Hello all.  I'm looking very forward to a couple of days off and am reminiscing about the year that just passed.  What a year it was!  I have high hopes for 2009 and really feel as though things are moving in a positive direction.  I learned many lessons in this past year and feel as though I have more clarity about what steps are next.  This year my resolutions are to finish my CLEPs and get started at Concordia to finish my degree. 

We also learned of a great site called, www.23andme.com.  For $399 they will analize your DNA and tell you what diseases you are likely to develop decades before you will...they also tell you about your ancestry going back thousands of years.  Not bad for $399.

As you learned if you've tried to order any tea from us lately, the shopping cart function of http://www.theperfectpause.com/ is down right now.  We've found a great site called, "Guru.com" that allows you to post jobs that freelancers can place bids on.  We found someone who seems reputable that is offering to fix the site for a very fair price so we hope to be up-and-running again within the next few weeks.  In the meantime, you can always email us with your order at:  ThePerfectPause@gmail.com.

On the writing-front the new children's book, "12 From Memory Lane" is in the design phase and Linda (the illustrator) and I hope to have this published and on the market by spring of this year.   This book will be similar to Shel Silverstein's, "Where the Sidewalk Ends" with children's poetry paired with pen and ink illusrations.  Here's a sample of what will be in the book: 

 

The First Snowflake

The sun hangs high in the morning sky

In the cooling air the first snowflake flies

It flutters down for all to see

and gets lost among the fallen leaves

it's not long before his friends arrive

more tiny flakes from autumn skies

like diamonds shining pure and bright

they glitter in the morning light

the air grows brutally frigid as North winds blow

and the leaves get lost beneath the snow

if all is well and all is right

and this continues through the night

we'll dash for the door, mittens in hand

to begin this winter's first SNOWMAN!