All I did during my childrens' Christmas vacation was work at the clinic during the day and take care of house chores and my family in the evenings.

I spent a lot of time with my sisters, just visiting or watching movies. Most of the time we played card games such as Rummy and Skip-bo.

On New Year's Eve they had a dance at the gym. I went only to browse through the raffle items. While waiting to see if I'd win anything, I sat, listened to the music and talked with family members and friends when they weren't dancing. I bought a lot of tickets for different items and all I won was a coffee maker.

At midnight I walked over near the clinic to watch the fireworks display put on by the city. My husband, my sister Olga and I watched the fireworks for about 20 minutes, and when we got cold we all went home. When I got home I watched TV. The ARCS station was reporting New Year's celebrations all over the world.

I was worried about the Y2K issue, and although I was hoping something would happen, nothing did. I felt sorry for other worried people in other places who had stocked up with food and other supplies. To me, New Year's day seemed like any other day of the year except for all of the excited people running around Marshall.