Year's End

Happy holidays! Are you all surviving them? I've finally finished all my shopping, packing, and shipping, on the very last possible day available to me. I know this process would be more enjoyable if I didn't leave it until the last second, but I just...it's just not in my nature. My husband headed to the airport this morning for some meetings on the East Coast, and tomorrow I'm joining him for a three-city vacation. It's been a big, complex year for both of us, and a little wandering time together will be just the thing to wrap it up.

This fall has been insanely busy, but I'm not complaining--I'd much rather feel like I'm running a marathon to fit in all the things I want to do than feel like I'm not taking advantage of the time I've got. At the moment I'm preparing to start writing a new book, and as I have not drafted a book since 2010, I'm pretty eager to get started. Back in school, I was that weirdo who enjoyed taking tests--not because I loved schoolwork so much (give me some credit), but because I liked the challenge of seeing how much I could remember and how well I could apply it. This is kind of similar--I learned a lot about writing a book on the first one, but how well will that knowledge serve me now? I'm optimistic, but also well aware that I may be rocking in the corner by the time I hit the second chapter. *cue nervous laughter* Anyway, I'll be working out the tricky bits on notepads during my vacation, to hopefully begin hammering away on my keyboard come January. What are your writing plans for 2013?

I won't be posting again for the rest of the year, so seasons greetings, dear writer/blogger friends--I wish you all a very happy holiday season, and a joyful and productive new year! I posted this video last year, but as a Yooper ambassador to the rest of the country, I feel the need to post it again. Please enjoy a little bit of goofy Northern Michigan holiday cheer (skip to the 1:00 mark to get right to the song):