Time for Christmas

Well, after five days with no power, we're back. (Actually, we got power back late Tuesday, but last night another transformer blew and so I shut everything down, except my laptop and prepared to pack for our Christmas trip in the dark.)


We are lucky. The power stayed on, the work is done, clients are happy, and I can finally read the Elizabeth George novel that has been mocking me for a month. Plus, I'm reading 13 Ways of Looking At the Novel by Jane Smiley and loving it. And I bought the entire series of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Mysteries to read in 2007. They are a great light, easy read, but JE is pure genius.

On the list for January 2007 is revising two web sites for a grand re-opening, working on the new novel (the current novel is still stuck at 98%, but it will be done over Christmas), and writing more and more for clients and for myself. A great New Year's resolution!

Speaking of New Year's, I know I'm early, but anyone care to share their New Year's resolves with this blog?

Share away. I'll be checking in from our vacation periodically.

Merry Christmas!

Winter Storm

The Pacific Northwest really got hit last week with a fierce storm.

But the question remains: are we too soft?

It's being debated on the radio as many of us still are without power 96 hours later. I'm disturbed at how much of my life has been disrupted without power and how hard it has been to maintain some semblance of normalcy. I think I now can maybe begin to begin to fathom a small bit of what Hurricane Katrina survivors went through. Or, maybe I'm just a wuss.

We lost power Thursday night and the temps sank to the low 20s over the weekend. We kept warm by going out to eat and visiting friends, and now we've checked into a hotel, because I have deadlines and clients who are relying on me. But what if I had small children? What if we were farther outside of suburbia?

I think these two things have become apparent:

1. We're buying a generator, not a large one, but one big enough to turn our heat on and keep our food from spoiling.

2. We're going to plan for a week's worst case scenario instead of just three days. This will require some more planning, but I am determined.

Our trees stayed up through the wind gusts and we're healthy and okay. We have outstanding neighbors who banded together to help each other out. That's a LOT to be thankful for.

Merry Christmas, everyone.