Dear Friends,

Happy New Year!! Vermont pretty much missed the big snowfall last week. I talked to some friends in New York City who got stuck and were digging out their plowed-in cars with their hands and ice scrapers, and my co-author Kali got stranded in MD for a few days as the airports were closed and flights canceled up the coast.

Up here in the north country, we got about two inches at the headquarters (not the dump we had last year, left). I have a contest running with my employees to predict the first one-foot snowfall at our Waitsfield store. One lucky employee is going to win two plane tickets to wherever they want to go!

If I can stay up, I’ll probably head down to our neighbors for the traditional Prickly Mountain New Year’s Eve with lots of friends, champagne and dancing. I saw that our pond was shoveled off, so there will also be ice skating tonight (I’m definitely skipping that, though!).

I’ll be heading west next week for the Consumer Electronics Show where I will be looking for new products and will be helping to man the Chill Pill Audio booth as we exhibit at this huge show.

All of us here at Small Dog send our best wishes to you and your family for a healthy, happy and prosperous 2011! I am a half-full kinda guy and am really pumped about heading into a new year. I think 2011 is going to be a great one!