Our daughter, Chloe, made it home from college this past weekend. She was flying from Toronto, and there'd been snow overnight. So it was tricky getting to the airport, and then of course, her plane was delayed, but only by an hour. (The plane right behind hers to Edmonton was cancelled so we considered ourselves lucky).

While we were waiting I made a banana pineapple cake from this recipe on Averie Cooks.

And I made us some Cafe Mochas in these sweet new cups I recently picked up at the beautiful Duchess Provisions store. (Can't wait to get back there).

So how are we spending the holidays? We're not singing carols or looking at lights or playing board games. We're not watching Christmas movies together or decorating cookies or gingerbread houses. I see a lot of happy family photos here and there and kind of laugh thinking, wow, that's not us. But what is happening is that Chloe is working hard on her art as she's applying to several colleges in the new year and each one has a slightly different portfolio. (The program she's in right now is a one year art fundamentals course which is preparing her beautifully for what she wants to do - animate). Rob, as usual has been painting, and I've been working - both at the library and on my various projects. I think we're all tired, bone tired, but feeling productive which is its own kind of happiness.

Meanwhile, this is my fortieth post on this blog and I'm at the four month point. There's a lot that I want to do that I haven't done. More interviews and conversations, for example. I hope to average at least one a month, and haven't quite accomplished that. I'm considering setting up 52 weeks of creativity prompts in the new year. If nothing else, it might get me working on new material :) What are your thoughts?

I also need to work on getting more traffic to the site and generating more income. So in that spirit I want to point out my Society 6 shop on the side bar and that there's a donate/support button at the bottom of every post. No pressure, of course. Thanks to everyone who has supported the blog by donating, buying, sharing posts, leaving comments. ALL of these thing are most appreciated!

2016