2014

• My Labrador companion Cagney it turns out is not
  turning ten years old in a few months but in fact is going to be nine for
  another year. She and I are quite pleased about this turn of events now that
  she is over me aging her faster than she needs to. 
• Cagney is still an excellent backwards tap dancer
  and gives a show every night when I measure out her evening meal. 
•  I am still working on Book 4 of the Students of
  Jump series, which appears each day, (though I keep writing more scenes) to still
  have another 6K of words to get to the end. My book apparently has some Dr.
  Who Tardis qualities: the inside is larger than one would expect. 
•  I am still disappointed with the movie version
  of The Hobbit. Where in heck did this
  white orc come from and since when was a dwarf the main character of a book
  titled The Hobbit? 
•  Don’t get me started on Ender’s Game. But I still feel the same. Good news: no white orc.
•  When building a house, everything takes longer
  than expected, still. Yet the roof is on, windows are in, garage doors are
  going in as I write and siding is going up. I remind myself daily that I could
  still be smoothing the concrete in the garage, and suddenly I feel as if we
  have been moving along quite swimmingly. 
•  I am still getting older and expect to continue
  aging in the future 
•  Teaching has been, is and will continue to be
  very hard work. Fortunately, students still have the capacity to learn despite
  their nearly all out effort to avoid this. I get updates a year or two after
  graduation that show that these kernels of learning take root and remain
  exponentially active for many years. As of this year, I began teaching my first
  grand-student. He is a much better student than his mother. Appears kernels
  imbed themselves in the genes. Who knew? 
• Creativity still begets creativity. I am testing
  a theory: One can never run out of creativity. I’ll let you know the results,
  but you have to hang around. I won’t make the post until shortly before the
  end, and I plan to live a very long time. 
•  There are in fact motor homes that one can be
  comfortable in. You just might not want to bring along two Labradors and two
  family members to test the comfort level. 
•  You should still floss the teeth you want to
  keep. 
•  Teenage girls notice teenage boys faster than
  the speed of light. Boys might be a little bit faster noting girls. Research is
  still coming in. 
•  Having to pay bills teaches responsibility.
  Politeness, consideration, appreciation, timeliness, good work habits and
  sympathy are also benefits of this experience. Earning grades through one’s own
  personal effort teaches the same lessons. 
•  A kind word still makes a difference worth
  noting and is therefore worth giving. 
•  Still keeping company with the best of writer
  friends, Marcy Peska and L. A. Hilden. 
•  Another year with the best man in my life and he
  assures me he is looking forward to another. 
• The finest of daughters continues to grow into a
  woman who will one day also be my best friend. Though I don’t look forward to
  letting go of her girlhood, I am already reaching for her adult hand. 
•  My daughter’s Labrador is still terrified of
  white floors of any material. She treats them like ice and skates on her curled
  black nails in a comic lack of control that promises to end with all four legs
  spread out like Bambi but never happens. It seems an appropriate phobia
  considering the time of year. 
•  I expect to continue blogging for another year,
  and probably longer. 
•  Based on my current writing projects, I see
  several years of writing ahead. Theory on creativity appears well supported.

#NewYears
#Creativity