Deborah Woehr

This time last year, my husband and I were surprised when we opened our front door in time to see his best friend driving away. Then we saw what he’d left–-a six-pack of Spaten (sp?) beer for my husband. It didn’t stop there. The next night, we found two bottles of Pepsi (my favorite drink) sitting on our doorstep.

Then, on Christmas Eve morning, we received a visit from our other friends, a couple we met when our sons started kindergarten. They brought over a tin of treats and visited with us for about 30 minutes. When they left, my husband and I looked at each other. We felt like shit because we hadn’t done anything except throw up the Christmas tree and the lights on our rental. I hadn’t even bothered with cards.

We were going through a low period, having lost my father-in-law the prior summer. I think they knew that and were trying to cheer us up. It worked.

This year we’re in a much better frame of mind. Yesterday, I whipped up at least ten dozen (lost track) of cookies and plan to bake more today. Beer Claus didn’t realize that he had started a tradition.

As for the Christmas cards, I didn’t bother. I’m not sure whether I’m lazy or just cheap. But I did send eCards to my family, including my sons. They got a big kick out of it this morning.

Cheers, everyone!