Belated Happy New Year, and random ramblings.

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful New Year, and if you're superstitious, that you ate the traditional black eye peas, greens and ham. We had everything but the greens. Yech.

We did do another superstitious thing, though:  I put all the cash I had in an envelope, wrote what we wished for in the new year, and placed it outside the house before midnight. Then Second-of-Three (aka my middle son) brought the envelope in after midnight, as he is the tallest and has the darkest hair.

I forgot to do this last year, and needless to say, money did not come rolling into our house. So I didn't take any chances this year. Sound crazy? Maybe so, but it doesn't cost anything, or hurt anybody, so I'm good.

Despite my best efforts, I still haven't gotten the habit of regular posting on the blog down, and that's one resolution I'll be working on this year. I need to shake things up a bit. I'd been working on a new header, and that will probably get up in the near future. I've been contemplating a new color scheme as well. Who knows what I'll end up with? Well, you will, if you stop by, I guess. har har

I'm continuing to work on the resource page for writers. Thanks to some great and patient help from Second-of-Three, I managed to get links that work, so you can go directly to the subject you're interested in rather than having to scroll down. I've found a few new things to put in. Maybe a "new" icon would be helpful, too. I'll look around for one. And figure out how to make it work with blogger, which can be extremely annoying for me at times.

My writing has suffered over the past couple of years due to issues with my parents' health, as you'll know if you've read here any length of time. I've semi-committed to a challenge over on the kboards, which has the lofty goal of one million words this year. Yes. I am crazy. I'm just hoping to be inspired/shamed/goaded into doing a fourth of that.

I also will be getting back to a low-carb eating plan -- I'm not looking forward to the carb withdrawal, but I'll deal. The first time I did this, I cut down rather than do the famous -- or infamous -- induction levels, and it wasn't too bad. I really need to get some pounds off, and following Dr. Atkins' plan is the only way I can do it.

I've tried just about everything else over the years, short of surgery, and that's not going to happen. And no more repeats of that whole vegetarian thing. I gained 60 pounds! Egads. There's a post on kboards about writers who want to lose weight, too. I spend a lot of time over there, it's the best forum I've found for self-publishers.

So, there you have it, Gentle Reader. The first awesome post of 2014. Aren't you glad you stopped by? I know I'm glad you did. Best wishes to you all for a safe, happy and prosperous year, take care and come back soon.