Sheriff Sarah

Sheriff Sarah

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

My New Writing Blog

A quick note: for those of you interested in my writing pursuits, I've started a blog devoted to entirely to writing with a little parenting thrown in, from time to time. Please hop on over to the blog and follow me! I would appreciate it and if you could spread the word, that would be great.

http://swingsandkeyboards.blogspot.com/

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Cruise Control

The blog has been quiet because, well, things with Sarah have been quiet. All is well in the Kraft household for the moment, and hopefully that continues for many months. Sarah had some virus that made all her fingernails peel but besides saying "owie" and continually pointing them out to us, they didn't seem to bother her.

At the last clinic visit on Jan 11th they cleared her, once again, for 3 months between clinics. We take her once a month for labs and as long as the numbers are okay, we won't have to see the docs until April - which, coincidentally will be her 2 year transplant anniversary. It would be cool if we could reach that milestone without any issues.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Moving Forward in 2011

I hope everyone had a truly wonderful Christmas and New Year's. I know it was a great time for my family and provided some quality down time. After getting our Wii connected a couple of days ago, I'm sure our house will never be the same. We've never owned a gaming system before and I've never even played games on the new-fangled systems out there. Our first weekend with it was a hoot and I'm looking forward to many more fun times playing with the kids.

While it's difficult to believe another year has arrived, I'm optimistic about what 2011 brings. On the personal side, I'm hoping for a little more normal in our "new" normal as far as Sarah's liver goes. A few less hospital trips and biopsies would be welcome.

I'm humbled to watch my children grow, year by year, into wonderful people. I'm looking to continue to focus on leading by example and instructing them through the life of Jesus and the Bible. They really are amazing kids if I do say so myself.

I'm going to focus more on set date nights with Patty, dedicating the time necessary to nurture the most important relationship apart from God. I'm looking forward to engaging in a Bible study with two friends for accountability and growth.

You know I couldn't go an entire post without mentioning my writing. This fire has been fueled the past three months to the tune of 75,000 written words. One manuscript is complete (less the editing "ring of fire" I will now be passing through) and I've nearly completed half of the second novel. My goals are modest - continue to write at least 25,000 words per month and complete three more novels this year. I'm going to begin querying in March and hopefully can land at least a smidge of interest from agents or editors at the two or three writers conferences this year. When December rolls around, I'd like to say that an agent has offered me representation.

What about you? What are your dreams, goals or expectations for 2011? Think lofty, but also be realistic.