Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Everyone!  (I celebrate the 12 days of Christmas, so today is only day # 6 in my book.  The tree will probably stay up until Epiphany, January 6, if it remains safe to keep it this long.)  I hope your holidays were the best ever and you're getting off on the right start for this new year.  If you're like me, you don't make New Year's resolutions--although I do set a few "goals" for myself.  (Goals don't sound as intimidating as resolutions, right?)  My goal this year is to get refocused on my writing , despite the various health challenges I've experienced this past year.  I hope to have one of my former Avalon/Montlake Romance books republished this summer by my current publisher Books We Love Ltd, as well as to write more short stories for the True Rendition magazines that have published my work for several years.

Our snow came late this winter--December 27.  It was a very wet snow with the typical large, slow-falling flakes--a throwback to the weeks of gray skies and rain we'd been having prior to the 25th. It was lovely, but also a relief when it didn't stick to the highways, as we needed to take our East Coast family back to the airport for an all-night flight to North Carolina. The trip to and back from the airport  (about an hour's drive one-way) went smoothly as did our family's flight. Their only "adventure" occurred on the plane when my son's kitty, Mogwai, got out of her carry case--and my son didn't realize it although he was fully awake.  Apparently the cat had been runniing around on the dark plane until a passenger that was waiting to use the rest room spotted the Mogwai, captured her, and returned her to my son. Hats off to fellow passengers that care about our pets and are willing to lend a helping hand!

Our weather has finally turned for the better. Now we're enjoying blue skies, low temps in the 20s, and plenty of sunshine!  My patience for better weather has finally paid off, and I know I'll thoroughly enjoy the stretch of sunny days ahead.

For those of you experiencing storms and all kinds of inclement weather, I send my heartfelt best.  I hope you and your loved ones stay safe and sound. God bless...

Again, Merry Christmas and Happy 2016!