Sunday, December 28, 2008

Holiday Blessings!


What an amazing time of year. The holiday season is always filled with such hope, beauty and love.

This is the perfect time to consider all the wonderful blessings we’ve experienced this past year. I’m especially thankful we decided to stay in Seattle and not visit family in Chicago. Oh, I miss them, sure, but if we’d tried to get out this year, I would have been writing this from Sea-Tac airport. We got hit with am amazing amount of snow for our part of the country (Seattle). And yes, I’m blessed with owning a four-wheel drive vehicle ☺.

This year has been one of people blessings. I’ve made some new friends and have learned tons from others. At the top of my blessings list are the “Eastside Radicals” -- a screenwriting critique group I joined last fall. It’s me and three talented, and dedicated writers who inspire and encourage each other twice a month. Finding a supportive writing group is a true gift. There are other writers in my life who have taught me so much including friends at the Northwest Screenwriters Guild, and my new writing partner, Heather Davis, who I’ll be writing a movie with next year.

Being able to share my stories with readers is at the top of my blessings list! Next Harlequin Intrigue will release The Girl Next Door series in February and March. These books were so much fun to write. They’re set out here in Seattle--my favorite city in the world!

I’d love to hear your special blessings of 2008. Care to share them?
Sorry this is coming to you so late in the day, but we had to say good-bye to our beloved Golden Retriever earlier today. He was a family pet for 12 glorious years, so even though we feel the pain of missing him, we were blessed with many years of joy.
Wishing you a wonderful, joyous holiday season.
Pat White
www.patwhitebooks.com

9 comments:

  1. My biggest blessing is the family I have. Other blessings include the talent I have for telling stories, the friends I'm making in my writing grouops and online groups. Oh, and having people have enough faith in me to vote me the VP for Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. Wow! That was humbling and thrilling!

    So sorry for your loss, Pat. We're going through some family drama too with my 89-year-old grandfather who went into the hospital 2 weeks ago, went to a nursing home a week ago and continues to go downhill.

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  2. Err, groups. That should say groups.

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  3. Sorry to hear of your loss. Pets can be such wonderful companions.
    Writing a movie! Wow, will want to keep track of that!
    Seattle is a beautiful place. I have been able to visit family there twice. My friend and I would like to take the train that direction sometime.
    I am so blessed with friends and family and need to let them know more often how much I appriciate them.

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  4. Sorry you lost your golden retriever friend but lucky you to have had him for so long.
    I'll be looking forward to your "The Girl Next Door" series. My biggest blessing is that my older brother has survived triple heart bypass surgery and surgery on several other veins and seems to be doing really good. I spent Christmas with him and his wife and her family and had a really good time.

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  5. Thanks, Lexi and Connie. Traumatic stuff seems to happen around the holidays for some reason. But I like to focus on all the cool stuff that has happened throughout the year.
    And Connie, you're right, we do need to let family and friends know more often how much they are appreciated. That's why I like doing random acts of appreciation during the year, not just at the holidays. I send things in the mail or leave funny messages. We should do that more often, don't you think?

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  6. Thanks, Ellen. Congrats on your bro surviving his surgery! That is good news, indeed.

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  7. Hi Pat, I am so sorry to here about your Retriever, they do make wonderful pets.

    My blessings would be my family. They are there when I need them the most. Right now my father-in-law is not doing well, but he is 86 years old. We were bless to have him with us for another Christmas, he is still at home and I think that is a good thing.

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  8. Hi, sorry to hear about your loss. My blessings would have to be my family. I am thankful for everyday that I get to spend with them.

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  9. Pat,

    I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. Our pets seem to become members of our families and they are incredible blessings. It's hard to say goodbye when you've had one with you so long.

    This year I am very thankful for my parents' continuing good health.

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