Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Okay, okay, I know all of you are tired of hearing this from me, but the time has come to stop sending gifts for Katie.

I know I sound like an ogre, but we have a steady stream of toys and the like coming into the house every year.

…..and every year I seem to throw out or “donate” a majority of it to neighboring kids, charities or the DUMP!

I know all of you have the best of intentions and you think it odd not to give “gifts”, but Katie has a more urgent need to start saving for college!

With that in mind I have set up a college fund for her at eTrade. How grown up of me, you say? Why, YES IT IS!

So, all of the monies that Katie receives from friends and relatives will go into this fund to save for college. Lucky for her, unlucky for the government, the money grows tax free, which she will truly appreciate when applying to New York University, or Harvard…maybe even BROWN!

Oh, but we still like all of the clothes that Tacy sends us. They’re “cool”, as Katie says.

Anyway, we have added a button on our website for people to make cash or credit card donations to her college fund. These monies will be deposited directly into Katie’s new 529 account.

And, as always, cash in the mail is great too!

Now, I hope you all take this with a grain of salt, and realize that I’m not a “mean mommy”, just a forward thinking, financially responsible mother with a TEENY TINY HOUSE!

Oh, and WE REALLY LOVE YOU ALL!

Sincerely,

Melissa & Katie Hill

Katie recently picked me as a very important person in her life, so I got to spend a few hours with her in her classroom.....it was VERY cute. The kids were all so proud of the things that they were learning, and VERY eager to show them off. :) We got to have our picture taken together. It was great! She is getting SO big.....that must mean that I am getting so OLD! Crap.

I still haven't started studying for the PE, but I WILL.......eventually. I have promised my Firm that I will pass, and if I don't.....well, we won't think about that.

Most of my friends are aware that my father is suffering from liver disease, and is on the wait list for a donor. We are all praying for him, and he's spunky as ever. Over Thanksgiving dinner he was still scolding me for my construction-worker-type language that seems to get worse every year........We love you, DAD!

Thanksgiving at mom's this year was nice. We all made it together, which is getting to be a feat, since there are SEVENTEEN of us now. And Jennifer came to visit from Phoenix, so it was nice to have her with us, as well. Mom & Jen finally bonded, which was nice. :) Way to go, RITA!

My newest love?......JOE Jr. I got a GREAT new laptop....and got sucked into Unreal Tournament 2003.....IT'S AWESOME! I haven't been playing the games much, because with winter comes colds....and Katie's been a little under the weather lately, which means I have to swap free time for working. :)

I do love the laptop, though, because it has saved me so much time & effort, with taking work home, etc.