Prosit Neujahr

Hello Dear Reader!  Happy New Year.  Can you believe it is 2014?  Two thousand and fourteen!  As recently as the 90s I was sure that the two thousand and teens were so far in the future that I'd be too ancient to have anything in common with who I was back then. Yet here we are, with not a hint of flying cars (though some can park themselves, which is a nifty trick) and - thankfully - we're not wearing Star Trek jumpsuits. I feel like the same person I was in the last millennium, but I know there are some differences: I can no longer sleep on the floor, I don't much like modern music (the exceptions I consider to be 'real' music rather than modern), I no longer feel guilty for not finishing every book I begin, I'm better at saying no, and I've learned I'm capable of more than I thought. I know that I'm ok on my own, and I like who I'm becoming - though I annoy the snot out of myself at times.

There hasn't been much going on here at The Lighthouse for a month or more. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do here, as it is no longer a chronicle of my life with The Peanuts (I sure do miss CTKS) and I'm not sure this is the place to work out my inner demons. I'm feeling the itch to take it up again, whatever it is. I guess it will be what it will be.

I've managed to do some writing, getting a really good start on a novel I'm calling Caroline... or Stained Glass. I'm looking for a new job, as the old one comes to an end in 23 days. I'm journeying through the Old Testament and still managing to lose track of who begat whom and just how big is a cubit, anyway? I've been hired to proofread a dissertation - for actual money! I've decided to carry on with many of my Advent observances, notably spending more time in creative pursuits and less in passive entertainment. I'm contemplating getting a cat.  Just one... I know that's a slippery slope. The Great Reading Project still plods on, with many a distraction such as the new Adriana Trigiani book - heaven!

I want to publish something this year - article, story... heck, a book!

I have become very aware of death. Not in a gruesome, gothy way, but because two family members and a close friend died this year, several friends have been touched by death, and two other family members are dueling with cancer. It's foolish to pretend that death doesn't exist or that we have all the time in the world, and that preparing for death entails only making sure someone knows where the important papers are. I've seen it up close and personal, how death is a battle. The soul struggles, even in the devout. The scales weighing our lives become real and loom large. Now is the time to settle accounts, those fiscal, personal, and spiritual. Read Dante is you think otherwise.

I want to be more patient, more kind, and more aware of how blessed I am. I want to stop drifting, and be more fully alive.

Let's make 2014 truly spectacular!