I told you that when we discussed this before. I think this is important. So unless it annoys you, or feels suffocating, or something like that, I wan... to keep doing it.”“I like it, Tiger, but it takes so much time from your day.”“And if I can’t take time for you, Kara, and the kids, then my priorities are totally wrong. This will be a crazy month and we’ll have to work hard at that. This is one little thing I can do to show you how much I love you.”“You have a BIG thing to show me how much you. ” ________________ Three hours into laundry and my mother and I are having a great time. We made coffee and my mom had bought a pie the day before, so we picked at that. We talked about her work and how her and dad have been doing and my brothers. I told her about school and things that had been going on in my life and then I decided it was time for some advice. “Mom,” I asked with a worried tone in my voice. I was afraid that she would get mad or give me advice I did not want to hear. I needed. But I always felt in the way when I visited all those happy couples. Last year, when I still had a significant other, I spent the holidays with two pairs of my closest friends. But now that I'm single again, I insist on spending Christmas alone. Is that logic for you, or what?I sat in the window watching it snow for a couple of hours before going to bed. In New York, the snow turns gray within hours, but just now, in it's pristine whiteness, it was enchanting. Several of my neighbors were. He could tell us which ones are likely to open their doors and which ones are trouble. I still wasn’t interested. I wasn’t sure what grift meant but he explained it was a type of con. “There is the long grift where you set someone up and it takes a while and then there are short little tricks where you make a little bit here and there,” he said.“We don’t plan to make this a career,” I assured him.“Do you see any time cards out here? This is no job, this is survival. I’ll coach you and you will.