Saturday marked my triumphant return to Minnesota. I found it essentially as I had left it four weeks ago, with one minor change: Minneapolis has snow! We’re going to have a white Christmas after all.

I did some last minute gift shopping today. The good people of the Metro area were out en masse with me. Procrastination seems to be the operative word. I am reminded of a quote from a Cheerios cereal box: "The real joy is not in doing nothing, but in having lots to do and not doing it."