Hi cousins, For those of you who are new to family, I think you should know .... Every year, between Thanksgiving and New Year's, the CHAT: forum opens for everyone to discuss holiday traditions, pass greetings and recipes along, etc. What you've been seeing the last several days is just that... As long as CHAT: starts out your subject line, you are in CHAT: forum. You can safely discuss non-genealogy subjects ... HOWEVER .... there are a few guidelines to the CHAT: format: 1. You MUST start your subject line with CHAT: 2. Absolutely NO genealogy is to be put in CHAT: forum messages because not everyone in the family wants to read CHAT: messages. Those people know to simply delete messages with CHAT: in the subject line knowing they won't miss any genealogical data. CHAT: format messages are not an everyday occurrence. They normally happen here and there. The only, and longest, time the CHAT: forum is actively open is the holiday season ... now. After January 2nd, the CHAT: forum closes and resumes its normal inactivity with occasional messages only. So, if you're wondering how all these people are talking off-subject and "getting away with it" ... check out their subject lines. You're welcome to join in. Just remember to move into the CHAT: format where you're safe. Of course, it _would_ be nice to see some genealogy messages go through, too ... but this does happen only once a year, so ... :) I hope you're all having a SPLENDIFEROUS holiday season! :) Colleen