How many of you make New Year’s resolutions?  Or goals of some sort, even if you don’t call them resolutions?  Hands up! ( Photo credit: Randy Heinitz via Foter.com / CC BY ) I learned a long time ago that making resolutions doesn’t really work for me, so I quit that a long time ago.  Instead, I focus my efforts on goals, broken down monthly, and sometimes weekly,  and mostly writing-related. I’ve taken part in a goal-setting workshop the last couple of years with Delilah Dev

( Photo credit: BarbaraWilli via Foter.com / CC BY ) Usually, I look forward to the end of the year.  December is family time for us, plus lots of good food from Thanksgiving through the new year. This year is different.  Right now, I have two close family members who are sick, and our not-quite-17-year-old kitty is going downhill in a hurry.  In fact, it’s been a really crappy week and a half here, and I am not looking forward to seeing what comes next. So.  Tell me somethin

( Photo credit: Nicholas_T via Foter.com / CC BY   ) It’s been a long week, and a really long couple of days.  I took a ride this morning for a visit and the scenery looked a lot like that picture above.  It was cold when I left the house, but the sun was out.  About halfway through the drive, the flurries started.  When I reached my destination, there was snow on the ground.  Not a real accumulation, but enough to dust the grass and driveway.  The first actual snow I’ve seen

( Photo credit: James P. Mann via Foter.com / CC BY ) Things are kind of weird at this point on the calendar year–my day-job schedule is very light, but we’re heading into peak holiday season, so there are lots of other activities to take up the slack in our schedules.  I’m finalizing my goals for the next year, and working on a few last things to wrap up before the end of this year.  While I keep writing my shifter story. And watching good holiday movies, some of them more t

( Photo credit: Denim Dave via Foter.com / CC BY ) We’re still eating Thanksgiving dinner leftovers here (and enjoying them so much!), and I have a long weekend ahead of me.  Today, I spent it doing little things like looking at cookie recipes and a little gift-shopping, plus watched my first holiday movie of the season, Love Actually.  I have two quick stops to make tomorrow, including one for a couple of gifts.  I’m planning to get my chores out of the way afterward and wri

Here in the U.S, we’re getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving this week.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, mostly because it’s all about family and some of the best food ever.  For me, this is also the busiest week of the year at the day-job, and it has been a doozy so far.  That probably sounds odd, since it’s Sunday when I’m writing this.  I work Monday through Friday (usually) at the day-job, but our weeks technically start on Wednesday and run through Tuesday, and ri

That was here a couple of Novembers ago.  The moon coming up outside right now isn’t quite that full yet.  But it still makes me happy when I look out the window and see it hanging there, fatter than a crescent, but nowhere near full quite yet. I got quite a lot of writing done today, between loads of laundry.  So I won’t feel bad about quitting for the night and then watching The Walking Dead a little later.  I won’t say I’m thankful that the new season has started, since I

( Photo credit: hanna_horwarth via Foter.com / CC BY-ND ) I have the candy ready for the little costumed monsters and other assorted characters who will come knocking on the door this week for Halloween.  I even have my “The Witch is In” sign on the door, though that isn’t necessarily for the trick-or-treaters. We used to decorate when the boys were little.  I’m not much for dressing up myself, but I do have a witch hat that I wore a couple of times while walking them down ou

(  Photo credit: krystian_o via Foter.com / CC BY  ) I haven’t quite been able to bring myself to start the second season of American Horror Story since I was disappointed with the first season.  So I have started a couple of other shows instead–Wallander, The Fall.  Wallander is a great show, though not one I am watching for scares, but for the great storytelling and acting.  And maybe for Tom Hiddleston. The Fall isn’t scary, per se.  It is a very twisty, psychological thri

( Photo credit: fireboat895 via Foter.com / CC BY ) Yes, I’m still working through old and new horror movies and shows  for the season.  I had wanted to see American Horror Story more than once, but I think I remember that when it started something else that I liked was on at the same time.  So I started watching the first season recently.  There are some seriously messed up people on this show.  But it hasn’t really scared me yet.  I almost want to go reread Rosemary’s Baby

We had a gorgeous fall day here today–bright blue skies and lots of sun, with a brisk wind tugging leaves off the trees.  I think the rest of the week is supposed to be more of the same, which is what I waited for all through our hot, horrible summer. ( Photo credit: Jayt74 via Foter.com / CC BY-SA ) Halloween is a few weeks away, so I’ve started digging through movies I like.  I watched Corpse Bride yesterday, and Sleepy Hollow today.  At some point soon, I’ll break out  The

Well, my birthday month is almost over.  I think maybe one more round of cake this weekend. ( Photo credit: jamieanne via Foter.com / CC BY-ND  ) I’ve actually had cake here twice this week–the first was chocolate, and it was really amazing, and the second was a lemon with berry and it was equally incredible.  Oh, I lied.  I’ve had cake three times, because at work this week, we celebrated National Cheesecake Day, and my employer fed us all really delicious cheesecake.  Not a

Today is the first day of winter.  Sadly, that is not what it looks like here at my house.  Instead, it looks and feels much more like the first day of spring, rain included.  Our forecast is for record high temperatures heading into Thursday.  If I wanted a winter like this, I would live in a southern state instead of here.  I guess I need to move north.  I like Maine, though I think it’s been warmer than normal there this year, too. I’ve even been disappointed with the holi

That picture above is the sort of thing I would like to see when I look out of my window.  It is December, after all.  But it’s much too warm here even for flurries.   Maybe by the time the solstice gets here in a couple of weeks, but it doesn’t look promising–we haven’t had a really great snow in a couple of winters.  Most likely, our holiday lights will look like this, only without the nifty reflections on water, as our tree in the front yard is  surrounded by the greenish-

( Photo credit: Hebe Aguilera / Foter / CC BY ) July is always busy here, just for family birthdays–we have 4 in a 5 day stretch later in the month–but this year will be even busier, since I’m traveling to NYC for the Romance Writers of America National conference in a couple of weeks.  I’ve gone to a number of writers’ conferences over the years, but I haven’t made it to this one yet, except to go twice to the huge literacy booksigning that kicks off the conference each year