Nigh On The End

December is just about over!  I can't believe it!

You may have notice that I haven't been posting much this month.  This blog has been giving me a lot of trouble, both physically and mentally, and so I've let it slide.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, if you celebrate.  Or Hanuka, or Winter Solstice, or any number of others.  Mine was really nice, though very not traditional.  I admit I had a bit of trouble with that, but the important thing was that my family was all together and we had a good time.

There was hardly any Christmas knitting or crocheting this year, and the only good thing about that was that I didn't feel any pressure.  I have been known, in the past, to get myself very tied up in knots and frustrated and stressed out over Christmas crafting.  So while I did feel a little bit bad, and a little bit guilty, over not crafting like crazy, it was nice to have a more relaxed feeling about it.

I'm pretty sure I won't be posting again before the year officially ends.  So here are some additional things:

--This past year, I had one release as part of an anthology.  I signed a contract for another release, and Pumpkin Rolls and Porn Sounds will be coming out in February.   I'm pretty proud of these boys and it's been a long, fun, sometimes tedious process.  

I had a pretty big writing slump in the second half of the year, where I had a lot of trouble focusing and getting anything to move forward.  It was frustrating, and every time I thought that I had something worth while it would fizzle out and I couldn't make it go.  I did end up finishing one novella, at least the first draft, and I'm working on polishing it up now.  It needs work, as they always do, so I'm trying to fix.

--This past year was also pretty light on the crafting, when I look at it as a whole.  Especially the last six months or so, except for three projects.  My fingers are getting itchy again, though, so I'm sure there will be more soon.

--I've done pretty horribly with managing my time, I'm going to be honest.  That was one of my goals this past year, and I pretty much sucked at it.  On the upside, I can always try again and I full intend to.  

So anyway, that's a recap of what's been going on with me, and I'm very much looking forward to 2015.  

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year, and may 2015 be your best year yet!

Join Me In Wishing Alder a Happy Birthday!!

May your day be filled with awesome, my friend, on this momentus birthday!  Enjoy the heck out of it and have a wonderful day!!

The Holly and The Ivy

I woke up with this song in my head this morning, for no explicable reason, but it's one of my favorites.

Happy December!

It's December!

I love December!

Even though, for the moment, the snow has melted away, it's crisp and cold and soon it will start falling again.  I have almost all of the decorations up.  The tree is lighted and waiting for ornaments.  And all of that just brings me great cheer.

I have a couple of packages ready to go that I'll be dropping in the mail this week.  Hoping they get to their destinations on time.  Okay, I'm only worried about the one as it has a long way to go and a particular deadline.  But it will arrive in time, as long as I get my bum to the post office.

I've broken out the Christmas movies to watch while I yarn.  I spent the weekend with some animated classics, and I'll be moving into cheesy holiday romances this week.  I'm looking forward to it immensely.  I have a few great stories waiting to be read as well.  

This past Sunday, we had beautiful weather for our drive to Massachusetts to see my nephew and celebrate his fist birthday!  His actual birthday is Friday.  He's such a joy and a love, and though we drove ten hours (there and back) for a three hour party, it was worth it to see him.  And fortunately, it wasn't as bad as some of our other trips have been.  It wasn't great, no, but seeing that baby and getting loves was a very good thing.  We're actually hoping there will be a trip in this direction in the coming weeks so we can show him off to our family here.  Fingers crossed.

Happy December everyone!  Soak in the Christmas cheer!