Brrrrring it on!

Though it was a rainy morning when I took the kids to school, their sweatshirts were too warm! It'll hit 71 degrees today! The sun is shining now--it is gorgeous!

We've all gotten over the sniffles, colds, coughs and are enjoying this weather--while it lasts!

The high should be 39 degrees tomorrow and the snow showers are on the way!

If a picture is worth a thousand words...

...how many do you think I could justify in my NaNo novel? ;)

At least if 50,000 words = a novel, I should have half of a novel written soon!

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!


I try to say thank-you to God every day. Today, I am especially grateful.


I am thankful:

• for my family
• that my family is healthy.
• that my husband is not deployed.
• that we have plenty to eat. (While I am already planning what I'll have to do to undo what I'll eat today, I hope everyone is able to get something to eat today).
• that my children could help us provide a Thanksgiving meal for a family in need. I am thankful that we are able to help someone else but also thankful that my children have at least an inkling of how lucky they are.
• to be home with my family today. Even if we are not physically with our extended families, at least our immediate family is all together, safe and happy.
• that the hubbie let me sleep this morning, while he got up with the kids!
• that I was able to shower and write 500 words--in the same day--even before lunchtime!
• for this BEAUTIFUL day!! We've had fall weather, and the leaves have been beautiful but today is GORGEOUS! It should reach 70 degrees today and the sun is shining. I sort of wish we could eat Thanksgiving dinner outside! We'll have to settle for an after-dinner walk, instead!

I can't bend spoons, either

Staring at the word count -- willing it to spontaneously increase on it's own -- just isn't working out.

So I need to squeeze all of my creativity into the "novel." (I have to use the term loosely. I really want to call it a Novel (with a great, big capital N) but at 20,000 words it does not qualify). So back to work I go. I'll come up with a more creative post here next week!

Math was never my thing

So now that I'm two-thirds of the way into November, I'm finally one-third of the way through the NaNo novel!

That's it. I've got to go write!

Dreaming of higher word counts

I currently have 13,013 words written in the novel. Is that a bad sign? (I'm not so much into omens but I ran the word count up a little writing a scene about a dream...)

I'll get that word count up--as soon as I refill the coffee cup--so it won't last long. It's just a good sign that the numbers are going up, right?

Back in the middle of things

We made it back on Sunday and got my mother-in-law back home on Monday. However, it takes me longer and longer each time we leave to get back into the routine! While I'm thankful the hubbie had Monday off, it throws my routine off just a little.

The trip went well. Notre Dame won the game so it was a pleasant trip! ;) We were able to visit with friends and that was fun! We met one of the hubbie's former classmates and his wife and drove down to Colorado Springs with them. We were able to meet up with another friend/classmate the day of the game.

Of course, I was more excited to reconnect with Jen--a friend from highschool that I haven't seen in years! I was able to meet her two little girls as well. Her oldest reminds me of my oldest a few years ago! She finally warmed up to me--even let me take several photos of her--and then I got a few of her face! (The first several are of the back of her head as she'd smile and then turn away just as I snapped the picture!)

It was really wonderful to spend time with them--even if it was just breakfast. I'll have to get my kiddos over there before we move further away again.

I bought a new novel to read on the trip but I have not made much progress on the NaNo novel since we left. Thursday morning is the first morning this week I did not have some other obligation so I intend to spend it with the laptop.

Old friends, new babies, reunions and a football game

We may all be scattered to all parts of the country now but it is a week to think of old friends from home!

This week, Aaron became a father for the first time! Congratulations, Aaron and Kathy--and welcome, Emelia Louise!

If that were not enough excitement for one week, Kris became a mother for the first time! Congratulations Kris and Dayne and welcome,Delaney Joy!

This small world we live in seems smaller every day thanks to the world wide web and it's great. I have already seen pics of both beautiful baby girls--and their adoring parents! How awesome is that?

Speaking of sharing beautiful pics on the web, another mutual friend has been sharing pics of her family for a while. I finally live "close" to her (she's in Colorado, I'm in Kansas) but I haven't been able to visit -- until this weekend!!

The hubbie and I are headed to Colorado Springs to watch Notre Dame play Air Force and I'll catch up with Jen while we're there! My mother-in-law is here with the kids and my daughter is a little bummed that she can't even look for us on tv.The game is not being broadcast on any major networks this time so you won't see me waving. (I know many of you will be hard at work on NaNo novels or gazing at newborns so you won't be watching football anyway but I'll catch up with all of you in a few days!)

In the middle of things

We're in the middle of the country and today we're squeezed between a few headlines, too.

Donald Rumsfeld will be speaking in the Little Apple today! (I won't make it to this one in person, either but will be checking it out here!)

Irony

It was silly for me to stand in the soup aisle the other day, scanning the ingredient lists on seemingly vegetarian soups in an attempt to avoid chicken or beef stock.

I sniffed, coughed, sneezed and searched and finally succeeded in finding a few that looked good. I brought them home and heated a bowl of portabello mushroom soup, hoping to ease my sore throat.
It was delicious but I didn't feel much better.

I should have just gone for the chicken soup.

NaNoReWriMo

It isn't dishonest if you're writing fiction.

I signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and do have a few novel ideas percolating. However, since I've been working on one particular concept now for a couple of years, it seems senseless to put a huge amount of time and effort into a new project. Right?

I'm justifying it by saying it is new--in a way. I've decided to rewrite the whole thing from someone else's point of view. So I'm using the same characters and a modified version of the same plot but I am reworking the whole book.

The website challenges you to write 50,000 words in a month. Is it dishonest to write that many words about an idea that was in the works before November?

Let me know what you think. If I'm delusional or just plain wrong...I've still got the rest of the month to start over honestly!

I did manage to write 1,200 brand new, never before seen words today. So either way, it's a good day.

Sometimes it feels like somebody's watching me!

No more excuses!

Though I had some good ones lined up for only writing a paltry 85 words yesterday!

1. I honestly did have a fever.
2. I had to pick my son up early from kindergarten as he claimed to not feel well enough to stay.
3. I went to Mass at the kids' school. (I usually do anyway but on All Saints Day, I thought I should go...even with a low fever).
4. I was really, really tired.
5. Had to pick up a friend so she could watch my daughter's gymnastics class! (It was my daughter's friend...not mine).
6. Had to spend time arguing about bringing the friend to gymnastics only--no playdates.
7. I had to remind my son to eat. And go to the bathroom. And drink. (If this wasn't normal, I'd wonder if they messed with his ears when they were taking out his tonsils).
8. I was looking up the symptoms of the plague to see if I could get more sympathy claiming to have a fictional ailment on my blog rather than running up the fiction word count on the novel.
9. I did not drink enough coffee!!!
10. Did I mention that I was really, very tired?

However, I'm working today! Well, only 65 more written before I made the unwise decision to get online but I cannot procrastinate anymore. I said I would write a novel before I died and as it turns out, there may not be much time left!