2014 Let the changes begin!

January sunrise.

January has been a bit of a write-off for me--no pun intended. Sometimes you just gotta go with it. Christmas vacation, day job nuttiness, family responsibilities and other things reduced my writing time to next to nothing, and with personal deadlines looming, my stress level went waaaaay up. I was not happy, I couldn't focus on my writing and everything else was suffering. Then my day job announced a  HUGE change which left me in a bit of a pickle.

I had to make some BIG decisions, do a little soul searching, and come up with a way to make it all work.

I really suck at making decisions.

REALLY.

I moaned and groaned and gnashed my teeth--just a tiny bit. Okay, a lot. My hubby, God bless him, listened and patted my back and said all the right things. My kids hugged me and gave me VIP snuggles. Even my in-laws heard my story and gave me great support. But in the end, I had to choose between what is right, what is easy, and what will keep me from diving head-first off of the deep end.

I've cut my day job hours.

Yup.

Scary, but necessary. You see, I love my day job, really I do. It's fulfilling, and I'm so blessed to have the ability to work with such amazing people. But writing…writing is my PASSION. When my fingers hit the keyboard and the stories start falling out it's…magic. It's indescribable. It makes me happy. Even if what I'm writing is crap. It's…it's just right.

More days to write + still working at wonderful day job = happier Brenda. All fixed, right?

Well…almost.

You see, on top of everything else, there are VERY LOUD rumours (not yet confirmed) that we are posted this summer.

Ah the joys of military life. Just get things sorted out and, BOOM! The 'P' word!

POSTED.

For those of you who have never experienced the mental, physical and emotional chaos of a military posting, lucky you! I suspect most of my readers have had to move for some reason or another in their lives. If it comes to fruition, this move will be move number nine in the seventeen years my hubby and I have been together. (It would have been number eleven, but we opted to stay put whilst hubby went unaccompanied to Toronto two years ago). That's a big number, but I know others who have moved many more times than us. So I'm not complaining. Just laying down the background.

When you move that often, you develop a process. A personal/family survival plan of how it works best for you. No move is ever perfect (and believe me, we've had some doozies) but with the right amount of planning and flexibility, they can be a lot of fun and even an adventure. New places and new  people and experiences--new everything! Well, except our stuff. That's not so new. Nine moves makes for some lovely dents and scratches on the furniture, broken frames, smashed china, ripped upholstery, flattened lampshades, unserviceable electronics... But I digress.

The point I am trying to make is that 2014 is going to be a year of change, and I am so excited to start! What changes are happening for you this year? Moving? New job? New manuscript?

I can't wait to see what the year brings. I'll be blogging about posting prep and processes over the next few months.

And then in July… BOOK LAUNCH!

It's going to be a great year!

Brenda

A Beautiful Life

On Monday of this week, my family and I said goodbye to a wonderful lady. My grandmother, Evelyn Flora Corey who passed away peacefully and surrounded by loved ones on January 3, 2013.

My beautiful grandmother and I

She was ninety-six.

I was asked to say a few words on behalf of her five grandchildren at the funeral, something quick and light, and so I asked my cousins and my siblings about happy memories they had...snapshots of Gram, as we called her, to help others see how special she was. I also spoke with many different people at her wake--some strangers, some friends, some family. What I discovered was one common thread that we will all remember about this amazing, unassuming lady.

She never complained.

From rough lumber camps to high-profile dinners with Members of Parliament, from near poverty to relative wealth...my grandmother was one of a rare breed of people who always saw the good in her situation. Asked to feed twenty strange men...she put a pot on the stove.  When our children came to play on her antique furniture and prized piano...she showed them where the books were and gave them a candy. Asked to leave her home of seventy years...she walked into the nursing home and embraced the social schedule, going to bingos and bell choirs and waiting patiently for her evening cookie. Her glass was always more than half full, it was overflowing.

She loved life, loved people, and was so very proud of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. People I had never met told me of how proud she was of my book, my letters, my family, the photos I'd sent. While I thought I was neglectful of her, never spending enough time, she was singing my praises to anyone who would listen. I'm humbled when I realize how much she endured graciously in relation to my small discomforts that send me spinning.

So this year, instead of New Year's resolutions that I know I'll break, I'm making a personal goal in honour of my beautiful grandmother. It's a simple one, really. I'm going to try to see the good in things like she always did. The operative word is try here, because I know I will fail. I'm going to try to praise my kids and my husband and my siblings and my parents and my friends...instead of looking for their faults. I'm going to search for the positive when things go wrong. And when life requires me to do something I don't want to do...I'm going to think of the little woman who always recognized that sometimes you've just got to get on with it if you want to find the reward at the end.

She's gone to her reward now, and I am so privileged to have been a part of her beautiful life.

Rest in peace Gram. May your legacy live on in those who loved you, including me.

Brenda