blathering. Perhaps I should have had a year of resolving to write neatly before my year of letter writing.

Do you want to write to any of the LEX Letter people? Tell me by posting a comment and I'll tell you how you can, even without being a member of LEX. Though you should be a member of LEX. It's very fun.

The Letter Exchange Arrived Today!

I'm so excited! It's a little magazine, with articles about writing and letters but I'm most excited about the listings. I won't run out of correspondents for many weeks, and maybe even some will write me back. I wrote my first letter tonight to someone who wrote:

Do you blog? Where? What about?

Others that sound interesting to me:

• Charm bracelets. Tell me the story behind your favorite charm. If you don't have one pretend you do and tell me the fictional version of your favorite charm.
• Define the good life.
• How does understanding your family history contribute to your sense of self?

I can't wait for the summer issue to come out to see if anyone writes to my listings.

Resolution 2008 Update. Letters written March 1-10

The handy thing for me about this resolution is that I often have the thought, "I should get (or make) [insert name here] a card." They should get a card because something is sad or happy or interesting in their life and I bet they would like a card. Then I never get around to getting/making the card and the moment passes. With my handy resolution, the cards get gotten. Or made. They are mostly made.

I have a card making box with blank cards, (I just use the Avery kind you can print on your computer printer--though I never print them on my printer), crayons, markers, glue, construction paper, pastels and scissors. I actually enjoy making the cards, though the results are sometimes a bit uneven. That happened with Allegra's card. I wanted to make a sun on the front of the card and so I cut out a big round orange circle. I then cut out many tiny orange sun rays and carefully arranged them and then glued them onto the card. I glued the orange circle on top, admired my work, went to write something on the inside and discovered I had glued everything to the envelope.

• March 1. Amanda. Card.
• March 2. Hafidha. Card.
  
• March 3. Deborah. Card.
• Email back! Teresa.
  
• March 4. Teresa. Letter
  
• Letter back! Leath.
• Letter back! Nicole.
  
• March 5. Allegra. Card.
  
• March 6. I think I wrote someone this day, but I didn't make a note of who. I'm nothing without my notes.
  
• March 7. Forgot.
  
• March 8. Leath.
• Letter back! Sara.
  
• March 9. BroMAunts. Easter inquiry.
  
• March 10. Dana. Letter.
• Letter back! Sara.

Also, due to this resolution I've found an effective means of communication with my brother, mother, and aunts (BroMAunts). If I want to ask a question to all of them it takes four phone calls, minimum and usually more if I need to relay information back. I don't like to talk on the phone anyway, much less making four phone calls. If I write the question--say "What are we doing for Easter? And does anyone want my extra Asparagus crowns?"--four times on postcard and send it off they talk amongst themselves and get back to me. It is much easier.

The other happy thing about these 10 days is that I got some good letters back. Honestly, there is nothing nicer than finding a letter in my mailbox. It's better than chocolate.