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Advent 2001 Dear Everyone, Greetings of the season to you all. I am doing well, and hope you are, too. We've been having unseasonably warm weather, which suits me but is bringing complaints from people who think Christmastime absolutely has to be cold. The year here has been another one of ups and downs. My businesses have had some setbacks, even before the events of September 11. That was made much less of a problem in late August, when I went back to work part-time for the law firm. Their secretary left to take another position, so they asked if I would like to come back. I am delighted to be back there. There is one more attorney than there had been when I last worked there in 1999, but the work is very similar. It didn't take long before I felt at home (approximately ten minutes, and that taken up with getting the desk chair and computer set to my preferences). Most of you know about the Rebeccaworks site, which is the online home of most of Rebecca of Many Trades. What some of you may not know of, since it's new this year, is my second business site, Counsel Giver. The short explanation of that one is that it's something I've wanted to do for a long time---help everyday people with life issues. Please look at it, and take the time to read through the essays you'll find there. A couple of the essays there are by my friend David Gwynn. David and I started out knowing each other online, and had the pleasure of meeting when he was back in North Carolina on vacation in the spring. Speaking of online things, I had a chance in May to help bust an Internet hoax open. It had to do with a pair of websites ostensibly written by a mother and daughter, about the daughter's health problems. The daughter supposedly died on a Monday in May. After someone else questioned the story, earlier in the year, I had read the archives of the sites and was convinced they were fiction. Following the "death," I got a friend, Saundra Walters, involved. She knows a whole lot more about investigating than I do. And the upshot was that a woman in the midwest had written both sites, and there was not any truth to them. I was delighted to help bring that to light, because I despise lies. Something else that I'm quite pleased about is my association with a local author, Erika V. Shearin Karres. We met after I had done some word processing for her husband a couple of years ago. She has written three books, all very different. I helped with research on the first and the third (which will be published this coming spring), and did some copy editing work on the third one, too. The second, her memoir, A German Tale, didn't need any research, but I have helped with its publicity. Information about her books can be found online at Amazon.com, or at your local bookstores and libraries. For the most part, I've been too busy making ends meet this year to do much for pure recreation. I have had a few chances to get together with friends and relatives in Chapel Hill, but I haven't done any traveling. As in, the furthest I've been from my home was an afternoon trek to Durham (about twelve miles). And that was on business. I hope to change that in 2002. May there be peace, good health, and prosperity in the new year.
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