(My Holly bush cir. 2011) 
(Duane & I cir. 1957 or 58)It's Christmas Eve, and before I start clearing up and cleaning up for tomorrow (we're having a few friends over for a late supper), I thought I'd reflect on this year.
It's not been an easy year, but I can say, it has been a good year.
It started with Kirby's Dad. We spent as much time with him as we could for his last couple of months. He went home to be with the Lord on 3-3-13. We miss you, Dad. He was 91 and much fun to be around.
My first memory of him was not altogether pleasant, until he realized his bark was all bark, no bite. Kirby and I were dating, and he took me home to meet his folks. Dad hardly looked up at me. He was in the middle of doing something, and he made an off-hand remark - something you would say when you knew someone better, not when you first met them. But I soon realized what was up and shook my head, laughing inside.
Then, we went to Cape May for the first time in probably 10 years. We also stayed at a place we'd never stayed before - The Mooring. It was formerly the first boardinghouse built in Cape May. We actually stayed in a converted parlor, Room 1. It was beautiful. You can see our bay window from the front left. There were doors that led directly to the front porch.
We went to Baltimore in late September for the Natural Products Expo East, and had a great few days there.
One week later, I headed off to Colorado for the best and worst few days of my life, it seemed. The two days, Friday and Saturday that I was actually in Colorado, were two of the best days I've had. My fellow Christian Writer's Guild Craftsman XI classmates were terrific to get to know. Here's our class picture. Unfortunately, one of our classmates had to leave early because his brother died, and he is not in our photo below.
I did draft a novel this year, and I'm in the process of revisions. I'm realizing that I've been privy to two kinds of processes in the last seven years.
First, God showed me that the tempering process chocolate goes through is a lot like the refiner's fire we as Christians go through. You can see earlier posts regarding that.
Secondly, the novel writing process I alluded to in the last post, is more of an endurance and humbling process. Anyone can write something and get it published if they want to pay for it. I know people who have done that and that's fine for them.
I feel I should, at least try, the traditional publishing process first - which is: 1) write it and edit it; 2) have it professionally edited (which is the process I'm in now); 3) complete those revisions; 4) submit it to publishers in that genre.
I'm hoping to have it ready for publication by summertime.
Which now leads me to the holiday season. For Thanksgiving, we served at our community dinner. For Christmas, we're doing something new, which borrows from last year. I made a pot of turkey burger chili last year for Christmas, since we were too late to eat with Kirby's dad at Ephrata Manor.
This year, I'm making another pot of chili, and some friends are coming over later in the day.
I want to wish everyone a very, Merry Christmas and a very blessed and Happy New Year! Soon, I'll talk about the "big trip" in 2014 that Kirby and I are taking in March.
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