Current Word Count: 11694
Yep, that's it for today's blog. Sorry! But maybe if YOU commented more, I'D have more to say. ;-)
Truth be told, I'm just tired. And I think I might be developing carpal tunnel, and a serious case of 'what the heck was I thinking?'... I'm not sure yet. I'll keep you posted. haha
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Update... oh yes... an update.
Okay, consider yourself warned... this post is about NaNoWriMo... yet again! So if your eyes were glazing over at the last post about my in-the-works 'speed novel', you may just want to check back tomorrow.
You can't see me right now, but I'm doing the happy dance!
d;aifjaoit
Oops! Tripped... I'm notoriously clumsy.
And WHY am I doing the happy dance? I hit the 10,000 word mark today!! Yay, me! (it always helps when you are your own best cheerleader!) Technically my goal for today was like 10,005, but I stopped at exactly 10,000. It just felt better...more even. I feel confident that I can easily make up those extra five words tomorrow.
I spent this entire morning (when Libby was in school... finally!) working on my story. Granted, it would probably go a lot faster if I stopped IM'ing with my pals while I'm trying to write, but hey, even 'serious novelists' need a break, and a little gossip every now and then.
Think you're sick of hearing about this? You have no idea... poor Jen and Sarah are probably screening their calls this very minute. If you're reading this, I LOVE YOU! haha
That's all for today... to recap:
Happy Dance
Pumping fists in the air
Spinning around
Tripping...
You can't see me right now, but I'm doing the happy dance!
d;aifjaoit
Oops! Tripped... I'm notoriously clumsy.
And WHY am I doing the happy dance? I hit the 10,000 word mark today!! Yay, me! (it always helps when you are your own best cheerleader!) Technically my goal for today was like 10,005, but I stopped at exactly 10,000. It just felt better...more even. I feel confident that I can easily make up those extra five words tomorrow.
I spent this entire morning (when Libby was in school... finally!) working on my story. Granted, it would probably go a lot faster if I stopped IM'ing with my pals while I'm trying to write, but hey, even 'serious novelists' need a break, and a little gossip every now and then.
Think you're sick of hearing about this? You have no idea... poor Jen and Sarah are probably screening their calls this very minute. If you're reading this, I LOVE YOU! haha
That's all for today... to recap:
Happy Dance
Pumping fists in the air
Spinning around
Tripping...
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Um... candles, anyone?!
Current Word Count: 6592 words
Okay, breathe, Staci…
Yesterday, when I went to drop Libby off at preschool, the school’s assistant director was in the parking lot, flagging down cars as they pulled in. Seems that for some reason, there is no electricity in the preschool building, and they had tried calling everyone (I didn’t get the message because I was in yoga) to let them know that there would be no preschool… I kind of tuned out the rest of the explanation (hey! I’ve got a lot on my mind right now!), but I perked up when I heard, “But it should be back on tomorrow. See you then!”
Now, don’t get me wrong… I love my kids. I love spending time with them. They crack me up on an almost daily basis. But I also like for them to go to school. I really like being able to run an errand or two, ALL BY MYSELF! I’m pretty sure it doesn’t make me a bad mom that I was disappointed that preschool was cancelled yesterday.
Libby was disappointed, too. She gets to go spend time with her friends and her teacher three mornings a week, and is always so excited when Tuesday morning arrives. So, no school? Hey, but that’s okay… I’m flexible… I can roll with the punches. Libby went with me to meet some girlfriends for lunch, and to run an errand. We had a fun lunch with the girls, and enjoyed our little break, but today it was BACK TO SCHOOL!
Right? Right?!!
Wrong. The assistant director just called. Still no electricity. Now, I’m irritated. Not at anyone in particular… just at the situation. I know… crap happens.
Personally, I think they should use it as a teaching lesson… Maybe have an impromptu ‘Pioneer Day’. The pioneers didn’t have electricity, either. What a great learning experience for our preschoolers. I think I’ll suggest it if the power is still out tomorrow.
Okay, breathe, Staci…
Yesterday, when I went to drop Libby off at preschool, the school’s assistant director was in the parking lot, flagging down cars as they pulled in. Seems that for some reason, there is no electricity in the preschool building, and they had tried calling everyone (I didn’t get the message because I was in yoga) to let them know that there would be no preschool… I kind of tuned out the rest of the explanation (hey! I’ve got a lot on my mind right now!), but I perked up when I heard, “But it should be back on tomorrow. See you then!”
