I told Twitter that I like Friday-the-13th because we had two birthdays on the 13th of a month: my late husband's and my daughter Kate's. So I considered it a lucky date. I found some nice words you'll never use but might like to know about the thirteenth.

"The word for fear of Friday the 13th is "paraskavedekatriaphobia." The word for fear of the number 13 is "triskaidekaphobia." Located near Philadelphia is the Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Center, an organization that hosts parties centered on confronting common phobias like walking under a ladder and opening an umbrella indoors."

I found that online under 13 Fun Facts about Friday the Thirteenth. (Who does those things? What is their job description?)

I'm not doing well today, though, a bit jumpy and restless. If I do better,I'll try again. Perhaps it's a good time to write my generic. (one size fits all)

I missed being thoughtful (about remembering) yesterday. I meant to do it last night but my picky, favourite dinner guest called and asked to share dinner with me and we talked till 11 o’clock. I always clean up before I go to bed; it makes the morning easier to leap (crawl?) into. So here we are: I emptied the dishwasher and I’m checking in before I swim at 6. You don’t have to know all that but I have to settle myself .

When did the habit begin of writing a letter to accompany a Christmas card? I’m not sure whether it continues in such large proportions now as it used to. What with email and a dearth of time, communications are not as generous as they used to be. I wonder if in the future there will be entire books devoted to an e-correspondence between two articulate people. I wonder if people will be as articulate.

That’s another discussion. Right now I bring up Christmas letters because I have to figure out what to do about them. I had extended my seasonal group letters to other times of the year. I called them generic letters because they were aimed (rather than focused) at a number of people and were neither gender nor seasonal specific. Then I began to send my generic letters online, although I had to print and mail some to friends who were not computer-friendly or literate - computer-literate, that is.

Now I write daily (almost) blogs and I have just added Twitter and I still keep a diary, though I fear it has descended to a Nag Book. So what happens to my generic letters ? Should I mail copies of a relevant blog to people who enjoy receiving something other than a fund-raising pitch? Should I revert to writing a summary of The Year That Was? Or should I quit?

I have to swim now....