The past two days have been really enjoyable ones at school, a Math Dept party on Monday, a Guidance Dept buffet yesterday, gifts from several of my current students (thanks Priscilla, Mimi, Jason, Annie, Sally, Jon, Titas, Andrew, Mandi and Sach!) and visits from many of my favorite students from past years. It was great seeing Stefanie, Dhara, Seema, Naeema, Steph, Monisha, and especially spending a long time chatting with Preeti and Agnes.

Now begins the family portion of Christmas, with my entire clan gathering at David’s house tonight, 17 of us plus assorted spouses and significant others. Each of us is bringing part of the meal, my portion being the seafood salad and bread. Just like the Math Dept grab-bag we had Monday, each member of the family also buys for one other person. I was happy to buy books for both math teachers that Jean and I selected, but that is not possible tonight since we selected non-readers. So what good is a Christmas without a new book? ☺

Merry Christmas, everybody!