I wish each of you a Merry Christmas. I pray these wishes find you healthy, happy, and prosperous. If not, I pray you find all three in the coming year.

Now that my two knee replacmements and the cracked patella appear to be fully healed, I’ve recently begun taking a beginner yoga class. I’m not sure if it’s using the Raindrop oils on my feet or the yoga practice, but my right hip is moving much more freely. I’d started using the Raindrop oils before I started the yoga, and I’d noticed an inexplicable improvement in my hip, but I believe it’s a combination of the two practices which is reaping the best benefit for me. I’ve taken four classes. I have a long way to go before I look like yoga is doing me any good, but I will tell you I can feel its positive effects already.

I prepared the next issue of the RandR Fiction Club newsletter this morning. It’s scheduled to go out on January 2. You still have time to get on the list two receive this quarterly missive. Click on the Writing, Books tab above, then look to the right sidebar to add your email and name to get on the list — make sure you check your inbox and click the verification link. That protects you from some clown signing you up without your permission.

For the first time in many years, we appear to have nine cats living in relative harmony. While Lady was in the cage to restrict her movement for healing purposes, the other eight cats had the run of the open areas of the house, and they all got along. Rossie has remained visible if not always approachable. Now that Lady’s foot has healed and she is released to interact as she wishes, everyone is still getting along. It’s been less than a week, so things could change, but Mr. L and I are hopeful. If this continues, we plan to disassemble the cage, freeing up a good bit of space in the parlor.

Sneaky still sequesters herself in the dining room. That’s because Ajax is a jerk and will not leave her in peace. Sneaky is a separate issue, and she’s content in the dining room as long as we spend time with her each day.

As I prepare for 2018, I’m doing personal and professional planning. I do this incrementally throughout the year, but I look at the big picture during the last half of December and the first half of January to make sure my life is on a desired trajectory. I keep a lot of plates spinning — spiritual growth, harmony with Mr. L, my health journey, relationships with family and friends, cats, property care, my essential oils business, and my writing (which has been on the back burner from a fiction perspective for a couple of years now, but I’m looking for ways to add it back in).