Strange Year: A year in review

This was a very strange year for me.  First off, I became a father this year.  My beautiful, playful, hard-headed daughter Kerrigan Riley was born on January 8th.  I couldn't be happier.  She nearly One now and is running, bouncing, and climbing on everything.  Her strength and ambition is pretty clear already.  She gets most of that from her mother.

My wife completed her MPH program this year.  I am so proud of her.  Getting your Master's degree while being either pregnant or caring for an infant is close to impossible.  She not only completed it but finished early.  She continues to blow my mind with how amazing a woman she is becoming.

This year we lost our cat Chloe.  She was my wife's cat before we met but quickly accepted me.  We had a few incidents over the years, mostly due to her stubbornness, but we stayed close.  She was a great cat and we will miss her. 

We had another pet issue this year as well.  A week ago our dog Crutches hurt his back while I was taking him for a walk.  It ended up being a ruptured disc and caused both his hind legs to become paralyzed.  Yes, it was pretty scary.  We opted for surgery, despite the high costs, we couldn't lose another member of our family.  The surgery went well and he is back home and slowly recovering.  We are hopeful that he will walk normally again soon.

Ok, enough of the bad.  This year I rediscovered my love of writing and I am back at it harder than ever.  A new first draft should be completed within the next month.  I am looking forward to the editing process.

I also discovered some new authors this year and read some really great books.

Some of my favorites were:

Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
Mockingbirds by Chuck Wendig
The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Doll Bones by Holly Black
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaimen
The Eighth Court by Mike Shevdon
Black Feathers by Joseph D'Lacey

I am thoroughly optimistic about 2014 and excited to get some serious writing done.  And, of course, to watch my daughter grow and learn and try to be the best father I can be.