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The MLB offseason's best signings and trades don't always include the biggest names.

So, apologies to Clayton Kershaw and Robinson Cano, who are both undeniably among the best players in all of baseball. However, Kershaw's $215 million haul and Cano's $240 million payday are simply too exorbitant to be described as the Amazon Deal Online of the offseason.

The list does include some top-tier free agents who scored payouts well above $100 million. There's also room in the rankings for an array of lower-profile players who could prove to be absolute bargains.

With those considerations in mind, here's a power ranking of the MLB offseason's 25 best signings and trades.

Note: Stats via Baseball Reference.com unless otherwise noted. All salary information via Cot's Baseball Contracts on BaseballProspectus.com.

Book News: Amazon Wants To Ship Products Before You Even Buy Them

• amazon books has patented "anticipatory package shipping," a system that ships products before customers have actually bought them - based on what it predicts they will buy. The Verge explains: "Amazon plans to box and ship products it expects customers to buy preemptively, based on previous searches and purchases, wish lists, and how long the user's cursor hovers over an item online. The company may even go so far as to load products onto trucks and have them 'speculatively shipped to a physical address' without having a full addressee."
• E. L. Doctorow tells The New York Timesabout his reading habits: "Sometimes I put books down that are good but that I see too well what the author is up to. As you practice your craft, you lose your innocence as a reader. That's the one sad thing about this work."
• Biologist and author Lewis Wolpert has admitted using other writers' work without attribution in two of his books. In a statement quoted in The Observer, Wolpert said: "I acknowledge that I have been guilty of including some unattributed material in my last book to be published, You're Looking Very Well (2011) and in the initial version of my yet unpublished book Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?. This lack of attribution was totally inadvertent and due to carelessness on my part. It in no way reflects on my publishers, Faber and Faber, and I take full responsibility. When downloading material from the internet as part of my research, and coming back to it after a gap of maybe weeks or sometimes months, I simply did not recall that I had not written these passages myself." Wolpert added that he "would never ever knowingly claim someone else's material as my own."

The Best Books Coming Out This Week:

• Richard Powers' Orfeo holds some of the most beautiful music writing you'll ever encounter. In the book, Peter Elds, a composer who spends his evenings playing with DNA in his home lab, is suspected of bioterrorism and goes on the run. He wants "only one thing before he dies: to break free of time and hear the future." Powers is the king of the elegantly unexpected adjective: a stillborn smile, a curt ratatouille, stark raving mod. The finale of Mozart's Jupiter "spills out into the world like one of those African antelopes that fall from the womb, still wet with afterbirth but already running." Powers spoke to NPR's Audie Cornish last week: "The great beauty of being a novelist is that you can spend three or four or five years vicariously pursuing those imaginary Walter Mitty-like lives that you never got to pursue in the real world. I do have a stack of youthful compositions sitting on the bottom of my closet, so it was a great pleasure to spend these years working on this book - not just rediscovering the 20th century and this avant-garde tradition, but also to imagine myself into the life of somebody who sees and hears and feels the world through sound."
• The Poetry of Derek Walcott 1948-2013 spans the Nobel laureate's long career, from 25 Poems, which he published as a teenager, to his latest collection, White Egrets. The collection is edited by the poet Glyn Maxwell, who once wrote of Walcott's poetry: "The verse is constantly trembling with a sense of the body in time, the self slung across metre, whether metre is steps, or nights, or breath, whether lines are days, or years, or tides." Walcott is at his greatest when he writes about the sea - which he does constantly - as in a section from The Prodigal:

"When we were boys coming home from the beach,

it used to be such a thing! The body would be singing

with salt, the sunlight hummed through the skin

and a fierce thirst made iced water

a gasping benediction, and in the plated heat,

stones scorched the soles, and the cored dove hid

in the heat-limp leaves, and we left the sand

to its mutterings, and the long, cool canoes."

