Welcome to 2018. Ahead of us lies a whole new year of possibilities.

First, a few local photographs of Edmonton’s Fireworks last night in -27°C (-16.6°F) weather.

The beautiful Edmonton skyline

Fireworks at the Alberta Legislature Building

Edmonton has experienced Extreme Cold Warnings since Christmas Day, with thermometer temperatures plunging as low as -31 to -35°C (-24 to -31°F) and -40 to -46°C (-40 to -51°F) wind chills. (That means it feels like that temperature, and freezing of skin occurs much faster.) As you can see, though, Edmontonians brave the cold regularly.

In the Bleak Mid-Winter

Christina Rossetti
January 1872 issue of Scribner’s Monthly journal

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Read the rest of the poem and information about it at these sources:

• In the Bleak Midwinter — Poem and Hymn (Christina Wehner blog). Listen to the two versions set to music: Gustav Holst and Harold Darke.
• In the Bleak Midwinter — Wikipedia (Gustav Holst’s musical setting first appeared in 1906 in The English Hymnal; Harold Darke’s musical setting in first appeared in 1911. These dates are consistent with other sources.)

What’s planned for us in 2018

In 2018, you can expect to see more of these topics on this blog:

• Interviews and guest posts
• Events
• Writing, editing, publishing
• Parenting and education
• Music articles and songs
• Photography and nature
• Weather and seasons
• Outdoors (maybe travel)
• Cooking
• Health

As I mentioned in Wrapping Up 2017, I personally have to put a big focus on health-related activities to compensate for the number of hours I sit at work.

Health posts will include food, nature walks, workouts, music therapy (meditation, lowering heart rate and blood pressure by de-stressing, mental health), and a new anemia article I have yet to finalize. Anemia is an underrated and common medical condition that involves reduced hemoglobin, which can have potentially serious side effects if left untreated, yet it is easy to treat. My goal is to bring awareness to this often overlooked condition, where the symptoms can be attributed to something else, such as tiredness, age, or lack of fitness.

My workouts will begin at home (since I can’t afford a regular membership at the gym and I’m apt to skip going out when it’s super cold). The workouts will include several of Authentically Leslie’s FitRebel in-home products.

I mentioned I had to cut down on my own writing, but I will likely be editing some novels for other authors in 2018.

There will be some events in 2018 and perhaps some blog challenges. I am still attempting to create a guitar or other type of video. It’s the now thing and the future, but I am a writer, not a speaker, though as you can see in my author reading photos, I am trying, and I’ve even been told recently I’m a good reader. I have no experience in visual art, which has been a growing handicap. I’m also a perfectionist. So please bear with me!

By the way, if you are a math geek like me, you may want to check out this math facts post about the number 2018 (Learn Fun Facts site).

Voting results for Today’s Christmas Song will appear in the next post. There’s still time to vote for a few more hours.

Wishing you a great year! Thank you for reading, lovely people.

Wrapping Up 2017