I’m always glad to see Christmas come and then glad to see it leave. It is a time for family holidays. Our family does an overkill on the gift giving. Our Christmas tree is overloaded with presents and even overflows our living room. Actually, we have just about everything we want, so I don’t know where or why we give so much. The Christmas dinner is always a treat!

I need a break from poker. I’ve been on a terrible losing streak. I broke my own rule. I’ve always said if you lose four or five times in a row, you should always take a break. But, the games look good and I couldn’t stop, and I’ve paid the price by losing seven out of the last eight plays. I won’t get close to another poker table until 2010.

If anyone is a Nostradamus fan, the History Channel has a program on DVD called, The New Book of Nostradamus. It seems a book that nobody knew existed was found containing more of his predictions.

The Vatican in Rome supposedly had the book in a secret vault because Nostradamus predicted the fall of the Catholic Church. Previously in his Quatrains, Nostradamus predicted things like Napoleon, Hitler, 9-11, the death of the Kennedy brothers and many more events that took place after his death in the late 1500’s. It’s really scary when in both his Quatrains and the recently found new book, he predicts the earth will end in 2012. Something to do with the alignment of the planets and today’s astronomers agree there is reason to be concerned. Oh well, nothing we can do about it.

As the year winds down, I can’t help reflecting on the past. The thing that bothers me the most is the foolish things I did when I was young and the fact I can’t go back and do them again. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good, and when it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.