HELLO 2012

Goodbye 2011. It is my annual New Year's Post, which seems to be the only thing I post anymore. But let's see if we can change that.

Last year was the first and only year ever that I made a New Year's Resolution that I kept. I resolved to quit playing Farmville and I was successful - it was pretty easy to quit cold turkey, I only missed it for a few days.

This year I don't have a resolution as such, but I am remembering what my friend Liz told me years ago: "What you do on New Year's Day, you do for the rest of the year." So, on this New Year's Day, I write. I will endeavor to to write daily, something that I have always struggled with, and lately I found that it is easy not to write when I haven't recently written.

Today I write this blog. Tomorrow I write, though I know not what. I have stories to revise, one book to finish, another book to start, submissions to submit. I will endeavor to make daily writing a habit, because it is more productive to do something daily, and one gets better at something they do daily.

I think it is easier to resolve not to do something, than to resolve to do something, but with last year's success behind me, it is time to tackle the harder things. Right? Right.

The nice thing is that some of the writing will inevitably be blog posts. This is a good thing since I have so neglected this blog.

Recently, having been inspired by this photograph, I have been doing art cups. I find it a convenient and satisfying way to fulfill that urge to create visual art. The cool thing for me is that everyone I work with (all 4, including myself) get coffee at Repast in the Mount Baker neighborhood and she uses plain paper cups. I get to pull them out of the recycling and have a steady supply of "canvas". I am working on cup #8 today which is an homage to Charles Rennie MacIntosh - always a favorite. When I get back home I'll take some pictures of my art cups and post them.

So, as it is the end of one year and the beginning of a new year, I have been looking back a bit. Some highlights:

1) I got to go to Alaska for 3 weeks this year to visit my little* brother and my lovely sister-in-law Lana, and the girls, Sophia and Coco. It was wonderful to be able to spend all that time with them, to see Sophia dance at UA Anchorage, to go with Coco to her swim lessons. I learned very quickly to identify Moose poop, we spent time on the Kenai River and had twice daily visits from a family of Bald Eagles. I saw a glacier and fell in love with the amazing beauty of Alaska.

2) I got to be an aunt again when my dear friend Kellie had a baby girl named Mathilde Dmitryeva Liskin. She brings joy to our lives - It is so much fun to watch her grow to see her smile and personality develop. I am looking forward to many years of joy from that girl!

3) Speaking of new babies - My dear friends Stacy and Andrea gave birth to twin boys on December 19th! I have not yet met them since they live in Boston, but I am hoping that somehow I'll be able to get back east this year to see them.

4) I got a brief trip to L.A this September to help Kellie and Dmitry celebrate their marriage with their family. As a special treat, Melissa and I got to see a taping of the Craig Ferguson show - very fun! And I got to spend a few blissful days in the magical world of Ovid, which is always good for my soul.

5) Tim & Barbie had an impromptu visit to Seattle this summer, which made me sooo very happy. My older brother Jay visited in November, also making me sooo very happy! And, my peeps from Portland had their annual visit in December, making me sooo very happy! Do you see a trend here? If your New Year's Resolutions include making me sooo very happy, then a visit to Seattle is in your future!

6) My favorite uncle had some unexpected health problems, which thankfully have been resolved for the better, but it reminded me how much I love my family and how little I get to see them, even though it was kind of a bonus year for me and I got to see my aunt and uncle twice this year (They were visiting Seattle area, making me sooo very happy!). It would be nice to get to Lexington, KY and see all the family peeps who have found their way there - one trip and I could visit 3 family units - a bargain really. (bonus: I could do a bourbon tour.)

And, as last year, I continue to miss my Rochelle in ways and depths I had not thought possible. Does one ever get over the pain of such a loss? I fear not.

But it is time to look forward and my hopes are simple - to write daily, to love and keep in touch with those people so dear to me, to win the lotto so I can travel all over the world!

Happy New Year to all!

* Little brother? He's my younger brother, but well over six feet...