Saturday, November 4

NaNoWriMo: Day 4

....and she's off! Logan is sleeping. Hubby is sleeping. Molly isn't sleeping, but the Disney morning line-up will hold her attention for at least an hour, and so here I go trying to make up for lost words. (Well, the words aren't really lost, I just need to capture them onto the paper [screen?] before they try and fly away.)

***NEWSFLASH***

In spite of the fact that Sarah has been caring for two children since 4:30 am after only sleeping for a mere 4.75 hours, she has broken the 4,000 word mark at 09:01 AM; and there is no sign of her letting up.

Friday, November 3

NaNoWriMo: Day 3

Not one single word today. I am sad.

How oh how do they know?

Why is it when you finally get one kid to sleep and you sneak off to take a shower in peace that the other one, the one who was napping soundly--snoring even--instinctively gets up, and then when that one is finally napping again, the first one decides to get up two minutes after?

And then the next thing you know it's 3:47 in the afternoon when the hubby finally gets back from the Doctor's and he looks at you like you are some sort of slob because you are still in pajamas, and now that you FINALLY have the opportunity to bathe, it seems like such a waste of time, but you do it anyways just for the 15-minute break and to feel like a human for a few hours afterwards.

Thursday, November 2

NaNoWriMo: Day 2

Day two is coming to a close. My word count is at nearly 3000 words. By the time you read this, it may very well be up and over that because I plan on writing until Midnight, and then slamming the rest of my Coors Light tall can, and heading off to bed. Chris is going to take the first feeding of the night so I should be able to rest well. This is the most mind-draining/mind-exhilarating journey ever for me. So many stories are flooding my mind. So many doors are being opened. I finally have my system down for both finding time to write and for how my memoirs unfold. My system & what I've learned today:

  1. Keep my laptop plugged in when I'm not using it; this guarantees I will have at least 2 hours of "juice" if I need to unplug and sneak away.
  2. It's okay to type with a baby on my lap; I may not be able to type 43 wpm, but I can still think it and at least type 10 or 15 wpm, which is better than not typing at all. That, and Logan makes for a good muse.
  3. It's okay to ramble; there are little gems in ramblings, and little truths ooze out, too.
  4. It's okay to NOT edit. Yes, really. And if I need to, that's OK, too.
  5. Words are just words. No need for them to be perfect, or beautiful, or spelled correctly; it's not the words that make something powerful, it's our lives that make them so.
  6. My theme is the Three Little Pigs. I am all three pigs--the lazy one, the not-so-lazy one, an the hard-working one, and I'm both looking to escape the Big Bad Wolf, and looking to create a home. At the end of the novel, I will have accomplished both.
  7. My writing method is to write first in my voice as a child, and then in my voice as an adult; it caters to my needs well including my ADD.
  8. I was born to write; I knew that all along, I just fought it because I was scared, and I'm not scared anymore.

With a last name like "Reed," we feel quite at home in a bookstore.

John King Books

With a last name like "Reed," the hubby and I feel quite quite at home inside Michigan's biggest bookstore, John K. King Used & Rare Books, in Detroit.

Yesterday we took a day trip to Detroit to scour its four floors. The massive brick building, which must have been built in the 1920s, was converted from a plant of some sort. The original fixtures are still intact with "NO SMOKING IN THE PLANT" signs hanging from the rafters mingled among fluorescent light bulb fixtures overhead, which you turned on and off on your own depending on what section of books you were looking at. It was cold as they surely can't afford to heat the whole thing, but with "Warming Stations" on the first, third, and fourth floors (or was it the second, first, and fourth?), it was cozy enough. The wooden floors creaked and dipped with every step and dust had settled on every shelf, but the store held such forgotten and much needed treasures that by time Chris & I left, we had spent nearly $100. It was worth every dime, though.

Wednesday, November 1

NaNoWriMo: Day 1

Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo, and I am at a lost for words when it comes to how much I have missed writing. Call me a sap, but I have nearly been to tears the last hour while writing. There are so many suppressed and pent-up feelings inside of me--so many things I want to say, and I am finally at the point in my life where I feel healed and oh-so-ready to say what I want to say. For those of you who read this, and who have not had the chance to talk to me in person (or on AIM), I am writing a memoir. Albeit a highly fictionalized memoir because everyone knows the memory of a 5-year-old is faulty, it is nonetheless my life. I am a former trailer park kid, and the stigmata of it has been etched deep into me. I have worked so damn hard to get where I am, and all honestly, living in poverty and always wanting more and the best has driven me to where I am. And I don't meant the best in the material sense, but the best in the life quality sense.

Often times I tell my husband that although we function at the poverty level, we are not poor. Our souls are too rich and our goals are too high to let circumstance keep us down. We love deeply, and because of that we are rich. Not that I didn't have love growing up, but it was a kind of love that sprung from hate in a sense (it is late and I am having a hard time forming my thoughts), but it was love out of frustration that I grew up with... a suppressing love, but nonetheless, it is what made me grow and become who I am today.

But, all I really wanted to say is that although this is quite a rambling post, my voice is coming back.... all 1480 words of of it.

Tuesday, October 31

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Monday, October 30

I'm so loving being a mom today.

Today was such a good day for me. I'm not feeling very eloquent right now, but all I gotta say is that with each passing day I'm falling more and more in love with my kids, and for someone who has struggled through nearly two years of postpartum depression, it feels like the sun is coming out after a storm. To see what I've been up to, take a peek at my Flickr Stream, but in the meantime, just look at what Molly and I did today:



All I gotta say is: MMMMMMMM.