Year End Round Up

Hello.

Looks like 2007 is coming to a close and overall I think it was a success. I finished the first draft of a book, and though I should have dug into the second draft by now, life got in the way to put it on hold. I'm making the book priority one for the coming year. I was not idle, however, and wrote a number of short stories for the WoTF, one of which was a semi-finalist. Others, didn't make the cut, but I'm still very happy with them and believe they will find a home somewhere.

Another past semi-finalist has found a home in the inaugural issue of Golden Visions Magazine, with a print version to come some time in late January. Always nice to be on the ground floor of a new endevour. Check it out at http://www.goldenvisionsmagazine.biz/ . And though it is very premature, I have another story that has made it to the editor of a professional magazine for consideration, which is no garantee, but a nice confidence builder that I'm on the right track.

Lost a lot of weight over the summer. Okay, it was a thyroid thing which gave me a hell of a scare, but worked out well enough in the end. I'm on hormone supplements now, and will be for the rest of my life. I guess now I'll have to remember to fill out the 'are you on any medication' section on forms I fill out.

My oldest niece got married over the summer. Turns out she is pregenant, too. That makes me a great uncle. A GREAT Uncle?? Yikes! And if the kid gets married early enough, and has kids, I'd be a GREAT GREAT Uncle!!! Well, I'll be a monkey's, er, never mind.

(by pregnant, I mean, "I just found out I'm pregant!" That's newly weds Matthew and Tanya; my sister, Edith in the green dress; step-Granny, Erika; and my brother-in-law Dieter. (Seriously, put him in a plaid shirt, khaki pants and suspenders and he looks just like Red Green.)

Renovated the bathroom; a nightmarish descent into hell that seemed might never end. In the end everyone liked the result. Except me. Since it was my first time, I think I could do a better job. But thinking what that would mean, I think this bathroom is just fine ;)

Again, that's a new floor, new paint on the walls, new counter, new sink, new fixtures. Only the toilet and the cabinet are the same.

We also lost Debbie Rae, our neighbour and friend, to cancer this year. We'll miss her.

The big family Christmas was at our house this year, which would have gone much better if we hadn't gotten this nasty cold. How nasty? Well, if Hell ever does freeze over, this is the cold that would come with the climate change. Being sick made it all the harder to get motivated to move, nevermind clean up the place. Still, the food was great, and everyone had a good time. I apologize to family members we've made sick, but then, I did warn you ;)

New Years is usually a sedate affair. By then we're too exhausted, and too broke to go anywhere, anyway.

So, have a happy and prosperous New Year and see you at Ad Astra in March!

Mike