5 Cheap Ways to Buy Global Growth in 2014

Jeff Reeves, Editor of InvestorPlace.com

There's a lot of talk about how U.S. stocks have run up a lot in 2013, and that valuations are getting a bit stretched.

Right now the S&P 500 trades for a current P/E of about 19.9 and a forward P/E of 16.3 based on data from Finviz.com. And investors should easily be able to name a few stocks that trade for tremendous earnings multiples - Amazon ( AMZN), Twitter ( TWTR) and Tesla ( TSLA) being the prime examples.

So will the run continue for these stocks? Maybe. After all, multiple expansion is the hallmark of a bull market and its not necessarily a sign of disaster to see high-growth companies trading at big valuations. I mean, AMZN stock is up 44% in the last year and 600% since 2009 with barely a downtick despite trading at a steep premium to earnings.

But if you're an investor who wants to look for some value investments as well as some growth investments, you may have to look overseas for companies trading at deep discounts to earnings, sales or book value.

Here are 5 cheap countries to consider, and the ETFs and stocks that will let you play them - without making a single trade on foreign stock exchanges:

Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, http://investorplace.com/2014/01/5-cheap-ways-Promotional Code-global-growth-2014/.

©2014 InvestorPlace Media, LLC

Transaero Airlines started Discount Class

Jan 18, 2014

Transaero Airlines started to offer a new low-cost product called Deal Today Class.
Discount class is offered on certain Transaero flights from Moscow Domodedovo airport on a number of popular domestic and international routes including those to London, Berlin, Vienna, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Tel Aviv, Vilnius, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Krasnodar, Mineralnye Vody, Novosibirsk, Novy Urengoy, Omsk, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Stavropol, Ufa, Khanty-Mansiysk, Kiev, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Astana, Almaty, Karaganda, Yerevan, Antalya.

During the first day of the service launch, the airline carried about 5,000 passengers on 54 Discount Class flights on Boeing 737 and Tu-214 aircraft.

All seats on specified flights are sold according to Discount Class rules. The ticket fares include, in accordance with the Russian Federal Aviation Rules, free drinks and food or meals depending on flight length. Passengers are also offered a choice of newspapers and an opportunity to buy duty-free goods onboard. However, Discount Class passengers won't be able to order special meals. Passengers on these flights can carry 10, 15 or 20 kilos of luggage, depending on tariff of the purchased ticket.

Members of the Transaero Privilege frequent flyer programme may earn points travelling in Discount Class at a 50% rate. They can also get reward tickets for these flights.

The new product by Transaero Airlines guarantees a reasonable balance of comfort and affordable ticket prices.

Transaero Airlines is the second-largest passenger airline in Russia. Transaero launched its services in November, 1991. Transaero has the largest long-haul fleet in Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe. Transaero's fleet consists of 98 predominantly Boeing aircraft. It is the only commercial carrier in Russia that placed orders for Airbus A380, Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental, Airbus A-320neo aircraft. According to the German JACDEC, Transaero ranks among the top 30 safest carriers in the world. Transaero serves more than 200 routes in Russia, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Transaero has been named the World's Most Improved Airline at the Skytrax 2013 Awards. Transaero was voted the Best Airline in EMEA by Frequent Business Traveler, US online publication.

Uncle; The Great Sport Relief Bake Off - TV review

<Deal Nowimg src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/1/13/1389616164853/Uncle-011.jpg">

Nephews. I've got a few of them myself, as it happens. When are their birthdays? You've got me there. I know one's is exactly one week after mine. Or exactly one week before, one week away from mine ... Basically I know when my own birthday is. As for their middle names? Hmm ... Sam maybe? After me?

Am I as hopeless as hopeless Andy here in Uncle (BBC3), who's picking up his sister's dweeby son Errol from school for the first time? (I've never done that, I'm afraid). Neither Andy nor Errol is over the moon about the arrangement, but they turn out to be quite good for each other. Well, to start with, Errol saves Andy from killing himself. (Indirectly, and to be honest, Andy's chosen method - battery-operated radio dropped into the bath - would have ended in failure, like everything Andy does. The radio would have died, that's all.) And Andy shows Errol a few things about the world. Like how to drink and drive, and crash a car, and bunk off football to go to a strip club. Plus what love means. Basically it - love - is like walking on water, until you realise you're not walking on water, you're drowning, and then a shark bites your foot, and another bites your testicles ... and it goes on like that until somehow you eventually end up being pooed out by a hyena, love is just a steaming pile of hyena droppings. Ha!

