Welcome and Merry Christmas to all. I’m here in sunny Florida enjoying the balmy weather. My sister Dee and her husband Dave are taking good care of me. I left for Houston on Monday so that I could take the first flight out Tuesday. Not only did I manage not to get lost, but I made it on time! For those who know me well, I can hear the gasps of shock. For those of you who don’t know me; that is tantamount to a miracle for this very directionally challenged person. Mark and Tracy took me out to dinner along with my grandson Jake and his wife Darby. I ate a salad called Mayra Salad. It was delicious, full of avocados and chicken and onions. I mentioned the onions last because those are what gave me issues later in the evening. In spite of the indigestion, I had a good night’s sleep.I awoke early Tuesday and Tracy dropped me off at Hobby Airport. I was flying on a buddy pass, so nonrevenue passengers are the last to embark. The very sweet lady at the counter told me I was the third standby passenger and there were only two sports open. I phoned my sister to let her know I might be later than I had originally planned. When I went back to the counter the story was still the same. I told her I would hope and pray, that’s all I could do. She called all the standby with just a few minutes left before takeoff. Praise be to God, passenger number two didn’t respond, and I hopped on the plane as quickly as I could! We had a good tailwind and landed 12 minutes early. My tracphone wouldn’t work in the air so imagine my sister Dee’s surprise when I called to say come and get me! It took forever to get the checked luggage since three flights landed at the same time. I grabbed my bag and headed for the door and joy of joys, there was my sister walking in the door! We literally threw my bag into the back of the truck and drove away. Fort Lauderdale is a crazy airport! Nothing could have worked any better!Unfortunately we had two flights that day. My brother was flying in from Canada later that day. Have you ever seen the Unfortunate Events of Lemony Snickett? A multitude of unfortunate events left us searching the airport for two hours looking for my brother Jim, who had never flown before! I won’t dwell on the mistakes made on both ends of the journey. We finally decided to drive home on the odd chance he had misunderstood our directions and taken a cab to the house. That is exactly what happened. I’m not sure who was happier to see who. It took a good cup of tea and some hashing over to get everyone settled for the night. I know Dave and Dee will take good care of us over the next week or so.I must say this area is beautiful. I didn’t know there were so many different varieties of palm trees. There are flowers in bloom everywhere and the weather is cool in the evenings and between 70 and 80 during the day. I expect to absorb a little sunshine before I head home next week. There is a very large contingent of French Canadians here in this subdivision. I’ve been practicing my French and enjoying that wonderful French hospitality. We attended a come and go soiree last night. I ate some wonderful food! Today we were up at the crack of dawn and headed for the golf course. Since I don’t golf, I walked around with the other ladies who made a day of whacking that silly little ball around in the grass. Dee’s golf threesome was French, so I really did get some of the rough edges ironed out of my French. Some day I might try this game out. For now I’ll stick to tennis. I think I’ll just watch Dave and Dee for now.Everyone has their lights put up for Christmas. Some of the displays here in the park are phenomenal! All four of us walked around last night and enjoyed the light sights. My time here is going to go very quickly, but I intend to squeeze every drop of sunshine out of the days while I’m here! I haven’t seen my brother Jim in over a year and as I said earlier, this was his first travel venture in who knows how long. Maybe now he’s experienced air travel, he will come down and visit me in Texas. He has said he’d like to come in the summer when I’m off, but he has never had the joy of a Texas summer. I don’t think he would have enjoyed last summer’s heat at all!Russ says the post office has been really busy. That means you are sending love all around the country. I’m gad to hear that. I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas. Please pray for our country, our legislators and our wonderful troops and their families. May God please bless America. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!