Probably the most significant difference in spending Christmas on Bequia is the nearly 60-degree difference in temps. from what I left behind in Calgary. That alone made the trip worthwhile! But it’s also nice to be back with Dennis, the cats, and my house for a couple of weeks, and catch up with old friends here. First thing last night, we went to Portofino, the new Italian restaurant owned and operated by our pals, Pammy and Tommy Cantina, and it was terrific! Lobster Ravioli – ya gotta love that!

I have PDFs of new books for the upcoming season loaded on to my computer, a couple of other traditional-form books to read, some writing to work on, and a lot of cooking to do, especially in that new pizza oven Dennis built. Am really looking forward to this break as a chance to be renewed and reinvigorated, so I go back to Calgary in 2009 with an even more positive outlook than I had during 2008 – my year of big changes, big decisions, and, ultimately, my very best year yet. If things get any better, I’ll be downright delerious!

I managed to write 34,000 words this month – not the 50,000 necessary to be able to claim victory in National Novel Writing Month, but still not bad at all. I’m happy with what I wrote and it just requires a bit more writing and a whole lot of editing for it to be considered an actual novel. A good month’s work, all in all.