This month we're spending our time doing our Texas chores (registering the car, jury duty, . . .) and a lot of information tasks, for example taking 
King William District home
tens of thousands of computer files and converting them to common formats (rtf, pdf, xls, jpg, . . . ) and storing them; we're also scanning our scrapbook pictures into the computer. If we're successful, and live long enough, our kids will not be faced with drawers and boxes full of musty old papers and pictures, but rather with a hard disk drive full of computer files. Either way there's lots of history to read, but our lives will conveniently fit in a 5x8x2 inch box (or even smaller these days). We're also working away on genealogical studies, so we find ourselves with huge backogs of paper to process! But we continue to have fun. Did you know that (at least in Texas) if you stay more than 30 days in one hotel they don't charge you room tax? That's in addition to a reduced monthly rate, so we're happy with that. We do have a kitchen, but most of the tables are covered with computers and paper, so we're not doing any elaborate cooking!
We do feel a little guilty about not sending you the frequent letters as we do when we're doing a lot of sightseeing, so we'll tell you what there 
View from the South
is to tell. We have had lunch at the Tip Top on Fredericksburg Road, with enormous chicken-fried steak and melt-in-your-mouth onion rings, but (obviously) not for the health-conscious! We've also enjoyed homemade tamales at our Residence Inn. We've done our Xmas shopping and mailed our packages and ridden the bus (very good city bus system here) and walked a little bit in the historic King William district, where they could use some more money to fix up the lovely old nineteenth century homes.
Our cousin Barb and her husband Bob came up from San Benito to spend the evening in San Antonio. We exchanged CD-ROMs and papers of family history, and then had a delightful time on the River Walk. We've enclosed a few photos of the River Walk, as decorated for Christmas, and we have a few more to email to those who request them. Quite a few of the passing river boats were full of carolers, and we sat outside next to the water and were entertained as we enjoyed Mexican-style dinners. If you don't know about the River Walk, you really must plan a visit to this friendly South Texas city.
The weather is mild, but all the locals shiver and put on jackets as soon as the temperature falls below 60! Traffic has been busy but generally reasonable, although some of the Texans do seem to speed and tailgate quite often. We're learning the surface streets, which are generally quieter.