Dad

Hello,

There have been so many things happening over the last couple of months. First, we had all three of the girls and our grandson Eric here for Christmas. It was great to have everyone here and share the holiday. It’s been a long time since we had a young boy in the house for Christmas so you can imagine what the family room looked like Christmas morning. Susan and I had so much fun shopping for Eric we joked for weeks ahead who was going to have more fun Christmas morning, Eric or us. He is becoming quite the little man and he is indeed a pleasure.

I closed another page in my career by leaving Johnston's the end of December.   The direction the company is taking going forward is not in sync with my goals or where I feel I can contribute best. While it was a good four year run and I closed the year well ahead of target revenues for my region, it was time for me to move on.   I wish everyone at Johnston's continued success in the future especially since I am holding my stock! That said I’ve accepted a VP position at MicroDoodle. For those of you who have known me most of my adult life, that name will sound familiar. I actually worked for MicroDoodle for ten years from 1985-1995 which only goes to prove the more things change, the more they stay the same.   I am very excited about my new role and am starting to settle in. I have a good team and we’re looking forward to a great year.

We’ve been thinking about building a wine cellar in the basement for the last few years and we’ve finally agreed on the plan. We are hoping to start work the coming weeks. Building it is one thing, filling it is another.   My collection is not what it used to be but I’m working on that slowly. Some of the 2006 futures look pretty good and the prices are not outrageous.   All I need is the proper place to store them.

Susan and I are leaving for the Caymans again in February; we are so looking forward to this trip. The fourth quarter at Mercado was tense enough but I get to do it again at Micro Focus as we are on a fiscal year ending in April so I’m looking forward to a little down time in between. We will be joined by our usual partners in mischief Steve, Connie, Craig and Leslie.   We always have a great time when the six of us get together and as you know, we love the Caymans.

That’s about it for now. I wish all of you the very best

Dennis

GO BEARS!