Friday, December 26th, 2007, 3:00 p.m.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Here's what it looked like from my office window at our home on Topinabee Island. These were taken Christmas Eve morning. If you look close, you can see the mainland in the distance . . .

Christmas day was a lot of fun, however, Scooby-Boo wanted to nap:

And Lily Munster stole Mrs. Chillers' brand new slippers!

Like last year, we spent a few hours on Christmas day at AuSable Valley Animal Shelter, walking the dogs and spending time with them. Here's Mrs. Chillers with Hercules . . .

These puppies love Megan . . .

I took Fred for a walk. Fred is great!

Mrs. Chillers tempts Anya with a treat:

Gabe is one of the coolest dogs at the shelter. Very unique looking, and very, very smart:

One of the cats that has the run of the place . . .

All of the above dogs (and more!) are available for adoption. If you're interested, please call (989) 348-4117.

When we got home, Scooby-Boo the champion counter-surfer had been at it again! Mrs. Chillers made a big chocolate cake topped with raspberries. Well, Scooby-Boo got up on the counter and ate half of it! We were sure the cake had been pushed back far enough, but Scooby-Boo still got to it. Well, it wasn't long before she puked it up. Hope she learns her lesson. (I doubt it!)

Later, we visited with relatives. Here's Bernie, Scooby-Boo's buddy . . .

And when we got home last night, Lily Munster and Scooby-Boo were playing with their new toys . . .

Went to town this morning . . . got a flat tire on my Jeep on our way home. I've changed tires before; no big deal. But this time, I had two problems: 1) the jack beneath the seat was missing a few parts (I've never used it before, and was unaware of this) and 2) my right arm is in no shape to be lifting the tire. Thankfully, a guy came along and not only had a jack we could use, but he helped change the tire and put the spare on the back. His name is John, and I hope he reads this and knows how thankful we are. You rock. Thanks for the help!

Taking it easy today. Dogs are still going bananas with their new toys. All's well in Chillerville!

Best wishes, happy reading, and . . . WRITE ON!