I’m not sure what happened to that image, so here’s that first page in Word:

Christmas Letter 2000

In looking back at the fastest year in history, I find that most of my time was spent working and being sick.  Boy, what fun that was.  I had a three-week trial in January that pushed me to my physical limits.  That resulted in a hung jury so we had to try it again in July.  My response to that was to quit before July, and in June, when I found out one of my attorneys was leaving and I knew my work load would increase, I just snapped and started packing.  My office manager stopped me and told me to take the rest of the week off and recoup.  That was my only week off all year.  I really have to find a new line of work, preferably something at home.  I’m thinking of writing.  It’s a loner sort of job, which is my strong suit.

On a happier note, recall, for a moment, last year’s card when Patrick was semi-naked as the New Year’s babe.  In February, we had an appointment to get our photos done for the church directory.  When I was explaining to Patrick where we were going and what we were going to do, he looked up at me and said, “OK, Mema, but I’m not going to be naked.” 

In March, we decided every boy needs a playmate and since siblings are out of the picture, we decided to get Patrick a pet.  We bought a 10-week old Chocolate Labrador puppy, who clocked out at 34 pounds at the time.  Patrick named him Buddy.  His birthday is 12/21 and he now weighs in at 100 pounds.  Unfortunately, he thinks he’s a lap dog and follows me around constantly.  Now it’s just a parade everywhere I go; me then Patrick then Buddy.  I can’t turn around very fast or I cause a pile-up.

In June, we signed Patrick up on a T-ball team at John’s old Catholic elementary school. There were about 20 kids on the team and the entire team takes the field – but only the infield.  They’re all standing on the dirt.  The grassy outfield is totally empty.  The coaches draw circles on the infield and place the kids in them.  Only one circle has a designation and that’s pitcher.  The other kids are supposed to get the ball back to the pitcher after it’s hit.  Well.