Happy New Year

As most people know, I've been working hard at the American Diabetes Association all year, not taking too much time off except our wonderful New Orleans trip in September, so it was nice to get a break. Today is my last day of a two week break, and I'm ready to settle back into my rhythm, get some writing done, put the final touches on The Lost Whisper (the new title for Fairmist) and finally send it off to Donald.

As for vacation, the family and I went west for a big Fahnestock Christmas reunion. We had five generations of Fahnestocks in the room, from my 97-year-old grandfather and 93-year-old grandmother to the 5-month-old son of my neice (does that make him my great nephew or my second nephew?), as well as my brother, sister, mother, father, and step-mother. That group of people had not been together in the same room for almost twenty years.

Anyway, it was a fantastic time. My favorite highlight was running pell-mell through the park with my children chasing me, just playing a game of "catch the daddy". Sometimes the simple things are the best.

We drove 18 hours straight through to get there, and 18 hours straight back. My children are now seasoned road trippers, and it is so much fun to take trips with them.

The family also discovered the game Angry Birds, as Lara and I finally broke down and got smartphones in mid-December: the Samsung Infuse, to be specific (and I highly recommend it. What a great little peice of technology!). So now we can be distracted by emails, chats and calls wherever we are, not to mention getting sucked into a time stealer like Angry Birds. Still, those phones did entertain the children at many moments during the long car ride.

Last Tuesday returned to our lovely abode, glad to be home. On Saturday we rang in the new year with our wonderful group of friends in Denver and now I am officially ready for 2012 to begin. Happy New Year everyone!