A needless update

Merry Christmas everybody! This year:

• My wife carried, and continues to carry, a child since May. I'll leave it there.
• My grandmother on my dad's side passed away at a healthy age in April.
• My grandmother on my mom's side passed away at a healthy age in September. Today being Christmas Eve is not something I look forward to, especially considering it's being held at her house.
• I began work on the second book of my planned series the Five Prophecies, basically a story arc about life, death, God, redemption, hate, love, faith (and lack thereof), and of course - physical intimacy in written form without the use of erotic slang. Maybe next year, I'll conjure up the nerve to allow someone to read the first one.
• My dogs continue to be both ointment and salt to my wounds. Quigley and Daisy remain cute, but grow old. Quigley has arthritis, but still has the luster of puppyhood in his eyes. Daisy is cuter as a greying black pug than she was as a scrawny puppy with mange; her breath also smells like a thousand dumps. Espresso is loyal, silly, and cost us the bank when he swallowed a fucking 3-foot strip of blanket which had to be surgically removed.
• I started composting - a surprisingly therapeutic venture.
• I remain more depressed than ever about my job, since it represents less and less of what I enjoy, and more and more of what I sought to avoid as a youth.
• Some friends remain, others grow distant. Either way, there are still friends to be had and for that - I have no complaints.
• Our country becomes a place for the worse. The evidence to support this remains speculative since I have no opportunities to travel and my sole sources remain media outlets, but I feel it in my spirit. The latter, I trust more than all the aforementioned.
• I've grown as a writer, I feel. There are no secondary voices to back this up since no one reads my writing and I have not asked anyone to. The few submissions I've made do not get read, so I am left to my own judgment. Presently, I recognize that I've overdone it with adverb usage in my writing (meaning my editing has only begun).
• Claire Forlani and Rose Byrne are still the the most attractive actresses out there. Bear in mind, the job field of acting is one where they are expected to be attractive so I'll not pretend that was a shallow statement. Now remaining attractive after a long week of manual labor, no makeup, being pregnant, and raising children or dogs or putting up with shitty husbands like a certain lady out shopping right now - THAT is attractive.
• I curse way, way, way, way, way, way more than I should, verbally speaking (cursing in the context of writing a story is a different pig to wrestle for another day). Assuming I bear the responsibilities of raising a little girl soon, this needs to be nipped and soon.
• Faith remains a painful and sore subject. I love God and adore His word, making my present stagnation of prayer and Bible-reading discipline like a wounded love who always watches and waits for you in a mirror, even if there is no mirror.

That is not all, but that is all I'm writing. I hope to look back at this entry and take it as an example that light always looks better when there is shadow to underscore it. Happy new year, as well.

PS. Right now, I write this in my favorite coffee shop. My favorite barista is a sweet girl who has been dealing with some obvious bag of douchery guy for well over an hour who says everything but 'let's go bang!' I'm worried about having a little girl now (see bullet point 9).