Happy New Year

Some of you have written me that you wish you had our snow so I am sending you a picture as our New Year's card to you. The little pointed ears to the right of the tree (before the half buried covered wagon) is a deer figure. It is so deep that you can't see much but ears. The sundial my mother gave me is on the far left. Not very needed at this point in the year.

I am reflecting on the last year while Billy Ray is taking an unexpected nap and I am trying to capitalize on it by getting laundry running, writing to you and working on a writing project to hopefully increase understanding for families with complex children.

This time last year was filled with excitement. We sold our house and my manuscript was accepted in a two day period in November. We moved to LaPine on December 20, 2004. Boxes filled the house and I was trying to finish the Parenting Your Complex Child (AMACOM Books, April 2006) for a March 15th deadline. We could have never anticipated then what this year would bring.

Billy Ray's health crisis this summer caught us totally off guard but we got through it and learned so much in the process. One of the things I learned is that each day Billy Ray is with us even the days he breaks special things or pulls my hair is special. There is nothing that brings that reality closer than nearly losing him. The other thing I learned is that you can count on your support system if you swallow your pride and let others help.

It has been exciting in terms of all the new contacts and friends I have made. I got to talk to Dr. Temple Grandin and laugh with Dr. Bernard Rimland both of which was a thrill beyond descriptions.

At the beginning of this year my literary agent, William Brown, suggested I do a blog. I didn't even know what a blog was. I was more than willing to try because his advice to do my website has brought opportunities to talk to folks all over the world about their complex children. True to form his advice has opened a thrilling experience to get acquainted by email and comments with many of you.

I just have to confess that I am a child at heart at Walmart. Thus, when we found that my book is already available for preorder through Walmart I was so excited. It was thrilling to see Amazon and Barnes and Noble adding it to their sites especially since I buy so many books at both sites every year. Don't know why I was so excited to see Walmart carrying it but I was.

Hope the new year brings steady progress for your complex child. You will note that I didn't stay big milestones. Savor each baby step as if it were giantic because it is.

Until tomorrow,
Peggy Lou Morgan
www.parentingyourcomplexchild.com
www.lighthouse.com