Skype.com

Tonight, we spoke to my cousins, Kotoe (sitting, left) and Hiromi (sitting, second from left), who are sisters, and their mother, sitting (far right), along with Miho (standing, left). Hiromi is Miho's mother. Yuichi was at home with a cold. Yoko (in glasses), lives in another part of Tokyo and wasn't at Aunt Mizue's house. I took this picture on the last night we were in Japan.

A few years ago, when I was buying my cell phone, Brian, who sold me the phone, was telling me about Skype.com, where I could set up an account and then talk to anyone in the world who was also had an account.

When we got back from Japan, my cousin, Yuichi, talked me through it and all of sudden, we could all see each other and talk to each other.

It's amazing. One of my colleague's husband is deployed in Afghanistan, and they talk to each other regularly via Skype.

I had tried calling two of my cousins and every time, they've been off-line.

Last weekend, I called my cousin Kotoe, and I got the message that she was off-line. A few minutes later, the "phone" rang and it was Kotoe and her mother. I got my mother and we had a nice chat.

We made plans to speak again tonight and that's what we did. We set a date to all talk the day after Christmas, which will be Dec. 26 here and Dec. 27 there. Right now, they're 14 hours ahead of us.

So it's 10:30 p.m. here. It's 12:30 p.m. in Tokyo.

We'll all be talking then. They're excited.

Technology is such a cool thing, isn't it?

I sure wish we had something like this when Daddy was in Vietnam all those years ago. All we had then were letters from him, we treasured.

I know my nephew is hooked up with Skype, but did he ever call me when he was in Iceland or England? Noooo.

But now he's in Valdosta. Does he ever call? Or even respond to e-mail? Nooo.

Then again, neither does his sister, Jessica.

Oh, well. I guess they have better things to do than talk to their aunt.