Wasn’t 2020 a memorable year?!
To be sure, we live on the same planet as you do, but we found a lot to be grateful for this past year.
Sushi, our dog, went from befuddlement in Jan – Mar (where do my people go all day?) to exhaustion Apr-Sep (will my people ever leave the house again so I can get some sleep?) and finally joy (he loves watching reruns of Gilmore Girls with Mom and Mia and having them around all the time now.)
Just Another Country to Get Used To
Samantha and I (dad) have experience living in more than one country. Mia has already been to a dozen countries and loves the idea of exploring more. If she can’t go physically (yet), she certainly can travel in the books she reads AND writes.
Our second book, The Heliuna Academy, is partially set in the jungles of India.
The third book, The LoGlas Theater, makes a stop in Dracula’s castle’s foothills (Yeah, that Dracula) in Romania.
The fourth book, The Floating City (Due out Spring 21), is a chase from San Francisco to London via the Pacific Ocean, South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Suez Canal, Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean with many stops in between.
For us, we took the attitude that 2020 was like living in a foreign country. Here we are with things, not what they used to be. So, how do we get used to this new normal?
I spent considerable time in Russia when it was still the Soviet Union. Freedom to move about, to do a lot of things was not available then either. When I was in India, I visited villages that not only didn’t eat out at restaurants, and they struggled to eat at all. Our philosophy is, “When life isn’t what you expect, write a book about it!”
Mia is Thriving at Home
Mia studying at home has been terrific. We switched schools from the private Christian school she had attended to a public charter school that is project-based, self-paced, and mentorship-focused. Mia is thriving far beyond just in her studies. As part of her school program, she expanded her hobby into a venture when she launched (on her own) an Etsy Store –
Once a week, Mia went to her school alone to arrange ALL the books in their physical library so that when classes resume, the books would be ready for her classmates. How cool is that?!
The best part of 2020 is the same as the best part of any year:
the people that we know and love and share life with.
That includes you.
Life is great when you have friends and family.
From our family to yours.
20 Bonus points if you can tell which is dad and which is our dog, Sushi!
Here’s to an even better year in 2021.
Samantha, Mia, Sushi, and the dog, um Dad.
