For the ninth annual Waite family Christmas letter, we’ve decided to do something different. This year’s installment will be a quiz. See how much you know (or can guess) about what happened with us this year.

1. After vowing not to do another murder-mystery play, Barry and Margie produced “A Perilous Night at Pirates Perch.” Alex and David made their debut in it as A.) The Hamlet brothers, B.) The head and, uh…, body of a horse, C.) Carol and Carol Yokel, or
D.) Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

Answer? C. Complete with wigs and overalls, they stole the show! Barry played timeshare salesman George Crackpot from the Gator Swamp Condominium Resort. Has he got a deal for you...

2. At work this year, Margie did which of the following? A.) Took nine weeks off, cut back her hours and got a raise, B.) Worked way, way too much, C.) Joined the sales force, or D.) Became a union organizer.

Answer? A. Can you believe that? It was amazing! You guessed B, didn’t you? In a related story, Barry continued to work for the city of Carson . Other than the indictment of three of the five members of the city council (extortion, bribery, conspiracy), absolutely nothing worth reporting happened.

3. In a surprise move, A.) Barry took a liking to mayonnaise, B.) Margie decided she was really into public speaking, C.) Alex and David learned to use their words and talk things out instead of fighting with each other, or D.) Monster the dog stopped running away.

Answer? Trick question. None of these things happened. Don’t expect them to happen next year either.

4. Which of the following themes was discarded for this year’s letter? A.) Reusing the dog-writes-letter idea, B.) Reusing the form letter idea, C.) Reusing the newspaper idea, or D.) No Christmas letter this year.

Answer? All but the last one. Skip our Christmas letter? Not a chance. We even delude ourselves into thinking people like reading this stuff as much as we enjoy writing it. We almost did C but couldn’t find the right format and thought it was too boring. Sadly for everyone else, we came up with this quiz idea though. Sorry! Any suggestions for next year? How about write it in pig Latin? At-whay o-day ou-yay ink-thay? Maybe not.

5. In California tradition, Alex studied the missions in fourth grade. Over a three day period in January, we visited  A.) Nine missions, B.) Nine missions and a bunch of gift shops, C.) Nine missions, a bunch of gift shops and most of Highway 101, D.) Nine missions, a bunch of gift shops, most of Highway 101 and seven coffee shops.

Answer? D. We saw two more missions later in the year. The weirdest part? We actually enjoyed them, except for Mission Soledad. The story of that one is so depressing that Margie won’t let Barry include it here. Mission San Antonio was really cool. We could still smell grapes in the pressing room. The other favorite mission was La Purisma. It was also the only one that showed the restrooms as part of the tour. As David put it, “Those are gross!”

6. Our best vacation time this year was A.) Hanging out at the cabin, B.) The redwood forests, C.) YMCA summer day camp, or D.) Playing with electric guitars and drums at Larry and Carolyn’s in Oregon ?

Answer? All of the above.  We’re hoping to have a week of vacation to start out this coming year. Definitely more vacation time would be good.

7. The highlight of the San Francisco part of our Oregon trip was A.) Watching a lady smash glasses in the hotel bar, B.) Cable cars, C.) Seeing yet another mission, or D.) Being in one place for more than two nights?

Answer? D. At least, that’s what Alex thought. He got sick of all the driving. Heck, it was only about 1,400 miles in six days. What’s the problem?

How did you do? Get them all right? Did you need a lifeline? 50-50? Ask the audience? Why not just phone a friend? In fact, call us! It’s (310) 325-6389. Our Web site is http://home.earthlink.net/~waite. Email is waite@earthlink.net. We hope to hear from you soon!

Barry, Margie, Alex & David