It's over. The holiday that has the least meaning for me is done for this year. As a child my mother would always carry on about how this was a Yankee holiday and how silly it was to be cooking Turkey which she didn't like. It was also probably silly to her because all her family was in the South. So after fretting about Turkey, she would set up the card table and we would wrap Christmas presents for the dozens of cousins in the south.

Done. During one period of my life we used to forego Turkey totally and cook a huge steak and just go to the movies. That was very relaxing and the movies were never crowded. This year was almost like that. No trips to Arizona, although just before Thursday, I began thinking that we should be in sync with millions of our fellow americans and take to the road. But sanity prevailed. No warm weather, no family and no incredibly long flight. Next year I am hoping that we can persuade everyone to go to California. Or Vienna. Wouldn't that be nice?

On Thanksgiving We took Miss Murray to the Park, went to the gym and saw a new kids movie, Bolt, which was a pretty funny send up of the movie industry and then had dinner at about 6. I had to work on Friday but since we closed early, very early, it was a stolen day. that day Kate and Lile went skating on the Museum's new eco rink and then we all had dinner together. Saturday Kate had a playdate/sleepover and we had a playdate for dinner with friends. All very relaxing and seeming like lots of down town. Read books, went to the Library, fretted about conditions in Mumbai and then went out for a celebratory lunch with Kate to a cuban restaurant with live music after her tutoring. She is doing so well with the Hunter test prep. I think this test is always a scene but this year with so much economic upheaval it will really be a madhouse. Actually we went to the main library that has just mounted a show about Yaddow which is very text heavy but quite interesting. As interesting was trying to explain to Kate why people wrote such long letters. Arnie said the modern equivalent is blogging. Hard for her to realize that there was a world with typewriters and no computers....

Now I'm on to Christmas. On Donner and Blitzen....