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):

SipSwap Report!

Fellow #sipswap participants: last week while the rest of you were unpacking your new mugs, a crumpled, coffee-stained note arrived at my home, scrawled on a torn scrap of paper delivered by carrier pigeon. I'd post a picture of it but the penmanship was truly atrocious, so I'll transcribe its contents instead:

Dear Rachel,

Greetings from your Mug! I hope that you are well this fine holiday season! Perfect time for hot chocolate or buttered rum, yes? Right then, so I suppose you've noticed by now that I'm not there...

Rachel, I'm just a young Mug who's never seen the world. While I'm delighted at the prospect of a lifetime in the service of your daily latte, I must confess I wasn't ready to commit just yet, and so I've decided to take a little sojourn in the South first to sow my wild tea leaves.

Currently I find myself in the beautiful rolling hills of Tennessee. Nashville was fabulous! I went to the Country Music Hall of Fame, and strolled along the Cumberland River. I've been eating Cracker Barrel biscuits n'gravy like they're going out of style. No, seriously, I kind of hope you plan on filling me up with sausage gravy when I get there.

My dear coffee-swilling Rachel, I promise I'll come out to California as soon as I'm ready. I trust you'll find an acceptable substitute until I arrive--I hear those Starbucks chaps are a dependable, if rather unexciting sort.

Until then,

Your devoted Mug 

Well, Mug, I understand. The world is a big and exciting place, so enjoy your travels. I'm looking forward to meeting you! Get here safely! And many thanks to my lovely mug buddy Sarah L. Blair for sending you on your circuitous journey.

(P.S. If you want to read about the mug gift I concocted for a certain someone, click here.)