Oh my! I can scarcely believe how fast the holidays flew by. One minute I was baking lots and lots of cookies and cursing my oven for burning half of them. Not me, mind you. It was definitely the oven. Anyway, the next thing I knew it was January, and not just January but a week into January.


So far, the year has been blissfully good to me as I hope it has for you. Got a lot of rewriting done on my novel, have been organizing "stuff" all over the house, cooking some fun dishes, weeding my veggie garden that never got cleaned up in the fall, have read some great books, and welcomed a new family member into our house. Nope, not that adorable baby in the photo. This guy:

His name is Willie, after Willie Nelson, who was born and raised about five miles north of where we live. Our Willie, who is not quite two years old, has a bit of a wild side, just as Willie Nelson did in his younger years. Even though our Willie had a home, he adopted us. And try as we could to return him home, Willie would run away and kept showing up at our house. His owner finally said, "you've got yourself a new cat." Willie has moved right in. At first, I wasn't sure that he and our nearly three-year-old cat would get along. After a few hissy fits and tails blowing up like bottle brushes, they adjusted and now seem to get along fine. The dog is another story. He's terrified of Willie. Not sure why. Willie hasn't done anything to the dog. Maybe they have some kind of telepathic understanding. Who knows.


I also learned recently that I will have a story in the upcoming Chicken Soup for the Soul: Me and My Dog book. It's a special compilation of stories culled from their story library. Many years ago they published a story I'd written called "Meeting Earl." I am honored to be included in this book. It comes out next month on February 6th. I hope that you'll pick up a copy. It's full of heartwarming dog stories. What's not to like? 

And finally, a story I wrote about an old-time candy company here in Texas was published in this month's issue of Texas Coop Power. I had a blast visiting the factory and getting to interview the owner. You can read the article here:
https://texascooppower.com/the-sweetest-family-2/

Till next time........