Stealing the idea from Sarakastic, who stole it from Stacy and Beck, I decided to sum up my blogging in 2008 with a twist: I’ve taken the first line from the last post of every month and will try to merge them into an intelligible paragraph or two below…

Jan: Today was a big potty day at Mother’s Day Out.

Feb: Happy Leap Day!

Mar: I never watch the morning talk shows (unless I just happen to catch a couple minutes), and I never, ever watch the The Early Show.

Apr: I was lucky enough to be offered an early reader’s copy of Trish Ryan’s book, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: A Memoir of Finding Faith, Hope, and Happily Ever After.

May: Taking a quick break from the edits…

Jun: Of course we have a wonderful zoo in Houston, and it’s getting better all the time, but it’s stuctured and straight-laced and near downtown.

Jul: A good friend of mine is about to have her third child, a boy.

Aug: Compared to normal, I must say, this weekend was a culinary fiesta around here!

Sep: I’m resigned to the reality that I didn’t accomplish what I’d intended to over the summer.

Oct: Is it just me, or is Target just a black hole with a bulls-eye?

Nov: Whew! I’m back.

Dec: I finished reading Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb (loved it!) and couldn’t help but go browsing around (again!) on Kiki’s website.

Taking a quick break from the edits…I’m resigned to the reality that I didn’t accomplish what I’d intended to over the summer. I never watch the morning talk shows (unless I just happen to catch a couple minutes), and I never, ever watch the The Early Show. I was lucky enough to be offered an early reader’s copy of Trish Ryan’s book, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: A Memoir of Finding Faith, Hope, and Happily Ever After. I finished reading Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb (loved it!) and couldn’t help but go browsing around (again!) on Kiki’s website. Of course we have a wonderful zoo in Houston, and it’s getting better all the time, but it’s stuctured and straight-laced and near downtown.

Today was a big potty day at Mother’s Day Out.

Whew! I’m back. Compared to normal, I must say, this weekend was a culinary fiesta around here! A good friend of mine is about to have her third child, a boy. Is it just me, or is Target just a black hole with a bulls-eye? Happy Leap Day!

GAK! That’s awful, but a retrospective nonetheless.

Happy New Year! I hope 2009 will be everything you hope it will be, plus a few surprises.

I enjoyed a positively lovely first-Saturday of 2009 yesterday. I spent a couple of very enjoyable hours chatting with a friend at table outside the local Starbucks. Then we strolled around Barnes & Noble with no thought other than to browse (and maybe use our gift cards). I can’t remember the last time I did that: not looking for some gift item or other. And then we had a quick lunch with lots of salty sweet potato fries…yum. And, even better, there were two separate instances of Doris Day parking!! Plus I got my Christmas decorations (mostly) put away and I watched a couple episodes of the first season of Pushing Daisies which I have checked out from the library. Have you seen this show??? I LOVE it–so clever and colorful and charming. I cannot be-lieve it’s been cancelled. I’m already envisioning buying the DVDs for both seasons to watch over and over again. Simply lovely.

I’ve very slowly putting together a list of resolutions for the new year, but as of right now, none of them involve writing. I’ve convinced myself that that doesn’t mean I’m burnt out on writing or that I’ve no plans for 2009, it simply means that this year, I’m going to be a little more laid back. I had plans last year–plans that were thwarted by the snail’s pace of the publishing industry–and this year I’m not yet sure how I want to proceed with my writing. So I’m saving the resolutions for a future post (hopefully this week).

Instead, I’m stealing an idea from Mary Danielson and listing my top ten reads of 2008. (I’m also stealing a couple from her list, as well). So, in no particular order…I give you, my list:

Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller

Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart (a many time over re-read)

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn

A Fatal Waltz by Tasha Alexander

The Little Lady and the Prince by Hester Browne

Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

I finished reading Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb (loved it!) and couldn’t help but go browsing around (again!) on Kiki’s website. I took the quiz, to see if I have what it takes to be an Irregular (The Irregulars are a posse of girl-spy/sleuths headed up by Kiki Strike who are slowly but surely saving New York from its own sordid underbelly). I apparently have exactly what it takes–enough even to lead the posse!

‘Mysterious is your middle name. People find you intriguing, but have trouble figuring you out. It doesn’t matter–your confidence is contagious and they want to be around you nonetheless, making you a natural born leader. You keep any self-doubt hidden far beneath the surface and carry yourself with maturity beyond your years. Just be careful, all that self-assured intrigue may make it hard for you to get close to others and you are a personality worth knowing!’

Not too shabby…
Now if I could just use my powers to find out when the next book in the series is coming out…

Go, take the quiz (click on ‘meet the irregulars’), and see if you can join my posse.

You should know…
I have no choice but to impose additional criteria (beyond this simple Internet quiz) before you can join the posse. Hypocritical, I know, but as the leader of the posse, I have a reputation to uphold. I’m sure you understand.