Another year down, and way too fast. Feel free to slow down a little, universe.

The year started with loss – my mother-in-law, who’d been on dialysis and very sick since 2020 – and the losses kept coming. My very healthy sister-in-law passed away unexpectedly in her sleep, and my cousin’s son, who I never got the chance to meet, died of a previously unsuspected heart condition at the age of 15, just days before Christmas.

The year ended with my boy finding out he’d passed his last semester of classes and is now a college graduate! We got the news on the 31st and I’m so proud of him! It wasn’t an easy road, and there were a few times I had to talk him off the metaphorical ledge, but he got there in the end. Which means 2024 will be the year of My Boy’s First Job. Stay tuned for that! LOL!

One of the more interesting things I acquired in 2023 is a stray cat. My boy first noticed him when he was home for Thanksgiving, and insisted we start feeding him, so I put a food dish out on the porch. That began my relationship with Porch Cat. For a while he was a complete phantom, but then I had actual sightings. Before Christmas, I put a spare cat bed on the porch as well, inside a cardboard box. He’s using that as well. But he continues to run from me, no matter what I do.

Here's my best picture of Porch Cat, taken with a good zoom lens:





Here’s my year by the numbers:

Scrapbook layouts completed: 114

I covered the gamut of scrapbooking topics this past year, from family heritage pages to holiday pages to pages about silly text conversations between me and my boy. No memory too big or too small. (And no, we won’t be looking to see how much money I spent on digital scrapbooking supplies. LOL!)

I did 9 layouts in December and here’s one of them:





On the whole, writing was good in 2023. Check it out:



Number of new words written – 180,533

New fics posted – 74

Fandoms written in:
• Stargate Atlantis, 38
• Sentinel, 12
• Trixie Belden/The Three Investigators, 7
• Prodigal Son, 3
• Misfits of Science, 2
• Stranger Things, 2
• Original, 2
• The Three Investigators, 1
• Hawaii Five-0, 1
• Friday the 13th: The Series, 1
• Primeval, 1 (repost from FF)
• Letterkenny, 1
• Marvel Cinematic Universe, 1
• Nancy Drew, 1
• X-Files, 1

New fandoms written in – 2 (Nancy Drew and Starsky & Hutch, so not exactly new-new. LOL!)

My best month of writing was June, but the only month where I wrote every day was November.


Writing in December was good, if not a bit stressful. I finished up the Sentinel ficlets for the Secret Santa drabble challenge, which all posted anonymously in December before author reveals on Christmas. I also managed to get my SGA Secret Santa fic done on time (barely!), and a holiday fic for my friend nagi_schwarz.

We’ll see what the new year brings in terms of writing inspiration. (WIPs. So many I’d like to finish. So many.)

Here are the 13 new fannish pieces I posted in December:


Title: Been Way Too Long
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): post-series Christmas fluff

Summary/Prompt: Blair decorates the loft, and Jim comes to some realizations about the holiday.

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Title: The Happiness Tree
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): post-series Christmas fluff

Summary/Prompt: Blair has organized an event in Bayside Park.

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Title: Filling the Nikolaus-Steifel
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): mostly post-series Christmas fluff, but also the mention of a child who has passed away (in the most general of terms)

Summary/Prompt: Jim and Blair help out at a St. Nick's Day event for children in Little Bavaria.

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Title: Everything and Nothing
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): post-series Hannukah fluff

Summary/Prompt: Instead of poker night with the guys, Blair has something a bit different in mind.

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Title: Lending A Hand
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): post-series, deals with a homeless teen

Summary/Prompt: Jim comes home to find that Blair has made a new friend, one who needs extra help having a happy holiday.

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Title: A Cup of Cheer
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): post-series wintery times with bonus minor work-related injuries

Summary/Prompt: It a cold, stormy day, and Jim needs the extra comfort only Blair and a cup of cocoa can bring.

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Title: Ugly Sweater Party
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): post-series Christmas party fluff

Summary/Prompt: The annual CPD Christmas party has an ugly sweater theme, and Jim's really stands out.

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Title: Attempted Elf-Napping
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): post-series Christmas fluff briefly interrupted by a bit of crime

Summary/Prompt: On the way home from doing some community service work, Jim and Blair encounter a carjacker without a good plan.

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Title: The Handoff
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): waiting for a crime to happen in the middle of post-series Christmas fluffy times

Summary/Prompt: There's a winter festival going on at the park, but Jim has other things to focus on.

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Title: Long Night of the Sentinel
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): moderately fluffy post-series stakeout

Summary/Prompt: Jim and Rafe are on a stakeout on the longest night of the year, but Jim's thoughts turn to Blair.

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Title: Feels Like Christmas
Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Series: It’s A Sentinel December 2023
Challenge(s): ts_secret_santa Drabble Days
Warning(s): post-series Christmas fluff of the highest order

Summary/Prompt: It's Christmas Eve, and Jim and Blair are starting some long-lasting traditions for themselves.

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Title: Altered Course
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Challenge(s): sga_secretsanta
Warning(s): this has a happy ending but does include non-consensual medical experimentation, mpreg, emotional h/c, regular h/c, medical procedures related to childbirth, and being on the run

Summary/Prompt: Rodney is on his way to a science symposium when he runs into John - with his car. That moment sets off a chain of events that will change the trajectory of both their lives forever.

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Title: If the Courses Be Departed From
Author: brumeier
Challenge(s): ficlet_zone #70: Frasier - A Mid-Winter Night's Dream; whatif_au: winter wonderland; sga_saturday: amnesty - regret
Fandom(s): Stargate Atlantis
Series: Life in the Yukon
Pairing(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay (but this is mostly a Patrick Sheppard fic)
Warning(s): family dysfunction, family feels, emotional hurt/comfort, what happens when grief isn't dealt with

Summary: Patrick Sheppard doesn't celebrate Christmas, even turning down invitations from his son Dave. But that all changes when a Christmas ghost holds him accountable for his past misdeeds and gives him hope for a future that includes both his sons.