"Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day."

--Henri Nouwen

For the New Year: "We will open a book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and the first chapter is New Year's Day."

--Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Happy New Year, my friends!

E-

I have not added a new post in a long time. It's too much like work. But here's a great quote from a new (to me) author:

"I have trouble with beginnings. For one thing, I don't find stories all that interesting when you start at the beginning. If you ask me, you only know there is a story when you get to the middle. And besides, beginnings are hard to determine. One could argue that the true beginning to all stories is the beginning of time. But Morty is already eighty-two years old, so given our time constraints, I'll begin this story on the date I met, or, more specifically, first laid eyes on 'John Brown.

I am turning over a new leaf! I am writing sweet holiday romances under my real name, and I created a new webpage for this new endeavor. Check it out at www.elysebrunnemerauthor.com today!

E-

I took the English college placement test on Monday. It consisted of a reading portion and an essay. I crafted an exquisite 600-word epic missive and hit "Submit." The computer promptly crashed. The ladies running the show did their best, but my essay was gone. "Just retype it," they told me. I did not argue; if it's gone, it's gone, and there's nothing to do but write another essay. (NOT RETYPE IT, LADIES!!!) So I wrote another essay. And hit "Submit" again.

Yesterday I took the math and English college placement tests. I was a little offended that I had to take them. I took three Calculus classes...twenty-five years ago...and, really, that should be good enough for anybody. I figured that I had the math part cold. Well, I can tell you that I was absolutely, completely wrong. At some point during the test I actually felt my brain shrivel into a little ball and start whimpering. I prodded it with the next question about logarithmic functions. 

"Solve it, Brain!