Now, don’t get me wrong… I love my kids. I love spending time with them. They crack me up on an almost daily basis. But I also like for them to go to school. I really like being able to run an errand or two, ALL BY MYSELF! I’m pretty sure it doesn’t make me a bad mom that I was disappointed that preschool was cancelled yesterday.
Libby was disappointed, too. She gets to go spend time with her friends and her teacher three mornings a week, and is always so excited when Tuesday morning arrives. So, no school? Hey, but that’s okay… I’m flexible… I can roll with the punches. Libby went with me to meet some girlfriends for lunch, and to run an errand. We had a fun lunch with the girls, and enjoyed our little break, but today it was BACK TO SCHOOL!
Right? Right?!!
Wrong. The assistant director just called. Still no electricity. Now, I’m irritated. Not at anyone in particular… just at the situation. I know… crap happens.
Personally, I think they should use it as a teaching lesson… Maybe have an impromptu ‘Pioneer Day’. The pioneers didn’t have electricity, either. What a great learning experience for our preschoolers. I think I’ll suggest it if the power is still out tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Losing my mind, just a little...
Current Word Count: 5052 words
Entering Day #4 as a ‘serious novelist’ (insert laughter here). What I’d like to know is…
Who is the sadist that picked November as the perfect month for National Novel Writing Month?! http://www.nanowrimo.org/
It’s crap. First off, it starts at midnight on Halloween. Go ahead... you sit at the computer and write, and just try NOT to eat all those adorable little mini candy bars out of the kids’ trick or treat bags. “300 more words, and I’ll let myself have just one more mini Snickers!” The tagline of their website should say, “Write a novel AND gain 5 pounds in a month.”
Plus, here it is just weeks before Christmas. I’ve done no shopping. I’ve not finished even one of the gifts that I’d planned on making for the holidays. What was I thinking?!
I can think of at least 4 other months that would be better suited to do this. What about February? Talk about a waste of a month, there. It’s cold outside, nothing’s going on… February would be perfect! Maybe I’ll suggest that on the website. Of course, since February is a short month, the daily word count would have to increase. Crap…never mind.
With all that being said, I’m 1/10th of the way to my 50,000 words, I’m 1/10th of the way through this month… and I hope I’m about 1/10th of the way through my story. (I like for things to come out evenly. I’m a little ‘Monkish’ about it.)
Now that I’ve hit the 5,000 mark, I will now start to obsessively ‘backup’ my work. Not because it’s one of the great novels of all time, and it would be a travesty for it to be lost, but more because it represents multiple hours of work for me. The last few things I put that much labor into are all currently at school. And some of you may remember the little ‘lightning episode’ we experienced this last summer?!
Huge bonus… I am having a great time, writing, and I really like my story a lot. I logged onto the NaNoWriMo website, and my region had a board where you could post the first line of your story. It was hilarious to read everyone’s first lines! My personal favorite was: “It was a dark and stormy night.” Yep… evidently, Snoopy has finally decided to write that novel on top of his doghouse.
Well, I better get back to my story. I refuse to let Snoopy beat me in my word count.
Entering Day #4 as a ‘serious novelist’ (insert laughter here). What I’d like to know is…
Who is the sadist that picked November as the perfect month for National Novel Writing Month?! http://www.nanowrimo.org/
It’s crap. First off, it starts at midnight on Halloween. Go ahead... you sit at the computer and write, and just try NOT to eat all those adorable little mini candy bars out of the kids’ trick or treat bags. “300 more words, and I’ll let myself have just one more mini Snickers!” The tagline of their website should say, “Write a novel AND gain 5 pounds in a month.”
Plus, here it is just weeks before Christmas. I’ve done no shopping. I’ve not finished even one of the gifts that I’d planned on making for the holidays. What was I thinking?!
I can think of at least 4 other months that would be better suited to do this. What about February? Talk about a waste of a month, there. It’s cold outside, nothing’s going on… February would be perfect! Maybe I’ll suggest that on the website. Of course, since February is a short month, the daily word count would have to increase. Crap…never mind.