The idea - two unlikely people thrown together against their will - may not be an especially surprising one. Nor is it hard to see where it's going (I'm thinking Andy and Errol might start to get on less badly, perhaps even feel some sort of reluctant affection). The situations they find themselves in aren't always the most original either. Like competitive dads at football practice, abusive to the ref and to other kids - again, not a seam untouched by the comedy writer's pick. But here Andy, not a dad but an uncle of course, is so ashamed by Errol's puniness he disowns him ("What's this, ask-a-stranger-for-water day, get your own water"). He claims another kid, the best footballer, as his, before taking the dad he's trying to impress off to the car to get stoned.

Ha! Again. Uncle doesn't hold back. It's written - by Oliver Refson (who also directs) - with big cojones and imagination. There are loads of good lines. Like: "My dad says that 'musician' is just another word for unemployed." And: "Mummy, Uncle Andy touched my special equipment." As well as lines that make you wince and cross your legs: "I will cut your dick off with a spoon" (Ouch! #DickSpoon).

The two protagonists are great characters, both over the top and a little familiar. We all know Andys and Errols, no? Fabulous, believable performances from comedian/singer/songwriter Nick Helm and young Elliot Spencer-Gillot. Also from Daisy Haggard as Andy and Errol's shambolic sister/mum (love her "shush" to the other people in the library where she's trying to make a phone call). Oh, and Helm breaks into song from time to time, adding a lovely musical madness to proceedings.

Uncle manages to be warm as well as dark and rude. And hilarious. It could well be the thing to fill the (good) comedy void since Him & Her and Toast of London ended. Actually the pilot was on Channel 4, but the former Channel 4 head of comedy took it with him when he moved to the BBC. Better than nicking the stapler.

And it's got me thinking about my own role, as uncle. I need to be more active. So maybe not birthdays and middle names, but at least I can do the odd school pick-up, football practice and maybe an ice-cream. By which I obviously mean "football practice" and "maybe an ice-cream".

Only one of the contestants - former cricketer Michael Vaughan - in The Great Sport Relief Bake Off (BBC2) has anything to do with sport. The others are a couple of actors (Bonnie Wright and Samantha Bond) and a radio DJ (Johnny Vaughan). It doesn't really matter, it's about charity of course. Self-raising money, for Africa.

Vaughan is on lol duty. He has the oven on the wrong setting, the grill setting, for most of the competition. He grills his biscuits and his tarte tatin, and only realises for the final task, his showstopper Stamford Bridge cake.

"This is called Bake Off rather than Grill Off," says Paul Hollywood, getting into the comedy spirit. I don't know, I'm all baked out. Maybe The Great Sport Relief Grill Off isn't such a bad idea. Get Foreman involved - George - he's a sportsman.

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Ex-worker in Beatrice abuse case reaches plea deal

- A former Beatrice State Developmental Center worker charged with abusing developmentally disabled adults has reached a plea Review.

Beatrice radio station KWBE reports the state and attorneys for Matthew Pangborn reached an agreement Friday. Details of the deal have not been released.

Pangborn was convicted in July 2012 of four counts of abusing a vulnerable adult and several other charges. He was sentenced to 15 to 23 years in prison.

The Nebraska Supreme Court later ordered a new trial after it determined a chart of Pangborn's alleged abuses should not have been presented to jurors.

Pangborn will be in Gage County District Court Tuesday for re-arraignment.

Sixteen center employees were fired or suspended following an investigation into the alleged abuses. Five were charged, but most entered pleas to reduced charges.

Information from: KWBE-AM.

