Merry Christmas to all! It's great to have some days off out of the ordinary routines of life to travel and be with friends and family. We celebrated the gathering of our clan over Thanksgiving (my five sons are scattered about the country in Miami, Ohio, Michigan and Virginia) so for Christmas I flew up to Boston for a two day stay with dear friends Bart and Heather. Bart is responsible for inviting me in to disaster rebuilding with volunteers biness. I'm actually so glad that he did, since I really feel that I've found my calling. I've been in construction forevever but only working with and teaching volunteers since 2005. Bart invited me to come down to Biloxi, Ms. just after Hurricane Katrina and I went for a week but stayed 2 1/2 years. I also couldn't say no to Bart's request that I help him build four houses in Port Sulphur Louisiana earlier this year. While I was there, I lived with Bart and his family at the other end of their trailer. At that time their only child was Miss Allysa who turned two while I was there. She is very sharp and observant child but hadn't yet started talking much. During this visit, I noticed a big increase in her vocabulary and willingness to speak to one of her favorite uncles. The main purpose of the visit too was to meet newly arrived (2 months ago) her little brother, young Braydon. I would have to say that the highpoint of the visit was lying on the couch with this precious little human being sleeping on my chest. And , I guess for me it was nice too to have that experience without having to feed or change him every few hours. Heather is doing a great job with that. She is on maternity leave from her job with HP until March. Well, OK, I guess Bart helps with that too. On my short stay there, Bart and I went for a visit to the Peabody museum and toured a home that was originally built in China that was taken apart piece by piece and reconstructed as part of the museum exhibit. Yesterday then Bart dropped me off at the T (commuter rail line) in Salem and I rode into Nawth Station where I was met by my older sister Anne. First stop was out to Kelly's to have some awesome clam chowder. MMMM! That's why they call it New England clam chowder. We then walked around downtown Boston for a bit, did some last minute shopping and attended 5:00 Christmas eve service at St. Paul's church in Cambridge together with Anne's longtime friend, Mikki. We are all going to the movie today called War Horse. Still no white Christmas yet but they say there's a chance this afternoon. Trying not to rush and live in the moment, but busy times ahead when I return to T-town tommorrow. 3 houses to finish up, a volunteer camp to make ready, some flooring to repair on Dana's house (oops, plumbing leak) and , oh by the way, I bought a house there and am moving out of Brandon,s basement! Happy New Year to all- Love, Peter