Try This easy holiday Recipe: "George's Cheerios" Bowl, spoon milk Cheerios 1 can aerosol light whipped cream (not the fake stuff) Pour Cheerios into bowl, add milk. Squirt on generous helping of whipped cream. Fold whipped cream into Cheerios and milk and enjoy. Serves one. Adds about 40 calories to a bowl of cheerios but beats the heck out a spoon full of sugar. (Admit it - you're thinking about trying this aren't you? Well go ahead! It is actually very tasty and strangely satisfying. You may find it makes it easier to pass up that 300 - calorie after-breakfast snack later.)

Newsletters and holiday fruitcake share an undeserved bad reputation. Actually both are a lot of fun and no one is forced to consume them. This web edition of our 2003 family newsletter is a bit more detailed than our print edition (which was limited to one page). Please accept our best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2004!

Lucas is home for the holiday; yesterday he took me to see the new Lord of the Rings movie, which was quite astounding and well worth the time. Today, Luke, Chris and I watched the first movie on DVD, which I recommend (instead of the theater) for this series, since they run long and you will need to get up and move around. Diane flitted in and out of the living room, proclaiming that she is not interested in the series while watching some particularly intense scenes. (These would not be good movies for little children. I have a review of the movie here.)

Diane and I went to Christmas eve service at the Mennonite church. I admit I really didn't pay attention to the service as it was pretty standard stuff. Instead I was thinking about that old Simon and Garfunkle version of "Silent Night" with the Vietnam war news overlayed on it, and how depressingly similar that is to the way things are right now. The resulting poem (bad poetry alert!) is the sort of thing that goes through my mind when I am imagining kids in Iraq, Afghanistan, or even in Bethlehem, for whom "Peace On Earth" must seem like a pretty distant idea.

Our Christmas has been very mellow, beginning with our tradition of French toast (not "freedom toast") but diverting from the usual gifts. That is, we have had an almost gift-less Christmas and found it liberating and very enjoyable. At least I did, you can ask Diane and the boys what they thought. I was just happy to be with my family.* As always I am ending Christmas day writing this newsletter.

Diane continues to work at Chesterbrook Academy, caring for little children. She gives the children a rich environment during the crucial early few years, talking, singing, playing games with them, speaking to them as equals. Those are some lucky kids to have her in their lives They'll enter school with unusually active, energetic minds without really knowing why. She also crochets and goes to the women's group at church, and loves watching Judging Amy on TV and reading historical romances. Every Saturday, we go to breakfast at a local restaurant just for fun. Diane's email address is diane@wiman.us

I continue to work at Illinois State University as a computer support specialist - a job I love and hope to continue (the Illinois State budget being a bit uncomfortably thin these days.) I am studying the Linux operating system, hoping to use it in our department for certain back-room functions. On the home front, my VW's new engine turned out to be no good, so I'm back to the (non-) starting line engine-wise and have begun work on another engine. I am also writing as much as I can, just for the practice. The idea is that if I write enough, I may get good at it - hey, it could happen. Most of the resulting prose ends up on my website and some in a manuscript I'm working on. My email address is george@wiman.us

Chris graduated high school this year, travelled to Arizona in July, and is now working on an Associate's degree at Heartland Community College. But that's like noting the Wright brothers for their work in bicycle repair: his deep work is his music, and I wish you could hear him play. In fact, I should not be surprised if, in the future everyone will get to hear him play. He is really amazing and wonderful. You can email Chris at chris@wiman.us

Lucas typed his own paragraph for the newsletter (in third-person, no less) . . .
"Lucas is a student at the University of Illinois in Urbana, majoring in math. He's running a book business out of his apartment, though he may have to get a real job sooner or later. For the past seven months, he's been working on an open conjecture in combinatorics called Frankl's conjecture with a fellow student. He's had intermittent bouts of belief in success, always dashed by cold hard reality. Only his belief in the indomitability of the human spirit keeps him going. Whether Lucas' spirit is really human is a topic of considerable debate among researchers, but it is indomitable, anyway. He recently bought a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper, whose cap said "G9Z8W7Q $500", but the winning code was LW3HX92. On the plus side, reports that Diet Dr. Pepper tastes more like regular Dr. Pepper were confirmed. The soda was thoroughly enjoyed. Total calories consumed: 0." (Luke's email is lucas@wiman.us )

*Alas, we have not heard from Joe for the second year. As far as we know he just wants to be let alone, and we're respecting that but we miss him terribly. (Joe, wherever you are, we think of you often and hope you are doing OK.)

Well, that's pretty much all the news that's fit to letter, and for those who suffered through the whole thing, stop by for some fruitcake, as you have a strong tolerance for holiday traditions. Our best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

George, Diane, Lucas & Chris
Christmas Day, 2003

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