Critics question Genting, Gulfstream deal

Gambling giant Genting, Gulfstream Park and the horse industry may have mapped out a slot-machines happy ending, but the Promo Code faces hurdles before the one-armed bandits start rolling in downtown Miami.

Under the proposal, Resorts World Omni, a division of Malaysian-based Genting Group, would operate 2,000 slot machines and a poker room at a hotel on Biscayne Bay. The slots machine license would be associated with a permit owned by a non-profit linked to Gulfstream, where the horse races would continue to run.

But the deal, first reported by The News Service of Florida on Tuesday, would also cost the state a portion of the gambling revenues it receives from the Seminole Indians, according to one of the crafters of the agreement with the tribe.

"Notwithstanding the legal hurdles to accomplish what's being proposed, if that were to occur that would impact the exclusivity provisions of the compact in Dade and Broward," said state Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, who helped write the 2009 agreement with the Seminoles.

The agreement allows the tribe to have Las Vegas-style slot machines at each of its seven locations and gives it the exclusive rights to run banked card games such as blackjack at five facilities. In exchange, the tribe agreed to pay the state $1 billion over five years. The card-game portion of the deal, called a compact, expires in 2015 unless lawmakers and the governor renew it.

The agreement allows the Seminoles to stop paying if slot machines exist anywhere outside of Broward or Miami-Dade counties, except on tribal lands. But the compact also allows the tribe to reduce its payments to the state if slot machines are allowed at any facilities that weren't already operating in Broward or Miami-Dade, except for Hialeah Race Track, when the deal was inked in 2010.

Under the compact, the tribe would have to show that revenues at its Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Broward declined after the new slots began operating. Then, the tribe could cut its payments to the state by half of the amount the Seminoles pay based on revenues earned at the Broward casino, Galvano said. The amount at stake is estimated to be at least $40 million, based on an analysis of revenue projections by state economists.

Expect chilly, cloudy afternoon with gusty winds | Photos | Radar

The rest of the day along the Treasure Coast will be mostly cloudy and chilly.

Gusty winds out of the northwest will become more northeasterly, but continue to make it feel cooler than the actual temperatures. Highs will only make it into the mid to upper 50s and low 60s under skies featuring more clouds than sun. Isolated rainfall is possible throughout the day.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy with isolated rainfall possible. Lows in the 40s inland and along the Treasure Coast with breezy winds out of the northeast.

Sunset today is at 5:42 p.m.

Warmth like Monday's won't be seen until Thursday, yet temperatures will be moderating day by day.

Wednesday's early morning low is to be 49, rising to 72 by the afternoon.

Friday's high should be around 80 degrees, according to the National weather com radar Service in Melbourne.

And for the foreseeable future, no other cold weather appears to be headed toward the Treasure Coast.

A weak front is expected to move toward the nation's Southeast during the weekend, but it is not expected to penetrate into South Florida.

There could be some showers during this week's warm-up.

Rain chances are 50 percent Wednesday and Thursday, and 30 percent on Friday.

3-DAY EXTENDED FORECAST

Wednesday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Northeast wind around 10 mph.

Wednesday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers, mainly after 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67. East wind around 10 mph.

Thursday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67. East wind 5 to 15 mph.

Friday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. East wind 10 to 15 mph.

Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70. East wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

MARINE FORECAST Source: National Weather Service

A small craft advisory is in effect through late tonight.

Today: North winds 20 to 25 knots diminishing to 15 to 20 knots late in the afternoon. Seas 7 to 10 feet with a dominant period 8 seconds. Rough on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers in the afternoon.

Tonight: North winds 15 to 20 knots becoming northeast 10 to 15 knots after midnight. Seas 6 to 9 feet with a dominant period 7 seconds. Choppy on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers.

Gulf Stream hazards: Strong northwest to north winds of 25 to 30 knots gusting to gale force. Seas building to 10 to 12 feet in the Gulf Stream late tonight.

