Dear Pleasant Hill Families and Friends,

The holiday season is upon us, and while I tend to be a pretty nostalgic guy in general, there's something about the holidays that makes me, and probably most of us, reminisce about the past even more than we normally do.  Think about it...Who among us doesn't tell holiday stories about family members who are no longer with us?  Who doesn't remember being a kid and trying to stay up all night to see if Santa was going to show up (for me, it was always 50-50 on whether the big guy was coming at all as a result of some very questionable behavior on my part)?  Who doesn't share tales of how their father dragged them out of Christmas Eve Mass by their ear just because their new Chewbacca action figure was launched into the candle-scented air with a little too much gusto in the middle of the priest's homily and landed on top the altar?  What - am I alone on that one?  The point is, our holiday memories tend to be some of the most vivid and important ones we have.  They make us laugh, they make us happy, they make us who we are.

And while your children's focus these next few weeks will probably be centered on their most desired toys and gifts, you know as well as I do that in a few years, or even more distressingly - in a few months, they won't remember what it was they even received or much less why they wanted it in the first place.  Outside of a few truly spectacular gifts (the Dukes of Hazard Barn-Buster set was AWESOME!!!); I remember a mere fraction of all the "stuff" I received.  Instead, when your kids are all grown, they're much more likely to remember frozen fingers and noses from being outside hanging lights.  They're more likely to remember decorating cookies with heaps of colored sugar and treats.  They're more likely to remember hot chocolate and singing a few carols because music has a way of staying with us for a long time.  They're more likely to remember the feeling of their ear being darn-near torn from the side of their head and being terrified that the 50-50 chance of Santa coming had just dropped to 10:1...at best.  What...no one else? Alone again on that one apparently.

So in a very clich� and over-stated holiday message, but none less true, I wish you all the gift of togetherness.  I hope that you have all the time that you want, to do all the things that you want, with all the people that you want.  I hope that you get experiences rather than get stuff.  I hope that you are blessed with patience so when you overturn a throw-pillow to find a softball-sized hole burned into the upholstery of your sofa ringed with red melted wax from the Christmas candle that you told your son (or daughter) time and time again not to play with, you realize this it's not bad behavior, it's just another holiday memory in the making! 

Happy holidays everyone! Be warm, be safe, & be happy!

~Mr. Palcer

This month we are highlighting the two Board members whose position is recording secretary.  They co-chair this committee.