New Year, New Decade...

First of all, I want to wish all my blogger friends a very safe, prosperous and Happy New Year!!! You are all wonderful people who I have come to care a lot for. Thanks for being such good blog buddies!

Some time ago, my friend Biddie did a "7 Things You Didn't Know About Me" post which I promised I would do "sometime in the future". Well, there's no time like the present, so here goes. If you knew some of these things already, just pretend you didn't, OK? LOL!

1) Friday (the 28th of December) was my 40th birthday! Yep! I'm now in a New Decade! The funny thing is, I don't FEEL 40... lately I've been feeling around 80ish!!! Too much heavy lifting + not enough sleep + constantly changing weather = Phoenix feeling VERY old and creaky! LOL!

2) I am a Science Fiction/Fantasy FANATIC! I love being able to escape reality for a while by reading books, watching movies or playing Role Playing Games on my computer. Sometimes I wish that I could REALLY escape and never come back, but then I'd miss you guys too much!

3) I am a New England Patriots fan. I've been a fan of the Pats since the year they were added to the NFL roster and boy, is it great to be rewarded so often for loyalty! LOL! This year the Patriots played a PERFECT SEASON! NO LOSSES!!!! WHOOO HOOO!!

4) I am a BIG fan of the Canadian Football League as well. The CFL season starts in June and goes to November so I get to enjoy TWO seasons of football every year! In the CFL, my team is the Winnipeg Blue Bombers since I am from Winnipeg by birth. My wife is a Toronto Argonauts fan, which makes for some interesting conversations during Winnipeg/Toronto games in our house! LOL! This year the Bombers went all the way to the Grey Cup (the CFL equivalent of the Super Bowl) but sadly, lost a hotly contested game to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It was a great game though, I was on the edge of my seat (aka "The Couch") for the entire second half... a real nail-biter!

5) Related to item #2, I am trying to write a fantasy novel. It's been a lot harder than I thought it would be, mostly because I find writing exhausting work and I haven't had a lot of energy these last few months. I became stuck at a point late last year and hadn't been able to proceed because I felt something was missing but couldn't figure out what it was. I think I have figured it out now, but haven't been able to summon the energy needed to start up again. I'm hoping that I'll be able to break the chains that are binding my imagination and get back into it again soon.

6) Related to item #5, sorta, I have two incredibly talented, imaginative daughters who are constantly creating new characters for their own stories. My oldest, J, has been able to develop as a fairly proficient Manga artist and has sketchbooks full of character sketches complete with bios and everything. My youngest, T, is following in her older sister's footsteps and has her own sketchbook, filled with little comic strips done Japanese style. Right now the stories make little sense, and are fairly childish, but the character development is awesome. I am SOOO jealous! LOL!

7) I am a terrible "Finisher". So many times, I have started projects, only to abandon them mid-stream. I haven't been able to figure out why I lose interest so quickly in everything I do, but it is beginning to really irritate me. My home office is cluttered with unfinished models, projects, etc. which is making it hard to work in here. About the only time I actually finish a project is when I have an outside deadline to meet. If I am doing something for someone else, I almost always meet the deadline, usually because I find myself almost out of time and put in a panic session getting it done! I have tried setting deadlines for myself, but I always seem to realize that it's just me I'm letting down, no one else, so I let myself get completely distracted from the task at hand. I'm trying to be more focused, but so far, not so good.

Well, that's my latest "7". I hope you enjoyed reading them! I'm supposed to tag several people, but I won't. If you feel so inclined to do your own "7", please let me know you have done it so I can read it. I love to read about my friends!

Until next time...