We've gone a little crazy with Christmas cards and letters this year, finally getting a big batch of thank-you cards and letters into the mail today.

We had so many because so many people have been helpful to us this year, and contact with them has never seemed more important.

Let me be not the first to decry the over-commercialization of the holiday, and urge a return to the roots of the day of connecting with loved ones and celebrating what we have. Not many things make me feel warmer than reading in the paper about homeless people who had to sit in chairs last night and try to sleep since beds were generally full at shelters in the area.