Happy New Year, ,

I hope the first few days of 2023 are treating you well.

I'm having a fantastic start to the new year, partly owing to a 2 a.m. flash of genius about a major plot point I'd been struggling with since early December. Let me just say that if you thought the first two books in this series came with jaw-dropping twists, watch out! Book three will surely blow your mind.

Not everything has been rainbows and unicorns, though.

Over the holidays, I dumped an entire batch of turkey stuffing all over the garage floor and the next day, my husband and I were almost kicked out of the family.

The story starts with my in-laws, who were here for their annual pre-Christmas visit and were supposed to go home on December 22.

However, due to the crazy weather across Western Canada, their flight was canceled, and they couldn't get another flight until December 26. That meant they would be spending Christmas Day with us instead of my husband's sister like they normally do.

Our 16-year-old pup, Tetley, used to love people. These days, he prefers a quiet house and the comfort of routine.

For us, it was no big deal. They'd already been here a week, so everything was more or less still in place (though I had rather proactively washed the sheets during their futile six-hour wait at the airport). We would need to arrange some "emergency" medication as they hadn't brought enough for an extended stay, but we were genuinely happy they would be spending Christmas with us for a change. 

At any rate, we welcomed them back with open arms, convinced they were just as excited about their new Christmas adventure as we were.

Three days later, however, amidst the chaos of gift unwrapping and the stuffing mishap (see below), my 88-year-old father-in-law leaned over and said to me, "You know, this will be the first time in 68 years I haven't spent Christmas with family."

😳😳😳

Now, at this point, you might be thinking: there must be some reason for this snarky snub.

But I swear, there isn't. We all get along famously and enjoy each others' company. Our visits usually include shopping, dinners out, movies, trips to the museum or art gallery, and – at Christmastime – holiday markets and light displays.

This time, however, it had been bitterly cold with temperatures hovering around minus thirty, and no one wanted to venture out much. We did manage one outing to the mall, which, incidentally, was the last place anyone saw my father-in-law's flip-phone.

When the poor fellow realized he'd just stricken his only son (and me) from the family register, he quickly backpedaled. "Rather, it's the first time I haven't been home for Christmas in 68 years."

My husband laughed when I told him about it later and had his own story of rejection. Apparently, as he said goodbye to his folks for the second time at the airport, his dad proclaimed the best part of the trip was getting a shiny new flip-phone for Christmas!

This was the first year I'd been so organized that I had my turkey stuffing made a whole day in advance, and because it's so freaking cold where we live, I was able to store it in our detached garage overnight.

When I went out the next morning to give it a stir, the bowl slipped, and I lost the entire batch of the BEST sausage stuffing I've ever made.

You can bet I'm going back to my old, disorganized ways next year.

The writer's equivalent to accidentally deleting the only copy of a 120,000-word manuscript.

Thanks for spending time with me today, . I appreciate your interest in my work.

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