AAP-Cong deal now obvious BJP | The Asian Age

<Online Dealsp>The BJP on Saturday alleged the "match-fixing" between Congress and Aam Admi Party is becoming obvious with each passing day and the ruling party at the Centre is using it's B-team to take on Narendra Modi as it does not have the capacity to face him.
"The Congress does not have the capacity to take on Modi and reply to his arguments. Hence, it has struck an alliance with Aam Admi Party," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said. BJP, which is reportedly concerned about the growing popularity of AAP across the country, dismissed Mr Kejriwal's party as one of elites and not the common people. The party claimed AAP and Congress are not a threat.
"They know Narendra Modi will unfurl the tricolour at Red Fort this Independence day," Mr Hussain said.
Dismissing AAP, he added "people are fast losing their trust in AAP. Their views have changed not in days but in hours."
He recalled that while earlier AAP had promised to put Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit in "handcuffs" for her alleged involvement for corruption charges against her government soon after coming to power, they have done nothing. "Congress too has failed to carry out its threats against AAP", he added.
"Home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had announced that the government will probe the source of foreign funding of AAP but is now silent," Mr Hussain said.
In reply to a question on AAP leader Yogendra Yadav's remarks that his party wants to see Mr Kejriwal as Prime Minister, the BJP leader said "the Indian Constitution has given the right to everybody to become the Prime Minister. Every supporter sees his leader as a prospective PM."

30% Off Kohl's Coupons 2014 - Latest Promo Code and Free Shipping

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Circling the Square: A resolution to get in shape and get organized

Ah, a new year, a new calendar and a new chance to get it all right in 2014. Doesn't that all sound great? Oh, whom am I kidding? Even if I subscribe to all the things I promised myself to do or change, I know that I will probably make the same mistakes all over again. That's just human nature.

***

However, I did promise to get back in shape. Instead of running around doing everything, like I do now, I'm going to try to be more selective and not get so frazzled. These last few weeks between Christmas and New Year's have been unbelievable hectic. I've misplaced things and actually lost a $25 gift certificate to McDonald's I bought for someone. When I couldn't find it, I sent an SOS out to St. Anthony, who managed to recreate the scenario in my mind that let me know I dropped it when I was getting into the car. The problem was caused by multi-tasking, multi-carrying and not stopping to get organized before taking off. And, the worst part of it is that I didn't listen to my inner voice telling me to slow down.

***

I've become so disorganized and overwhelmed that I realize I can't repeat this kind of behavior another year. I also realize that I'm getting bogged down with STUFF, things that really aren't important or that I haven't used for a long time. I've promised to pack them up and give away what can be used and chuck the rest. And that sounds good to me.

***

I've even promised myself that I will eat as well as my dog. No, I don't mean that I'm planning to eat dog food even if some of it looks great. Heck, she doesn't even like most of the stuff, but she sure likes what I eat. Instead, I'll plan ahead and not settle for cookies and chocolate in a pinch.

***

What I won't give up though are my vitamins. I know that probably sounds strange but it blew my mind several weeks ago when one of the big news items was on vitamins and why most of them are worthless. Maybe that's true if you are a nutrition expert and you eat all the right foods but that isn't true for most of us. They also discouraged the use of Vitamin D supplements. Many years ago, a physician friend, who happened to specialize in osteoporosis in his later years, did a Vitamin D test on me and he told me I was Vitamin D deficient. On his recommendation, I started to take a D capsule each day. So, when I was referred to an endocrinologist for thyroid problems, the endocrinologist wanted to know why I was taking Vitamin D. Actually she was upset with me and she just about ordered me to stop. Three months later at a follow-up appointment, she discovered my leg bones hurt when she pressed them. The reason: Vitamin D deficiency. So, she ordered me to take them again. It's so typical. Every time researchers push something, a few years later they contradict it. It's almost like New England weather: If you don't like it, just wait a minute." Admittedly the opinions don't change that rapidly but eventually they will. Bottom line; I'm still going to take a multivitamin, Vitamin D and calcium supplements because sooner or later they will reverse their decision anyway.

