AIDING AND ABETTING, DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS, AND

In spite of warm--well, relatively speaking--weather, the wind is howling and whipping through the trees, and Dad is out checking up on a Nativity display that he set up in the front yard. Dad has certainly done his fair share of Christmas decorating these past few days. I have frantically been completing Christmas projects, so we can get our packages off, especially to Guam. I'm in what Mark calls project mode. It isn't that I picked particularly difficult projects this year or waited until the last minute; it's that I picked out a project I've never done before, and it just isn't going well!! Of course, I can't turn back because I have so much money invested!! Ah well, Nietsche said it best: “We should consider every day lost in which we have not danced at least once.”
I'm feeling very guilty!! I've aided and abetted the enemy. A few posts back I displayed the letter Ethan wrote to Santa. I played Santa and wrote:
To My Friend, Ethan:
I received your Christmas letter just a few days ago, even though you sent it to me in October. It’s a long way from Guam to the North Pole, isn’t it? In the North Pole, it’s very, very cold. The elves are kept busy stoking all of our many fires. I’m enjoying a nice hot mug of hot chocolate with a few marshmallows floating on top while I write this letter.
I certainly don’t think your Christmas list is too extravagant. You don’t seem to want too much. Sometimes boys and girls think Santa is very rich, and they want me to buy them all of the toys their parents can’t even afford. Children forget that I am just a poor old man who wants to bring happiness and cheerfulness to the world. Like everyone else, we are experiencing hard economic times here at the Pole!! I will try to bring you most of what you’ve asked for, but…I go by my own heart when I select gifts. I rely on the Spirit to tell me whether boys and girls really need everything they ask for!! You’ll have to wait until Christmas morning to see what my heart has told me to bring you.
I know you have been a good boy all year. Oh, you’re an average kind of kid, and you get mad sometimes and do mean-spirited things. I know that, but, all in all, you are a kind spirited and good boy. I know that you love your family. You are loving to them—especially to Ivan who seems to need some extra help with his Lego building. I understand that you are doing well in school and are especially helpful to your teacher!! I know that you go to Primary and Cub Scouts and do all that you’re asked to do. The most important trait for a young boy is that he tries to help and serve others. You are young and strong and kind, and there are many who need your help.
Thank you for warning me to get some sleep. I think I’ll start right now…..ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Recently, Marie called to share the results. Ethan was, of course, thrilled with his letter. Eyes big as dollars, he said to his mom, "Now I have proof, Mom. I have proof that Santa is really true! Can I take my letter to school?" When he came home from school, he explained that EVERYONE now believes that there is a Santa except one girl, and he even got to read his letter in front of his class. Oh the webs we weave!! Hopefully, I'll be old and senile when he discovers that his grandma perpetuated the myth.
Although November is the prize winner for family birthdays, there are some very special birthday babies in December.

I can't seem to make DeAnne's picture any bigger, so this will have to do. You must remember that the first time I ever saw DeAnne, she was sitting on a blanket eating a pine cone! DeAnne is a senior graduate student at the University of Illinois and is about to receive her masters' degree in theater production. (I don't know what it's called!! She designs sets for theater productions.) She is working right now on an elaborate set for an opera. DeAnne is fun to be around; she's witty, silly, soft-hearted, and devoted.

New Mama, Susan shares her birthday with her dad. For years now, Susan has received a nutcracker from Mom and Dad in memory of several birthdays spent at productions of the Nutcracker. I remember the first time we attended a production in Portland. Susan was dressed in her Sunday best, and she stood high in the nosebleed section overwhelmed by the huge audience, the elaborate set, the music, the comings and goings. She looked at me and said, "Mom, do we know anyone here?" Susan is our Rock. She's calm in a storm, laid-back, steady, and one always feels comfortable and cared for in her presence.

Isn't this a great picture of Dad? It was taken on his birthday in 1974. He turns 70 this year, and I've been trying to tell him to slow down. He's constantly busy and constantly questioning whether he's doing enough. Just a few days ago, we had a conversation about the inner force that drives him! It was a wonderful, thought-provoking kind of sharing that reminds me once again how much this man stirs my soul and heart. It ended with his immortal words, "I know I'm a problem for you; I'm a problem for myself." Awwww...how can I not like this guy?

Our cousin, Peggy, tells me that Julianna Marie Jensen is Grandma Kennedy's 100th descendent. Life is good, and if I can just get my projects completed it will be very good. Love from the wind-blown Strawberry Mountain. Mom