Hi Steve,

Thanks for starting this thread.

We had a holiday party last night for some friends - only 11 in all ... 3 couldn't come because they were sick. Anyway, I had thought about how to do it that would be nice but would not exhaust me. So we bought all the food except the chile - which I made. We bought bbq pork from "Famous Dave's" plus salads from the grocery store, and cookies & dessert from the bakery. ALso used all disposable plates and utensils. We had a grand time - it was beautiful mild night. We ate outside on the back patio and afterwards brought our chairs around the firepit and talked and drank hot chocolate. And at the very end, my husband, bless him, did all the cleanup after I'd collapsed in bed.

I sent the "stem cells from baby teeth" information to my niece, who has a young child, and to neighbors, who have grandchildren. They said they'll be sure to follow up and donate the teeth when the time comes.

I forgot to add ... this past week and this coming week I'm working on a photo project. I'm scanning in old family photos for a Christmas gift for my father. My older brother died many years ago at age 15. He collapsed and died from an undiagnosed heart defect (possibly Marfan's) while playing basketball . My father, who now has Alzheimer's, now grieves continuously and simply wishes to die and go to heaven so he can be with my brother. So my Christmas gift to my dad will be one of those digital photo albums. My project now is to scan in old photos of my brother for the frame. It's bittersweet - you never truly recover from a loss like that. I'm happy to do this for my dad, but oh it's so sad for me as I do it.

Best wishes to everyone!