Ah, a new year, a new calendar and a new chance to get it all right in 2014. Doesn't that all sound great? Oh, whom am I kidding? Even if I subscribe to all the things I promised myself to do or change, I know that I will probably make the same mistakes all over again. That's just human nature.

***

However, I did promise to get back in shape. Instead of running around doing everything, like I do now, I'm going to try to be more selective and not get so frazzled. These last few weeks between Christmas and New Year's have been unbelievable hectic. I've misplaced things and actually lost a $25 gift certificate to McDonald's I bought for someone. When I couldn't find it, I sent an SOS out to St. Anthony, who managed to recreate the scenario in my mind that let me know I dropped it when I was getting into the car. The problem was caused by multi-tasking, multi-carrying and not stopping to get organized before taking off. And, the worst part of it is that I didn't listen to my inner voice telling me to slow down.

***

I've become so disorganized and overwhelmed that I realize I can't repeat this kind of behavior another year. I also realize that I'm getting bogged down with STUFF, things that really aren't important or that I haven't used for a long time. I've promised to pack them up and give away what can be used and chuck the rest. And that sounds good to me.

***

I've even promised myself that I will eat as well as my dog. No, I don't mean that I'm planning to eat dog food even if some of it looks great. Heck, she doesn't even like most of the stuff, but she sure likes what I eat. Instead, I'll plan ahead and not settle for cookies and chocolate in a pinch.

***

What I won't give up though are my vitamins. I know that probably sounds strange but it blew my mind several weeks ago when one of the big news items was on vitamins and why most of them are worthless. Maybe that's true if you are a nutrition expert and you eat all the right foods but that isn't true for most of us. They also discouraged the use of Vitamin D supplements. Many years ago, a physician friend, who happened to specialize in osteoporosis in his later years, did a Vitamin D test on me and he told me I was Vitamin D deficient. On his recommendation, I started to take a D capsule each day. So, when I was referred to an endocrinologist for thyroid problems, the endocrinologist wanted to know why I was taking Vitamin D. Actually she was upset with me and she just about ordered me to stop. Three months later at a follow-up appointment, she discovered my leg bones hurt when she pressed them. The reason: Vitamin D deficiency. So, she ordered me to take them again. It's so typical. Every time researchers push something, a few years later they contradict it. It's almost like New England weather: If you don't like it, just wait a minute." Admittedly the opinions don't change that rapidly but eventually they will. Bottom line; I'm still going to take a multivitamin, Vitamin D and calcium supplements because sooner or later they will reverse their decision anyway.

***

I've received enough invitations to baby showers to know that parents-to-be now go through the lengthy process of filling out a baby registry with all the things needed to bring a baby home from the hospital cause without it, the baby can't come home. Who knew it when we had our children? But truly, I can understand that. I'm also familiar with bridal registries but this one blew my mind - a Toys R Us registry for children's gifts. When I first heard it, I was shocked. Does that mean that if someone's kids are invited to a friend's birthday party invitations are going to come with Little Johnny is registered at Toys R Us as well? When I mentioned it to some folks, they actually thought it was a good idea. I guess it might be a help to grandparents, although in the past, their toy registry used to be the child's parents who would either tell them what the kids would like or they would buy the gifts for them to give. Maybe Pet Smart and Petco are missing something. Perhaps they should come up with a puppy registry with items expectant puppy parents will need. Why not? Everyone else is doing it.

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I do hope you all enjoyed your Christmas. For me, it seemed to zoom by. I can't recall a Christmas season that I really didn't enjoy that much; it was just too short and too fast. However, I did get to share some special times with friends. I love stopping in at Kevin and LeeAnn Lyons' home. It's fun seeing LeeAnn's daughter, Kate Jackson, and Emma and Grace Brinkley, daughters of Amanda and Steve Brinkley and granddaughters of Diane and Bob Brinkley and LeeAnn and Kevin. Gosh those little girls have grown up so quickly and lovely. It doesn't seem possible that they are so mature.

