Our new home has 3 bedrooms, one of which I've claimed as my study, and one of which Sandie is using half for a sewing room. We still have room for guests in the other half of that room!
In the 34 years we've been married, we've never hosted Sandie's family Christmas gathering. Well, that's about to change in two weeks. It's going to be a challenge for Sandie, because she still has a daily battle with chronic pain, but we're looking forward to it. (Until 26th December - then we'll be looking backwards to it!)
I have pretty much finished the initial draft of a very ambitious 80,000 word novel. What lies ahead is a somewhat daunting process of reviewing and re-reviewing, then submitting it to publishers.
Writing is not something that comes naturally, even to me. It requires vast amounts of focus and discipline. For this reason, I'm trying to set aside my mornings as minimum writing time.
Last Christmas, Sandie and I were in Oklahoma with our son Joel, his wife Rose, and all her family. We will miss them this year. Simon's wife, Lorraine, has been involved in the massive Ring Cycle operas at the Melbourne Arts Centre. While it's obviously been an amazing experience, I'm pretty sure Simon will be glad to have Lorraine at home a bit more when it's all over.
I can't believe that Aulani, Simon's daughter and our granddaughter, is turning nine very soon. She stayed overnight with us recently, which was great.
Ami and Luke are still in Dennington, we've been missing them since we moved and I think they're missing us. But they have a very supportive church family and it's not hard to keep in touch these days.
Finally, Joanna has informed us that, with her friend Emma, she intends to spend a year in England and Europe. Initial tickets are booked for late September next year - which means she will miss out on St Kilda winning the premiership - but that doesn't seem to bother her at all!
Well that's all for now.
A happy, blessed and meaningful Christmas to all our friends!
