Sorry I haven’t been blogging with more regularity, I just find myself with nothing to say.

The words are there (for the most part) when I’m writing, but, I’ve got nothing else.

I should reach my 50,000 words for NaNo before the end of the day. That’s a good thing I suppose, but it doesn’t really make me that happy. Because at the end of the day I’ll still have to put the MS aside to work on the other things I have to do.

Tomorrow I have a Dr. appt (icky) and then I’ll do my Thanksgiving grocery shopping.

I think I’m going to take the weekend off with the exception of taking advantage of pre-Xmas sales to buy a fake tree. And while I use the term “take off” rather loosely, I don’t think I want to kill myself with work.

I still have to finish edits on my LSB novella - which at least I have some direction on now (Thanks Sherrill). And I’ve got a bunch of books to read for the Eppies.

Guests arrive on Tuesday and stay for a week. I’ll try to find something entertaining for the blog for those days because I don’t think I’ll be around a whole lot.

There’s a few days left in the month after that, but those’ll be used for catching up with everything that I haven’t already finished. It’s looking like that’s what most of December will be used for, too. Catch-up.

So, what does the rest of your month look like? Year? Are you stressing or is it mostly smooth sailing?

Ugh! I would like nothing more today than to snuggle into bed with a good book and stay there all day.

But…I gotta NaNo.

I got up this morning, took my shower and then crawled back into bed for an hour. Okay, an hour and a half-ish. Oops.

My original plan had been to go to Starbucks today, but I’m feeling like a homebody. But if I stay at home I don’t think I’ll get as much done.

Decisions, Decisions.

Maybe if I force myself to write a whole lot in the next few hours I can take the afternoon off?

Uh-oh, that’s how the procrastination starts. First it’s deals with yourself, then it’s “oh, I just have to check my email one more time,” and BAM, the next think you know the day is over and you haven’t even opened Word.

While I don’t know if I’ll be a homebody or not yet today (probably will) I WILL get a lot accomplished.

I just have to check my email one more time….

How was everyone’s weekend?

We went to visit the in-laws and saw The Flying Karamozov brothers. They’re a juggling group (not actually brothers). It was fun.

We came home yesterday but the rest of the day was pretty much a bust. I mean the Mummy and the Mummy Returns were on - how was I expected to get any work done with that distraction.

Still, I did manage aover 1000 words.

The most important lesson that I’m taking from NaNo is that I can write A LOT in a very little amount of time. And I can write even more in a larger amount of time. I’ve been keeping track, and I very regularly average 6 pages in an hour (with the high of 8).

That means, on any given day, I should never write less than six pages. I always have at least an hour to write.

Another thing I’ve learned. It doesn’t need to take me several hours to read blogs/check message boards/yahoo groups, etc. It takes as much time as I let it take. And while I’m not willing to give up on everything completely, I don’t have to check this obsssively.

I know I’m acting like NaNo is nearing it’s end, and it really is for me. I’ve got this week and then I’m pretty much finished. I’ve got guests for Turkey Day (woohoo) and then I’ve got some other stuff that needs to be finished by the end of November.

So, what important lessons have you learned so far during NaNo? If you’re not NaNo-ing, what did you do this weekend?

I’m suprised there aren’t more Mork and Mindy reruns on these days. Good Times and Three’s Company are on all the time. Where’s Mork and Mindy? Although I do admit, that show really freaked me out as a kid.

Anyway, onto the NaNo update…

I’ve written more than 20,000 words in the last five days. I love the fact that the blue on my pretty little meter is so far over to the right. But I admit, I’m still stressing. At this pace I should have no trouble winning NaNo, but that’s not exactly my goal.

My goal was to force myself to write through a very hectic month. I’m totally doing that.

I really would love to double 50,000 words, but I don’t think that can happen (especially since a good number of the days left in November are going to be no writing days). I thought that come December I’d be able to put this book aside, finish another and then work on this one. At this point, I don’t see that happening.

So that kind of messes up my plans for the rest of the year.

And, I had conveniently convinced myself to forget the Novella that has to be edited by the end of the month, AND the five contest entries that need to be read and judged.

So, while I may be kicking some NaNo butt, it hasn’t made my to-do list any shorter.

Tonight we’re heading to the in-laws in NJ to see the flying Karamazov Bros. It should be fun, I guess. I’d love to stay home and write, but well, I guess I have to be social occasionally.

I should have at least part of Saturday and a good chunk of Sunday to work though, which will make me happy.

How are you NaNoing? Doing anything exciting this weekend?

So I went to Starbucks yesterday to write up a storm. I’d been there the day before.

They’d put up their Xmas decorations overnight!! So when I walked into Starbucks this morning, it was like a winter wonderland. They had red cups and the drink cozys (that keep you from burning yourself) came in different colors - I had read, but I saw green and blue, too.

