I Believe In Father Christmas

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, And try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to You. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, have fun. Just 11 days of Christmas left.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags
2. Real tree or Artificial? The smell of a fresh cut tree, Yummy. The ease of an artificial, spectacular.
3. When do you put up the tree? Mid December.
4. When do you take the tree down? Epiphany, there are 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
5. Favorite gift received as a child? Trains and slot cars (I know that's 2, but they were setup together!)
6. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes
7. Hardest person to buy for? Ma chere
8. Easiest person to buy for? My dad
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? I prefer to receive them in the mail ;-)
10. Ever recycled a Christmas present? No
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't remember what I got last year, good or bad.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Bells of Saint Mary, White Christmas
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I gave up shopping 14 years, 11 months and 24 days ago.
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Chocolate, any shape, any size.
15. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear

16. Favorite Christmas songs? Secular: I Believe In Father Christmas Religious: What Child Is This?

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? This year, neither
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Both
21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? "Last Minute Shoppers Could Save Christmas" headlines. Like shopping is all that we stand to loose.
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? Gold
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? To see my family
25. Who is most likely to respond to this? I get so few comments, ma chere, I guess
26. Who is least likely to respond to this? Julia Sweeney
Enjoy the season!

New York Minute

My housekeepers both left on Thursday. One worked one day. The other never really got started. They each gave a number of reasons, but I believe it boiled down to buyers remorse.

The first woman panicked when she realized she would have to leave the comfort of being a chambermaid and actually work harder for her money than she was used to.

The other one thought she might slip by without my noticing her documents were expired. She could have worked that out if it weren't for the fact that she really preferred to work in Manhattan, not the Hamptons. She probably would not have made the summer anyway.

What does a guy have to do to catch a break in this city!

Title by Don Henley

Pretty House for Sale

Our biggest bogeyman right now is our condo. We really have to find a way to get it sold or occupied. The housing market right now is so soft that no one is even looking. Add to that Christmas and a tightening economy, I am not sure when the place will sell. It is a great townhouse; we just need to get some traffic. Heck, any traffic at this point would be a positive thing.

The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many real-estate and financial market gurus are bearish, to say the least, on the current real-estate market. Some are predicting things will not get better for the low end of the market until sometime in 2009 or as late as 2010.

Too many sellers, not enough creditors, property values declining from unrealized highs...how do you possibly plan for this type of thing when you change careers?

Title by Charlie Pride

Heart With No Companion

I think I have stated before that ma chère and I use just about every technology available to stay connected. We have "land lines", mobile phones, web-cams, instant messaging, text messaging, blogs, even the occasional letter and card (I know, how quaint). I use these tools to stay in touch with just about everyone now days. As the commercial suggests, I am living in "Saint Quenver Milhattan". Welcome to my network.

I am getting to the point, however, where phone, web-cams, IM and SMS isn't enough. Virtualization is great, do not get me wrong. It does provide quick and near real-time communication with my family and friends. However, it is "virtual", a similarity of reality. I am losing my patience in pretending it is enough to stay connected this way. Eventually, I long for a face to face conversation with a kindred spirit. To touch, to smell, to relish in the other senses beyond sight and hearing.

The Ps try to help, bless them. But, I really cannot feed my need for companionship from them. My job is to be familiar, not family. They are wonderful people. I could hang with them for a long time. However, as long as I am their employee I cannot cross that boundary. That boundary is there for both parties' protection.

Title by Leonard Cohen

Long Time Comin'

I FINALLY hired 2 housekeepers. They both start this week. I really hope these two work out. It has taken 4 agencies, over 40 interviews, 10 weeks and 1 false start to get to this point.

Title by Bruce Springsteen