I laughed with joy when I saw the photo of my dear friend Gul's beautiful little girl Ayla in the holiday greeting card she sent, complete with scribbles and the greeting that she misses me and wants to paint with me again. (Her little pink barrettes, and her long slender arms -- she's grown so much, she's not a baby anymore.) And then, I had the sudden and unexpected reaction of breaking down crying, hard. I want a little girl . . .

And I also want to hear from my sweetie.

And I think I've been pushing myself pretty close to the edge the past couple of weeks. And today was. . . a hard day.

I'll be good to be at home, methinks.

I got a card from Debs, too. Oh, I love the photos. You all look so nice. Mal looks so pretty in her dress with that beautiful necklace. And I can't get over what a sweet young man Michael is.

Even my neighbor sent me a Christmas card. And I still have the card sitting here I wrote and addressed to Sandy when she was in the hospital. I just can't keep up with correspondence anymore. It's so depressing, how life passes you by. I look in the mirror and wonder how another year has passed. At least my hair is growing back.