December 2023 Recap

We've somehow reached the end of 2023. It's not been a year I expected, but here we are. Let's recap the last month of the year.

Also, I plan to take a break from blogging in January. I'm not sure what the future of this blog is, so I want to take a month and think about it.

• Got to see the Nutcracker. It's been years since we went, and we found a local ballet school performing it for cheap. It was a lot of fun, even if it did make me a little anxious.

• Went caroling at a local nursing home with people from our church. It was fun for us and a blessing to the people there.

• I struggled a lot with Christmas this year. I felt sad a lot and just didn't want to do a lot of Christmas things. I'm not sure why. But in spite of that, Christmas Eve/Day were both good.

• Sister of the Bollywood Bride- Nadini Bajpai (3 stars)

• Ruth Through New Eyes: Under His Wings- Rich Lusk (4 stars)

• Majesty- Katherine McGee (3 stars)

• Komi Can't Communicate, Vol 6- Tomohito Oda (3 stars)

• Hey Whipple, Squeeze This- Luke Sullivan (3 stars)

• Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion- Elizabeth Cline (4 stars)

• Komi Can't Communicate, Vol 7- Tomohito Oda (5 stars)

• Komi Can't Communicate, Vol 8- Tomohito Oda (4 stars)

• The Paris Dressmaker- Kristy Cambron (4 stars)

• Rakkety Tam- Brian Jacques* (5 stars)

• Mad Max: Fury Road (not what I expected)

• 27 Dresses (not spectacular, but fun)

• Die Hard (a Christmas classic)

• Die Hard 2: Die Harder (not as good as the first, but still fun)

• Die Hard with a Vengeance (almost as good as the original)

• The Phantom of the Opera (I didn't cry watching it this time)

• Vanilla Sky (very odd)

• White Christmas (doesn't get old)

• Return of the King (happy 20 years!)

• While You Were Sleeping (also not spectacular, but fine)

• Holidate (quite crass 😖)

I finished updating my query materials. But since it was pretty much the holidays, I decided to delay querying any more until January.

In the meantime, I started a new short story to use as a newsletter lead magnet. It's being a bit difficult, but I'm enjoying writing it.

It's not exactly art, but here are a few of the Christmas projects I made.

Steve the Goose

A vest for my brother

A table runner for my mom

A flat cap

Pingu

• Work on creating new routines to help my life run smoother.

• Finish writing my short story and return to the querying trenches.

• Take more time for things I enjoy.

How was your December? Did you have a good Christmas? Tell me in the comments.