I have been buried with work the last few weeks and haven't had a moment to spare. Here's wishing all of you a happy, healthy, holiday and a great two-thousand and eight.

Four Words in Four Colors

Joy
Peace
Love
Hope

Four words in four colors
Wishes all
For now and for tomorrow.

Shout out for my daughter

Today on LitPark Susan Henderson gave readers the opportunity to shout out something of themselves. I chose to shout out my 19-year-old daughter's blog Bella Voce. Elisabeth, or Elle-chan as we called her when she was born in Japan, delighted me last year when she exercised the freshman tradition and changed her major from political science to English. She hasn’t lost her political charge—as you will see when you read her review of Blood Diamond in her blog—but she has found her voice through writing. You may also remember my proud mama moment when I wrote of Elisabeth here back in September.

Give yourself a hug this holiday season.