Apart from the usual requirements of morning ablutions, getting dressed and eating breakfast, I am seized by a major reluctance to do anything.

Oh, that is not to say that there aren't lots of tasks awaiting me: a letter to Batty (first on my To Do list), then clean the upstairs bathroom (you can imagine its priority on my list), review bills for payment before January 1st (always a joy), clean the litter box (the cats will make sure I don't forget) and last of all, write thank-you notes for Christmas gifts to those family members who 'count coup' in the matter of such things--who has thanked whom, whose home has hosted dinner so many times, etc.

The whole concept is a little foreign to me, since I love to be generous, I would give all I have to whoever needed it, if it were possible to do so and not go naked and hungry myself, and don't want or expect thank-you notes. What is it with tit-for-tat giving? You gave me something worth $30, so I have to give you something of equal or greater value. My husband subscribes to that last one, and it drives me crazy. I give a gift because I think the person will like it, and the cost is immaterial (is that an oxymoron?).

I suppose I should get to the letter writing now, while the cat has absented herself from the desk (sleeping on my bills and papers is her birthright, you know). Then, maybe do other tasks, though I imagine at some point I will have to undertake my caregiver duties and chauffeur Norm around the stores today. I'll bring an Analog to read while I wait for him.

I'd rather read at home in my comfy chair with Misty keeping my lap warm, a cup of coffee at my elbow. I really don't want to be any more ambitious than that.