First post from home, last post of 2008?

My brother and father joined us here in Syracuse for Christmas, which has been great.  We've eaten a lot of food (including the obligatory Indian feast on Christmas day) and played a lot of games--they both leave tomorrow, so we're planning to cram a few more in this afternoon.

My brother turned out to have a spare wireless card, so now I'm happily pilfering internet from an unknown neighbor!  We'll see whether this increases the rate at which I manage to post...

We're expecting other friends (and dogs) on Monday, and then we'll go up to VT on Thursday to see PoC's family.  That's like 2 weeks of Christmas!

Two pieces of end-of-year news, one good, one bad:  My brother will be leaving in a month to go to South Africa with the Peace Corps.  After his training is done he'll find out where, exactly, he's being placed, but it will likely be in an organization that is fighting the spread of HIV-AIDS.  I think this is an amazingly interesting opportunity for him, and I'm hoping he'll get internet access (somehow) so we can hear all about it. 

Bad news:  we've just learned that the son of a former co-worker of ours has been diagnosed with leukemia at age 15.  So, if you've got any spare prayers, send them out towards Pat in Vermont.  The co-worker was very supportive of us 2 years ago in VT (PoC's injury and my mother's death) and they're a really nice family.  I'm hoping we can see them while we're up there, though we may need to wait for a better time to visit.

I wish you the best for 2009; even if I haven't seen you in a while, you're in my thoughts!