I’ve been pretty quiet lately, but its not that there hasn’t been a lot going on. Some of it hasn’t been good, but I’m not going to talk about that here. Drop me a line if you really want to know about it.

I’m choosing instead to focus on the good stuff. There’s actually a fair bit of it about. In fact, here’s a baker’s dozen really cool things that are going on in my life right now.

  • My creativity has actually been sparking lately. I’ve now finished more songwriting in 2006 than I did in all of 2005, including some stuff I’m rather proud of. Better yet, I’ve been playing more music than I have in months, which is a sure sign that I’m feeling better about the world. I’m adding new songs to my repertoire, which is helping me keep from being bored with what I’m doing musically, which in turn inspires me to write more. I actually got stuff I’d written recently onto online songbook.. I even went and made a second index page that separates the song by year, which will make it easier for people to find the new stuff, even if it does highlight just how little I’ve written in the last few years.
  • We had not one but two housefilks in February, and each featured wonderful faraway visitors. The first was the official GaFiA housefilk, and featured such luminary travellers as sdorn, sdelmonte, and batyatoon! The very next weekend, there was a gathering at joyeuse13 and abovenyquist‘s house, in honor of the visiting celticdragonfly! Yay faraway people I don’t see often enough.
  • In spite of all the cramping our budget has suffered since the middle of last year, as of this moment our bills are all paid up, and we’ve gotten rid of a number of small debts that were being carried on our books. This puts us in excellent shape, if we’re careful and prudent, to reach our goal of paying off *all* our debt by the middle of 2007!
  • kitanzi is almost done with her physical therapy following her shoulder surgery in December, and is feeling much better and stronger than she had in many many months. Crappy health is definitely one of the things I’m looking forward to putting behind us as we move further into 2006.
  • Speaking of feeling better, we both have been feeling much better rested in the last week, since we acquired kitanzi’s early birthday present: a mattress pad. The pad is made out of a three-inch thick slab of four pound memory foam, and the difference it has made in the comfort of our sleeping is astounding! Many of our aches and pains have been reduced since we started sleeping on it.
  • Thanks to klrmn (who I miss terribly since she moved to California, but that’s a different post), we now know where to go for all-you-can-eat made-to-order sushi. Yummmmmmm.
  • One of my best and oldest friends, Jeff, has finally joined LiveJournal. Jeff has been my writing partner, confidant, and brother-in-arms since we were both in Jr. High school, and I’d love to introduce you all to him. So go say hi to hejira2006,and add him to your friends lists, because honestly, if you are the sort of person who likes me, I think you’re going to like him too. (Just be nice to him — I don’t want him to be scared off. *grin*)
  • Another of my best and oldest friends, vila_resthal, will be getting married in August. Dan is the editor of Aphelion Webzine, a project he and I have worked together on since its inception ten years ago. (And if you’re inclined to like reading or writing original SF/F fiction, go check it out. It’s a groovy place. We take filk lyrics, too. *grin*) I’m so very happy to see him happy, and I really like his new lady love, and am looking forward to the wedding, which will be held at the same time as ApheliCon 2, the second annual Aphelion writers cookout party.
  • I now own a Macintosh computer! tarkrai acquired a 17“ G4 iMac, which he gave to me for my very own. He claims that it’s a bit quirky but isn’t sure why, but so far I haven’t actually had any trouble with it. And it’s pretty. And it’s cool. And it’s a Mac. Shiny! Thanks, Smac!
  • Just in general, I have the best friends in the whole wide world. Yes, I do.
  • We have tickets to see Great Big Sea in concert in Atlanta in April! I am *very* much looking forward to finally seeing them live, after all the amazing reports we’ve gotten from our friends about their shows.
  • I’m leaving on a plane tonight to spend the weekend visiting aiela, my girlfriend who lives near Canada. *grin* This will be my first ever trip to Michigan, and I’m hoping to sneak across the border for a day so I can *properly* say I’ve been to Canada, rather than having simply been trapped in a plane on a runway there for 3 hours. 🙂 And I get to meet her fiancé, davehogg, who has become a Friend In His Own Right, much to be delight. I don’t get too see aiela often enough, so I’m very much looking forward to the trip.
  • Last, but not least, I am still married to the most amazing, beautiful, intelligent, sexy, and all around wonderful person in the entire world. I am absolutely the luckiest person on Earth. And I never, ever forget it.

So, what’s really cool and good in YOUR life right now?