With all that being said, I’m 1/10th of the way to my 50,000 words, I’m 1/10th of the way through this month… and I hope I’m about 1/10th of the way through my story. (I like for things to come out evenly. I’m a little ‘Monkish’ about it.)
Now that I’ve hit the 5,000 mark, I will now start to obsessively ‘backup’ my work. Not because it’s one of the great novels of all time, and it would be a travesty for it to be lost, but more because it represents multiple hours of work for me. The last few things I put that much labor into are all currently at school. And some of you may remember the little ‘lightning episode’ we experienced this last summer?!
Huge bonus… I am having a great time, writing, and I really like my story a lot. I logged onto the NaNoWriMo website, and my region had a board where you could post the first line of your story. It was hilarious to read everyone’s first lines! My personal favorite was: “It was a dark and stormy night.” Yep… evidently, Snoopy has finally decided to write that novel on top of his doghouse.
Well, I better get back to my story. I refuse to let Snoopy beat me in my word count.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Off the hook...
Phil loves the show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network. If you haven’t seen it, the host, Guy Fieri, travels around the country, visiting off the wall eateries. If you don’t know who he is, he’s the guy on the T.G.I.Friday’s commercials. Big guy with spiky bleached blonde hair and a little beard. He says ‘off the hook’ a lot in the show and wears sunglasses. He’s very cute… but then again, I think I might have a penchant for big guys with blonde hair… ;)
Anyway, last week we happened to be watching it and Guy was in Austin. The theme that week was ‘Spicy burgers’ or some such thing. So, I’ll just say… the Linsons love some spice. The spicier the better. Even the kids eat salsa and that spicy jalapeno ranch dip like it’s going out of style. And when I say ‘salsa’, I mean chunky pico de gallo with onions and jalapenos… not that namby-pamby tomato sauce crap that our neighbors to the north call ‘salsa’.
Guy was at a place on Sixth Street called ‘Casino el Camino’, which of course, we had to go to for lunch yesterday. It certainly wasn’t a diner, nor was it a drive-in. That leaves us with… yes, my friends… it was a ‘dive’.
A dark, dingy little bar situated between two tattoo places. Of course, the kids were all clamoring that they wanted to go in and get a tattoo. Until I explained that THESE tattoos weren’t of the ‘wet the back with a sponge and peel off’ variety.
I almost went back to the car when we first walked in. It smelled smoky and was very dark, even at noon. I thought, “McDonald’s, here we come.”
But imagine my surprise to discover that they had a beautiful little enclosed patio, painted to look like Mayan ruins, with iron patio tables and chairs, and a little fountain. The weather was beautiful and the patio quickly filled with that eclectic sampling of people that you only get in Austin, Texas. Families, college kids recovering from their Halloween weekend with the ‘hair of the dog’ (bet they just loved my kids! Haha!), a few older folks…
And the food? Yummy. And spicy, as promised by Guy. Phil and I ordered the two recommendations they had featured on the show. The Buffalo Burger and the Amarillo Burger, both of which we cut in half and swapped. And of course, no visit to a ‘dive’ is complete without a basket of chili cheese fries (yes, I'll be eating salads the rest of the week!) Which were so super good, that Libby threw a fit because everyone was eating ‘her’ French fries. (Once again, I just know those kids with hangovers were re-thinking their lunch establishment choice…)
So, I have to give the Casino el Camino a thumbs-up… their ambience is a little questionable, and our waitress was a bit surly (maybe she had a hangover, too? And that lip ring had to hurt.), but the patio and food made up for it. Guy was right… it’s ‘off the hook'.
Oh, and if you order the Amarillo Burger, I HIGHLY recommend scraping off the serrano peppers before you take your first bite! Don’t say I didn’t warn you…
Anyway, last week we happened to be watching it and Guy was in Austin. The theme that week was ‘Spicy burgers’ or some such thing. So, I’ll just say… the Linsons love some spice. The spicier the better. Even the kids eat salsa and that spicy jalapeno ranch dip like it’s going out of style. And when I say ‘salsa’, I mean chunky pico de gallo with onions and jalapenos… not that namby-pamby tomato sauce crap that our neighbors to the north call ‘salsa’.
