NaNoWriMo: Day 29 & 30 / It's Over!

And thus concludes NaNoWriMo, and I have reached a whopping 32 some thousand words. And I am POOPED! But I reached my goal, and now I'm gunna celebrate with a nice glass bottle of wine.

NaBloPoMo: Day 29th / Instead of using this, I'm just going to post a photo of it instead.

NaNoWriMo: Day 28 / Explanation of Day 27

For those of you who have not seen Stephen King's, "The Shining," this clip from YouTube should clear things up about my current mindset about this whole NaNoWriMo fiasco.

Christmas shopping is, like, so difficult.

Christmas shopping (here at B&N--I'm sitting here now) is so difficult because there are a million-and-one things I'd love to get everyone on my list, but I can't, and well, quite frankly it sucks.

And so, I just got what I could, and now it's time to get some coffee and get writing because I'm at the NaNoWriMo write-in, and well, that's the point of being here--not shopping & not typing this. Whoops.

NaNoWriMo: Day 27 / Makes Sarah a dull girl.

NaNoWriMo = REDRUM

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*For an explanation of this post, do see this one.

NaNoWriMo: Day 26 / In Case of Novel Emergency

Here it is, Day 26 of my NaNo adventure, and I've reached panic mode. Luckily, our lovely co-ML, Cyli, gave all of us NaNoWriMo'ers a Novel Emergency Bag to use upon reaching this point with the following instructions inscribed:

1. OPEN BAG
2. PLACE OVER MOUTH
3. TAKE SIX DEEP BREATHS

She forgot one very vital step; however, which I've taken the liberty of adding:

4. EAT CHOCOLATE

And how does he manage to do it?

I want to know how does a kid manage to spit up* on every piece of my clothing--pajama pants (behind the knee), long sleeve tee under a short sleeve one (on one arm and down the front), AND on BOTH socks? I have no clue.

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*PS I should add that Logan is OK! He is just a wee bit lactose intolerant and spit-up is common for him; I just don't understand how he manages to get it all over every item of my clothing!

NaNoWriMo: Days 23, 24, & 25 / Giving up my word counter

So days 23 and 24 of NaNoWriMo have passed and here I am on day 25 when I've given up my word counter. I am going to stop checking how many words I have, and just type and type and pour and type some more (so my word count updater will stay quite stagnant for those of you who are curious about where I am). I know I've been rather silent about my novel/memoir, but that's because a lot of it--quite frankly--sucks and I'm embarrassed by it, but other portions of it are so intimate and scary that I feel scared to share it in such an open forum. Scared of who will see it and read it and judge me. There is anonymity in the Web, but there is an openness about, too (as all bloggers know), and there are people who may be reading this (this particular person is an avid Googler), and so I've been silent here, but not there.

But as this last week of NaNo closes out, I'm not sure I will even make it to my original goal, but I don't really mind because I'm going to keep on writing until what I've started is done. And as for this blog, I'm gunna keep going with it, too, because I've been liking talking to myself and getting my thoughts out even if they are rambling and nonsensicle at times.

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree....

Yup, yup, our Christmas tree is already up. From the young age of 12 until when I moved out of my parent's home into my own, all holidays, with the exception of awkward Thanksgiving and strained birthday parties, were banned. And so as soon as the Thanksgiving clock turns to Black Friday, I skip out of the madness and spend the day putting up my tree.I bought this one online nearly two months ago from Fingerhut ($20 low monthly payments! [but I paid cash]) for a mere $99 + FREE shipping. It's 7.5 feet tall and prelit. It even came with two boxes of what I thought at first were HIDEOUS ornaments, but now that they are all up with the last few year's worth's of ornaments, I love the funky retro, vintage look. Kind of like I have Grandma's heirlooms, but of course they are just cheap-ass replicas doused with too much glitter. But I like it, and I love my lovely presents who are already under the tree.

I know it's 3 AM in the morning, Momma, but cuteness like this just doesn't sleep.

When a face like this looks up at your in 3 o'clock in the morning, sleep just doesn't seem to matter all that much. Oh, Logan, Mommy loves you sooo sooo soo much!

In case I don't get the chance to wish you this later...

NaNoWriMo: Day 22 / Recapturing Memories

When I set out this month to do NaNoWriMo, my only goal was to reach 30,000 words. That, and to recapture some of my so forgotten memories. While I am still quite a ways away from reaching 30,000 words, I did accomplish my second task of recapturing memories. When Chris and I went to John K. King Books a while back, a lone tattered copy of one of the Wizard of OZ books made me weep right there among the dusty shelves as it jostled a lodged memory from the back of my head--as a child I owned the entire set. In my memories it was a complete set of some 40+ first editions given to me by my Russian grandmother (on my biological father's side)--I'm not sure if there were really first editions, but I was taken back to when I held those books in my four-year-old hands in awe of the sketches held inside its covers. But inside the pages there were lands that I could be transported off to while my mother read to me until I fell asleep or whenever I wanted when the yelling started and the doors began to slam.

