Image via Wikipedia

I know, I know… I’m about a week late posting about the new year. We are a week in to your resolutions – did you make any? We are a week in to adjusting to writing that new number – are you still writing 11?

There was some major upheaval in my life at the end of 2011. Some emotional shocks. Some personal disappointments. Some unfortunate revelations. I found I have let my life slide for the past year and a half or so. And it is time to reclaim myself.

I only read 44 books last year. That is half of the books that I read in 2010. And I did not walk at all in 2011. Not one stinking mile. And for the past six months this blog has nearly been a ghost town.

We have a lot to accomplish in the coming year to prepare Princess Girl for college and make sure she gets in to the University of her choice. I need to take back control of my life to make sure that happens.

I am already well into my third book this year. The first one was a fluff read, but the second two… very good. Yay!

I haven’t started walking again yet. There was a big green tree with glittery lights and sparkly decorations on it in the middle of my living room taking up my winter walking space. But the tree is down now. And walking is back on my agenda. I started this year’s exercise regimen by raking and burning leaves in the yard on New Year’s Day. In my pajamas. In the snow. Might as well start things right!

Saturday we planned our Spring Break trip to do two major college campus visits on the East Coast. So college planning is well on its way at this point too.

It feels really good to have a positive, fresh start for the new year even if I did not make any hard and fast resolutions. How about you? Are you taking charge in this new year?

Now that you have insulted and threatened us, we will protect our own.

Just sayin’

Many changes were made and now we have to adjust once again.

I feel sorry for everyone involved.

The Heiress Companion is a typical Regency romance. It has all the tropes that make Victorian novels so fun. There are matchmaking mothers, snobby meddlesome aunts, a prodigal son and romance. The Library Thing cover of this novel, pictured here, is head and shoulders above the one found on Amazon. However, I miss read the flourish on the ‘S’ in heiress as heiress’. This caused me not a little bit of confusion as the novel opens with Rowena caring for a Dowager. And not a small ‘ahh’ moment later in the book where the heiress status is the cause of an eminent engagement in cancelled.

This is a quick novel with a bit of humor and more than a bit of Victorian drama. It is a good afternoon read when you are looking for something light.

Image via Wikipedia

“Remember, love, time and attention are the best gifts we have to give our family and friends.  Happily, they are not only the least expensive to give, they are valued most by those who receive them.  So, be sure to put first things first this holiday season and make certain those you love know it.  You’ll never regret the time you spend doing so.” — Doug Cropper CEO Genesis Health System