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After that I stopped by my house to take Misty for a walk since she had already eaten. Then it was off to Ralph and Karen Kane's house. Although it's now just a family party (plus me), when there are 8-year old twins (Alison and Brett Kane), 9-year old Camille Kamisky and 7-year old, Jackson Kamisky, you have a full house. All four are at imaginative ages and they interpreted "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" in dance and movement while Christina Kane Kamisky read the story.

***

Then it was back home again to take Misty out once more, before my Christmas Eve finale with my neighbors Lorraine McGuinness, Leslie, Pete, Alana and Meredith Tremblay, and young Lorraine McGuinness, now of Somerville, whose husband Jason wasn't able to come. Soon it was time for Lorraine and Leslie to leave for St. Mary's where the two were to sing several songs with the choir from 11:30 to midnight when they were to sing at Midnight Mass.

***

The next morning I skipped a brunch; I was just too tired. I finally pulled myself together, showered and dressed and managed to become rejuvenated enough to enjoy another tradition, Christmas at Richard and Ethel Trask's house. That's always a lot of fun. Richard does an amazing job of handing out the gifts. He keeps up a running repartee that's funny and clever. It's also mind-boggling to see how grown up Richard and Ethel's grandchildren are. Zach and Grace are the children of Elizabeth (Trask) and Brad Peterson. It's a busy day for them, getting gifts, playing with their cousins and joining us all for Christmas carols. It's fascinating to me that when I first began joining the Trasks for Christmas dinner, Gardner and Trish Trask's kids were young and in school from elementary to middle and high school. Gardner (or Gardie) has already graduated from Northeastern University and is an engineer; Lisa graduated from Bridgewater State University and works as a teacher/mentor and substitute teacher at the high school; and Julie is a double major student at Johnson and Wales. She will receive a Bachelor of Science degree for Culinary Nutrition as well as a Bachelor of Science degree for Baking and Pastry Arts. Lisa also has three concentrations in Food Science Nutrition, Dietary Nutrition and Sommelier. She hopes to graduate in 2015. Julie's culinary interests go way back. She has always loved to bake, so she certainly is heading in the right direction. The sommelier kind of threw me, though. I don't know how that suddenly popped up but it's probably a smart thing to do; a good sommelier is hard to find. Then again, I'm not sure they're of much benefit in the $8 to $10 category.

**

But I digress; it's back to the Trasks. In addition to the wonderful Christmas dinner for which we thank Ethel, we seriously sang Christmas carols under the direction of daughter Elizabeth who has education and music degrees and teaches in the Amesbury school system. It was a wonderful day made even more special with people, including Aunt Theresa Brundage, formerly of Danvers and now of Brooksby Village, and Ethel's brother Greg Bogohsian, a former DHS graduate and his wife, Donna, as well as Boghosian offspring.

***

My biggest surprise was from Ethel and Richard Trask - a special plaque for my house. A few months ago, I was at the Archives talking to Richard, who happens to be the archivist. Somehow we got on the subject of plaques honoring the original owner of a house but most of the properties date back to a few from the 17th century but more from the 18th and 19th centuries and even early 20th. I recall telling Richard that since we had our house build in 1965, I felt kind of bad that I didn't live in an older home so I could buy a plaque. At the time, Richard told me that any home could have a plaque for the $45 dollar fee, which actually benefits the library. I then said to Richard, "What should I say, Myrna Fearer, Journalist, 1965?" That's when he told me that the plaque is usually in the male owner's name. Ordinarily I might have called that sexist but since I loved my husband dearly - and still do - I decided that was really the way to go. But, I just never got around to it.

***

I was overwhelmed and thrilled that my gift from Ethel and Richard was a plaque that says, "Nathan H. Fearer, Physician 1965." I couldn't be happier. Gardner kindly offered to put my plaque up but I really want the honor to go to my son, Matthew.