I don't know what ever came of those books--we left rather abruptly from our home on Oliver Street in Hamtramck to live in random motel rooms with a man I barely knew who I would come to know as Daddy. And not only did we (my mother and I) leave without my beloved books, we also left without shoes on our feet--which is an entirely different story in itself (the one I am writing for NaNo), but I say all this because when I look back to that time in my life those books mean the most to me. Somehow in those pages I feel connected back to that street I grew up on.. to the grandmother I barely knew, and the father I never met.

And so here I am holding two treasured copies--recreating memories if you will--and I swear by whomever or whatever deity that I am going to pass them onto my own daughter who will never be forced to leave all she ever had or knew behind.

NaNoWriMo: What is it? Day 20? 21?

Tonight is the write-in here in lovely Davison, Michigan. I may have to be rude tonight and pop on my headphones and drown out all the fun conversations humming around my head. It's the one [of many] curse[s] of being behind and ADD--I get terribly distracted by everything anything that goes around me (which is why working from home suits me better than a 'real' office because I have a feeling at a 'real' office, I'd get nothing done and my ass would get fired). But anyways, my goal for tonight is....

2,500 WORDS!!!

Wish me well my fellow NaNoWri'mers who may be reading this. And if you are a NaNo'er, wish me luck just the same.

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Edit: Okay, so I didn't make it to 2,500 words. I'm a looooooozer.

A lesson in sharing.

ME: Molly, wanna go to VGs later?

MOLLY: Nope.

ME: We can get you a treat...

MOLLY: Okay!!

ME: Whatcha want?

MOLLY (Putting pointer finger to chin): Hmmmm. Hmmmm. How 'bout princess fruit snacks.

ME: Okay...

MOLLY: I share them.

ME (Smiling because she is figuring out how to share): Oh? You'll share them with Momma and Daddy?

MOLLY: Nope.

ME (Puzzled): Well, who are you going to share them with?

MOLLY: Me is gunna share them with Molly.

ME (Laughingly): You're going to share them with you?

MOLLY: Yup. Me is gunna share 'em with me.

NaNoWriMo: Days 17, 18, & 19

I really don't want to talk about it. I really wish I never started this, but damnit, I'm gunna finish it, and that's all I gotta say about it.

You got me wrapped around your finger.

You know you're a mommy writer when you've got a baby in one arm and a laptop power cord wrapped around the other. And not to mention the mop of messy mom hair.

How far I have come in the Domestic Goddess department.

This is from an ancient blog I wrote in 2001-2002 titled, "i am bored. oh well. thus is life":

undomesticated

god i am so undomesticated. so there i was making pancakes for breakfast. and them im like doing the dishes and filling up the dish pan with water and i reach for the bottle of dishsoap - without looking - and squeeze some in the water - i, of course am staring into space unawares. so i looked down and mutter what the fuck. no suds. i glance right and then scream. loud. [i wonder if the neighbors heard me] i do believe i am the only person who tried to wash her dishes in pancake syrup.

Monday, March 18, 2002 05:57 a.m.

Evidently I have come so very far where the Domestic Goddness department is concerned--not only do I know the difference between pancake syrup and dish soap, but I've also learned how to use capital letters. It's nice to see my love for four-letter expletives hasn't changed a bit.

Chocolate, it's in her blood.

I have so much of THIS in my bloodstream from tonight's NaNoWriMo write-in / [more photos here, too] that I have to sit here and sip a glass of wine to calm my poor heart down.

NaNoWriMo: Days 15 & 16

Yesterday was insanely unproductive on the NaNo front, but today I've promised myself to do better.** I posted a SOS to my fellow Flinttown (Flintown?) NaNo'ers and they had a bundle of advice* for me:

1. Remove all novel files from flash drive and put onto computer. Leave work on flash drive and remove all work from computer and put the work from the computer on flash drive. Put flash drive and all other work crap and distracting crap (like bills!) into my "Box of Crap." Place box in closet. Slam shut door. Walk away. Try not to look back, and forget about it.


2. It's okay to rant and rave and smash things across my desk or throw sock balls at husband, when needed.


3. Music to fit the mood of what I'm trying to write is good. Tastes range from Madonna, to Cannibal Corpse, to Natalie Merchant, to Bach.


4. It's okay to cry and scream when needed.


5. When children are noisy and driving me insane and their howls rise up from the hellish bowels of the living room/romper room, and I cannot think, ear plugs are a great thing to have on hand--or in my ear, whichever seems most appropriate at the time.


6. Typoos aRe okay--tip fist and fixx lter (completely opposite of my nature).


7. And lastly, surround myself with things that make me smile and/or are inspiring, such as photos...

...like these ones, that remind me it's okay to get down and get dirty and play messy. And when all else ceases to work, point the finger at someone else because it's always their fault anyways.

*This advice has been adapted, slightly, for humor's sake.

** I did do better; I wrote 1969 words during the write-in on Day 16.

I think I woke up in an alternate reality this morning.

Molly went to sleep without a Pull-Up on and did not pee the bed. And Logan went to bed at 4:30 pm, woke up at 11:30, went straight back to bed and woke up at 6:45 am. What the f*ck is going on? Did I wake up in some kind of Bizarro world?