Every December revisits the (mostly) good-natured debate over holiday letters: those page-length greetings, ranging in tone from a chatty but generic personal letter to a message from a corporate annual report, that families send along with their Christmas cards. If your stack of end-of-year greetings included, in between the cards from the Webers and the Websters, a letter from those go-getters in the Webservices family, what might they have to say about 2004?
Dear Friends,
Gosh, its been quite a year for all of us. We opened the year with a resolution to make more time for what matters most: As 2005 beckons, our friends the DoDders (the ones with that cute five-sided house back east) have called our bluff with a friendly challenge to make it real. Wed love to tell you more, but you know those DoDders: always touchy about keeping their secrets, even when it seems like theyre just going through the motions. But theyre great folks, and we expect to spend a lot more time with them in the future.
Weve been thinking about getting a new address: We like our current place just fine, but people have a hard time finding their way to us unless they come back right after they leave. Well, weve been working with our realtor, and were getting pretty close to deciding what we want, so maybe next year well be easier to visit.
Family tensions are under control, not like in some past years when people werent even on speaking terms. There have been some pretty bad times for Uncle Jetty and Aunt Netty, but theyre talking to each other more often and it seems as if theyre really trying to get along.
We have to admit that the year has had its disappointments: Our long-planned trip to the Longhorn Ranch looks as far away as ever, so the kids are asking if we can go somewhere closer soon. While were at it, we might pick a safer destination. We dont mind an adventure once in a while, but sometimes its easier (and less expensive) just to spend time with our friends.
Hoping that 2005 brings you wonderful things,
The Webservices
The eWEEK Excellence Awards for 2004 are now accepting entries. The deadline for submitting entries is Jan. 31, 2005. For more information go to www.excellenceawardsonline.com.
Send me your holiday letters at peter_coffee@ziffdavis.com
Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis in Web services.