Guy was at a place on Sixth Street called ‘Casino el Camino’, which of course, we had to go to for lunch yesterday. It certainly wasn’t a diner, nor was it a drive-in. That leaves us with… yes, my friends… it was a ‘dive’.
A dark, dingy little bar situated between two tattoo places. Of course, the kids were all clamoring that they wanted to go in and get a tattoo. Until I explained that THESE tattoos weren’t of the ‘wet the back with a sponge and peel off’ variety.
I almost went back to the car when we first walked in. It smelled smoky and was very dark, even at noon. I thought, “McDonald’s, here we come.”
But imagine my surprise to discover that they had a beautiful little enclosed patio, painted to look like Mayan ruins, with iron patio tables and chairs, and a little fountain. The weather was beautiful and the patio quickly filled with that eclectic sampling of people that you only get in Austin, Texas. Families, college kids recovering from their Halloween weekend with the ‘hair of the dog’ (bet they just loved my kids! Haha!), a few older folks…
And the food? Yummy. And spicy, as promised by Guy. Phil and I ordered the two recommendations they had featured on the show. The Buffalo Burger and the Amarillo Burger, both of which we cut in half and swapped. And of course, no visit to a ‘dive’ is complete without a basket of chili cheese fries (yes, I'll be eating salads the rest of the week!) Which were so super good, that Libby threw a fit because everyone was eating ‘her’ French fries. (Once again, I just know those kids with hangovers were re-thinking their lunch establishment choice…)
So, I have to give the Casino el Camino a thumbs-up… their ambience is a little questionable, and our waitress was a bit surly (maybe she had a hangover, too? And that lip ring had to hurt.), but the patio and food made up for it. Guy was right… it’s ‘off the hook'.
Oh, and if you order the Amarillo Burger, I HIGHLY recommend scraping off the serrano peppers before you take your first bite! Don’t say I didn’t warn you…
Sunday, November 2, 2008
My Word Count...
Update on my current word count:
As of 5:00 pm on Sunday evening, my current word count for my novel is 2557 words. I kicked off at midnight on Friday, and only got as far as about 300 words (it was more of a ceremonial thing anyway.) Last night, I finished up at midnight with a total of 1648 words for my first official day as a ‘novelist’ (about 19 words shy of my initial goal. I’ll take it!)
My goal by midnight tonight is about 3300 words, and I think I should be able to get there. I’m pretty pleased with how it’s going so far, considering that we went to Halloween parties on both Friday and Saturday nights, and that yesterday, I watched a heartbreaking football game, which had the potential to completely rob me of my creativity and zest for life.
I did make the mistake of logging onto the NaNoWriMo website and noticed that some of the other authors who were posting on the boards were already in the thousands on their word counts, but I just told myself that they were clearly losers with no social lives. Hey, it made me feel better! Don’t judge me.
I’m excited so far at the shape my story is taking. But no, you still can’t read it. ;-) If you’re lucky, I MIGHT post an excerpt on the NaNo website later this week. Please remember that it is a rough draft!
Love you people… all my wonderful friends… and just want to say thanks for the encouragement, the comments and the e-mails. You guys are the bomb.
As of 5:00 pm on Sunday evening, my current word count for my novel is 2557 words. I kicked off at midnight on Friday, and only got as far as about 300 words (it was more of a ceremonial thing anyway.) Last night, I finished up at midnight with a total of 1648 words for my first official day as a ‘novelist’ (about 19 words shy of my initial goal. I’ll take it!)
My goal by midnight tonight is about 3300 words, and I think I should be able to get there. I’m pretty pleased with how it’s going so far, considering that we went to Halloween parties on both Friday and Saturday nights, and that yesterday, I watched a heartbreaking football game, which had the potential to completely rob me of my creativity and zest for life.
I did make the mistake of logging onto the NaNoWriMo website and noticed that some of the other authors who were posting on the boards were already in the thousands on their word counts, but I just told myself that they were clearly losers with no social lives. Hey, it made me feel better! Don’t judge me.
I’m excited so far at the shape my story is taking. But no, you still can’t read it. ;-) If you’re lucky, I MIGHT post an excerpt on the NaNo website later this week. Please remember that it is a rough draft!
Love you people… all my wonderful friends… and just want to say thanks for the encouragement, the comments and the e-mails. You guys are the bomb.
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