He’s Got Plenty of ZIP

Dear Reader or Current Resident:

Here we are again, wishing you a happy holiday. Hard to believe another year has slipped by already. Here’s what’s gone on in the Wedlan household in 1997:

You know that wonderful cruise to Europe, the one where you sail overseas and eat the best food and then take the SST back home? I didn’t do that. I did make a few trips to Sun City, Ariz., to visit the folks. The airline served up peanuts. My bag contained 16 1/2.

I didn’t go camping. I did have the carpets cleaned.

I didn’t buy the pricey little number in the Neiman Marcus catalog. I did find a chenille sweater for 25 bucks at Target.

I didn’t win the lottery. I did pay back the loan from my cat, Poco.

Let’s see, I also interviewed Postmaster General Marvin Runyon. Get this--the man exercises every morning starting around 6 o’clock.

“I have a treadmill right next to my bed. I can’t miss it,” Runyon said. “So I’ll get on the treadmill for just a couple of miles.”

His Washington, D.C., condo is also set up with a stationary bike, a leg machine and dumbbells. Plus, he does 30 push-ups, 150 sit-ups and upper-body work with one of those large rubber bands hooked over a door. Maybe that’s why he’s lean--6 feet, 167 pounds.

When Runyon, 73, is home in Nashville on the weekends, he’ll work out with hydraulic equipment--weights--in an exercise room that’s over 400 square feet. “I also have a sauna,” Runyon added, “so I get in there for about 20 minutes at the most.”

Whether he is in D.C. or Nashville, breakfast and lunch stay about the same: oatmeal with powdered protein and a couple of bananas; lunch at his desk--steamed vegetables, fresh fruit and protein bars. A D.C. dinner is simply vegetarian pizza or salad, and he drinks about two liters of water a day.

In Nashville, Runyon and his wife, Sue, like to fix dinner at home. There’s always a salad and then vegetables, fruit and sometimes broiled fish, and a little chocolate dessert.

Poco and I love fixing dinner at home too. We sit on the clean carpet, eat tuna and pass the remote back and forth.

Cheers,

Candace

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Santa Claus receives at least 1 million letters every year. Ho, ho, ho: Please include your return address on the envelope because Santa may just want to write back.

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Today will be the busiest mail day of the year for the post office. Most folks wait until today--and after work, no less--to post those holiday cards.