Evidently most of you have been naughty, because Santa did not get very many letters from you all. However, he did really enjoy the ones he did receive.

He wanted me to give a shout out to Eva for the treats, and the water for the reindeer (much appreciated). Also, to Dawn for the cheese…Santa says it’s nice to see something different after 349 billion cookies. Ti, Santa says not to worry…no coal in your stocking. And he’s looking forward to his stop at your house this evening, as he’s got some presents for the kids. Sarah, Santa says Mrs. Claus is a big Emily Dickinson fan, and he’s impressed by your scholarly diligence. Jo-Jo, Santa is verrrrrrrry impressed with your charitable efforts and he wishes you a very Merry Christmas. And Veens, Santa very much enjoyed meeting you, and visiting India!

Finally, beastmomma, Santa is so happy you made it home safely for the holidays. He says you are always invited for the holidays. In fact, he’d like to invite you to pick out your book!

That’s right, the winner of the very first “write a letter to Santa contest” is beastmomma. Woo-hoo! No need to decide right away what book you’d like, but if you’d let me know sometime in the next week, that would be just spiffy. And if you could email me with your address, that would be even spiffier. For the others mentioned above (Eva, Dawn, Ti, Sarah, Jo-Jo and Veens), I’ll send you a book from the book closet, if there is anything you are interested in. First come, first serve, though…so check the comments before you lay claim to a book. Thanks to everyone for being silly with me!

As for the rest of you, well, there’s a whole new year coming up. Plenty of time to be nice and work on your letter to Santa!