I have already confessed to not being the most twinkling of Christmas stars or the jolliest of good fellows.  I have admitted to feeling too auld for the lang syne.  But even for me, hum-bugger that I am, there are a few year-end traditions that I look forward to.  One is the proliferation of best of/worst of lists that multiply like bunnies at the end of the year.  Another is the ubiquitous In Memorium homages to people and other things we’ve said good-bye to in the previous 12 months (who wants to bet that Twinkies will be in the top 10 this year?)  And, if I finish my Christmas shopping on time, I plan to address them in another post.

But first, let’s tackle the holiday newsletter.

Every year I do a photo calendar for the grandparents.  It’s exhausting.  I have admitted in these pages to being slightly neurotic, so…