Our Annual Christmas Letter

Happy Christmas, all!

We got a handful of Christmas letters with our cards this year. I feel a pang of guilt that I didn’t write a Christmas letter. I usually do. So here’s mine, in which I try to balance the humor with the boastful (we get one of those from a special friend every year, and it makes me giggle as much as the funny letters):

Bring it on!

We are still here, thanks to masks and triple vaccinations, as well as grit and lots of fiber supplements. Here’s the updates from our household, now that we are empty nesters. As far as human children, anyway. 

Cowboy will be ten months old by Christmas, meaning he’s in a rebellious stage. Meaning he won’t necessarily come in when called. He graduated Puppy Class, garnering a certificate and gold medal. He’s continuing his higher education, and we believe he’ll ace his Canine Good Citizen test in the New Year. Meanwhile, he guards us from roving bands of squirrels and stray plastic bags (so scary). His repertoire of party tricks grows weekly.

Clementine is officially a senior, like us, at nearly eleven years. She’s a peppy pooch, however, now that she insists on keeping up with Cowboy, which entails supervising his bathroom habits and the dispensing of treats, lest he get too many. Enticing her on a daily walk had once proved difficult; now she willingly accompanies Cowboy. Her favorite activities include snoring and herding the pup into a corner.

Small town politics occupies Don post-retirement, serving on the Rochester Historical Commission. As liaison to the Downtown Development Authority and the Heritage Festival, he gets the scoop on everything, and I mean everything. He forbade me to say more (I actually had to delete). He’s been watching his weight; having his gall bladder removed helped with a few ounces.

I illustrated a coloring book to accompany “Gordy and the Ghost Crab,” my recent picture book. It continues to sell like hot cakes (crab cakes?), especially in North Carolina’s Outer Banks’ bookstores. I did enough zoom interviews and readings to finally conquer zoom anxiety, but I’ll be shifting to in-person school visits in 2022, hence new anxiety. I did happen to win a poetry contest, and a handful of poems appeared in literary journals. Yay. I’m also editing a novel, aka pulling my hair out. (I’m changing the point of view— surprise, surprise!)

After the last power outage, we broke down and invested in a portable generator, and haven’t had a blackout since. That’s life, I guess. After the challenges of 2021, we say “Bring it on, 2022! We’re ready.”

Thank you for visiting Linda’s blog.

Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist.
Learn more about her award winning novel, In the Context of Love.
Learn more about her picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab.
Learn more about her poetry chapbook, Security