***

This was the year of the plaque because Richard Trask commissioned one for his nephew Gardner for his house that was once owned by Richard's mom and dad, Gardner's grandparents. Since Selectman Gardner now lives there with his wife and children, it keeps it in the family. Their plaque says: Gardner Trask Sr., Assistant Treasurer 1952. The reference is to Gardner Sr.'s position at State Street Bank in Boston.

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So it doesn't matter if your house dates back to the Witchcraft Delusion or was built in the 21st century, for $45 you, too, can own a plaque and be proud of it. And if you have an older house and you need help with its provenance, see Archivist Richard Trask; you will be happy you did.

***

Do you still have a Christmas sweater? For years I had planned to buy one when they were marked down at the end of the season. But by that time, I was no longer interested. And then one year, there were no marked down sweaters because they never showed up before Christmas. Gone was the Christmas sweater craze but not forgotten. There are still some diehards who insist on pulling them out each year. At the last Danvers Garden Club meeting, President Sue Robertson not only wore hers, but she had any and all wearers join her for a picture. Looks like Gardner Trask thinks they are fashionable enough to wear to one of his gigs, though he at least named his picture correctly: Ugly Christmas sweater.

***

I may be one of the few people who still likes to receive Christmas letters with family pictures. Some folks put them in the same category as the Christmas fruitcake but I actually like hearing what the children are up to and I really enjoy the pictures. But the one that cracks me up each year is the Christmas card from Nicole and Jason Allain that features their large boxed christmas cards on sale Ring Ding. Either Ring Ding lost some of his girth or the firedog outfit he's wearing is oversized and slimming.

***

I have to thank Sue Nickerson for sending me the recipe for Black Dog Ginger Cookies from Martha's Vineyard after I mentioned buying some at the Garden Club Greens Sale. Sue sent it along with a page of all kinds of tips and hints about how to save some of the dough rather than trying to make all the cookies at one time. Am I glad since, as she says, the recipe makes 8 dozen cookies and that's a lot of dough!

***

Friday night, some cousins of mine from Marblehead asked me to join them for dinner at Turner's in Salem. What a happening place! We had a wonderful time and their fish is phenomenal, however I was sad that Salem's gain is our loss. The owners were originally planning to open their restaurant near BJ's and Hollywood Hits in Danvers but something transpired that soured the deal and when the Lyceum was for sale, they jumped on it. Perhaps with a few more liquor licenses that kind of thing won't happen and we'll be able to attract more terrific eateries in the near future.

***

I've been a big proponent of the Post Office and I love buying interesting stamps to put on my cards and letters. Even though they raised the price of stamps one cent at a time each year I still bought them. Now they're going to make it 3 cents and that's a big jump. I know they say they are operating at a loss and have to make up the deficit but what they don't seem to realize is as postage goes up, usage goes down. Rather than pay 49 cents to mail a first class letter, people will be corresponding by email even more. I'm already anticipating fewer Christmas cards next year.

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I've been telling you to save certain dates for quite a while and now they are almost here. Jan. 20 the Danvers Committee for Diversity will be honoring three individuals as Drum Majors for Justice. They include retired police Capt. Carole Germano, Donald Preston, an activist for Habitat for Humanity, and Rabbi Emily Mathis, rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom in West Peabody and keynote speaker. The event is at the Danversport Yacht Club. Tickets, which include dinner, are $35 per person. You can purchase them from Susan Fletcher at the Planning Dept.

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I know you will all want to attend the event honoring Endicott Park Rangers David and Joan Townley on Thursday, Jan. 28, also at the Danversport Yacht Club. The longtime (40 years) caretakers of the park and all it entails will be moving to New Hampshire but not without a proper sendoff hosted by Danvers Kiwanis. The club will be presenting the Townleys with the fourth Lifetime Achievement award and the evening promises to be a worthy tribute for a special couple. Tickets are $40 each and can be purchased at Hartnett's Auto Body or Danvers Recreation at Town Hall.

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Since this is only the second day of the New Year, we can still wish all our readers a very Happy and Healthy 2014. May it be a good one.