Year end summary, such…

Year end summary, such as it is. It's been a very good year, personally -- Kevin and I and the kids are healthy and doing well. Kev and I have work we love, and that we get paid enough for; the work is challenging and interesting and rewarding. I have a new agent who has so far been just brilliant to work with (thanks again, Paolo; I owe you a few fabulous meals), and the writing is going surprisingly well. I'm in the depths of a novel, so it's all a bit murky, but I think it's going to come to a good end eventually. I'm loving teaching more every year, and I think stepping to a more part-time job (even with the concurrent part-time salary) was one of the best decisions I've made in a long time.

I'm constantly delighted by all the children in my life (especially now that mine are older and not quite so constantly needy as they were), and thinking often of my friends with new babies and toddlers, wishing them patience and endurance and joy. I am so happy for Lisette and David and Jeremy. Parenting is an amazing adventure, far more difficult than I'd imagined, but more satisfying too.

Some of my friends and family have had very hard times this year, many ongoing, and they are in my thoughts often. I wish them strength, and patience with themselves when they need to rest from the struggle. And a few friends passed away this year, and I still can't quite believe the world is going on without them. I miss Jay Lake, as I know many in our community do. I think Shelley's epitaph suits him well:

"Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange."

- The Tempest

And finally, I'm grateful for Facebook and my other online communities. You darling people can be rather distracting, and I am still in the process of learning how best to manage my time so as not to lose *too* many hours to the internet. But you have also added incredible dimensions of knowledge and community and wisdom and support to my life. When I first started blogging, back in December of 1995, there were so few of us -- I felt rather like a voice crying out in the wilderness.

Not anymore!

On to 2015, my friends. Wishing you peace and joy in the New Year.