It's a good thing that you can't hear me singing the title of today's blog entry because I am an awful singer. Even my own husband asks me to stop singing when he hears me!

But I do want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year ahead. What have you been up to over the holidays?

I spent most of my day yesterday on the couch recovering from a cat attack! I know, I know... trouble makes a good story, but I'd rather not have this particular good story to tell! Anyway, I am babysitting a cat and I got a little too close to him, and next thing I know he took a nip at my forehead. My daughter blames my big hair -- she says he probably thought my hair was a strange creature.

I kept myself busy on the couch by reading K.L. Denman's YA book, Me, Myself and Ike, which was recently nominated for the Governor General's Prize. It's a super interesting book and it chronicles a young man's descent into schizophrenia. It's not an easy read, that's for sure, but Denman does a great job of capturing what the narrator (Kit) is going through. K.L. Denman and I share the same wonderful editor -- Sarah Harvey at Orca Books

In the novel, Kit wants to climb a mountain. I was thinking how, in our own ways, we all want to climb mountains (or write books, or raise children... mountains don't necessarily have to be high and have snow on top)... so my wish for today is that you keep climbing to your mountaintop -- wherever it is and whatever it might be! And stay away from (wo)man-eating cats!