They had holiday gingerbread and the super yummy cranberry bliss bars (which I’ve eaten quite a few of over the years) and even Snowman cookies. What didn’t they have?

Pumpkin spice lattes.

I had a white mocha instead, a spur of the moment drink change since I was confused by the new red menu that wasn’t there the day before. It didn’t seem to make me nearly as productive as the pumpkin spice and gave me a wicked sugar high.

Perhaps I’ll have to go back to the good old sugar-free vanilla latte. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Is there any food or drink that makes your particularly productive when you write?

So, I met my friend, we’ll just call her K, when we were in eighth grade. We’ve got a fair number of embarassing pictures from back then, me with my unfortunate red glasses and bad fashion choices, her with her braces and big permed hair. Still, we were friends all through high school.

I went away to college while she stayed in the same city. She came to visit me a few times and I saw her when I was home to visit.

She moved to Texas the same weekend I moved to Seattle.

In the next 5 years, I think we saw each other twice, once at her wedding, once at my wedding.

Around the time I moved to Maryland, she moved back to the hometown. Now, I see her just about everytime I visit the ‘rents.

At the beginning of the year she found out was pregnant and 6 weeks ago, she had a baby.

I’ve talked to her more in the past few months than I think we have since we gratuated from high school!! It’s great. We talk once a week. First it was talking about preggo stuff and now it’s mostly talking about baby.

But there’s other stuff we talk about…our secret obsession that I’m going to out right now.

We both are addicted to reruns of the show Reba. It’s on Lifetime several times a day, starting country singer Reba Macintire.

The show is freaking HILARIOUS!! If you’ve never caught it and have lifetime, GO WATCH IT.

But, by far, the best part of the show is the “other woman,” the woman that Reba’s husband left her for, Barbara Jean.

I swear, Barbara Jean is the funniest character on television! I actually laugh out loud when I watch Reba. The hubster knows when I’m watching it cause I’m laughing so loud.

So tell me, do you have a secret obsession that you’d rather no one know about? A silly show? Odd taste in music? A really bad movie?

Please, share here!

I’m off to Starbucks for another marathon of writing today. Hope everyone else is doing great!

It’s pretty dark and gloomy here.

I’ve already completely bypassed my desk and took the laptop to the couch with a blanket and a big cup of coffee. Now I’m settling in for a nice long day of NaNo-ing. (If you haven’t yet noticed, I love using NaNo as various parts of speech - it’s NaNo-liscious!!)

I suppose it’s a very good thing, but I don’t see much getting done today other than writing. Although my laundry pile is starting to take over the bedroom.

I hope everyone voted yesterday! My voting experience was kind of a letdown. There was no line at all, I walked right up and voted, and they didn’t have any stickers that said “I voted!”

What the hell? I saw on TV that Joe Lieberman’s dog got a freaking sticker, but I didn’t!?!?!

Anyway, the one race I was very interested in, my candidate lost. She was supported by the NY Times and everything. Plus, what kind of black hearted person are you that you don’t vote for the quadrapalegic girl that went to Harvard? You can read more about Brooke Ellison here. But, well, she didn’t win.

But back to rainy today. I’m going to NaNo all day! You? Shall we do a roll call? How’s everybody faring with their NaNo book so far? Enquiring minds want to know!

Okay, one of my fellow Word Flirts tagged me with this one awhile ago, but I haven’t been able to think of things. Still, it seems like a good post on a day when I should be NaNoing.

Sharon keeps a file of a list of everyone she knows with a note of their past or current experiences, who could one day become precious contacts for research purposes.

So she tagged other writers to share their personal experiences so everyone could have possible contacts for future references. And then we’re suppposed to tag five others, etc., etc.

So here’s my contribution to the list:

* I have degrees in English and Anthropology and if this writing gig doesn’t work out, I’d probably go back to school to be a perpetual student.

* The hubster and I met our first week in college. We lived in the same building and he dated my roommate. We dated for 6 years before getting married.

* I’m a city girl. Living on Long Island right now, an hour away from NYC, is the farthest I’ve ever been from living in a city. I’ve lived in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Seattle, and DC (technically Maryland).

* I only have one stamp in my passport and that’s from Australia. The only other country I’ve been to is Canada, and I only spent 2 days in Vancouver. But I’m going to the Bahama’s in January.

* I’ve been to 36 of the 50 states including Alaska and Hawaii.

Message from Sharon:

“PLEASE LEAVE THE FOLLOWING IN ALL PEOPLE COLLECTION POSTS:

Remember that it isn’t always the sensational stuff that writers are looking for, it can just as easily be something that you take for granted like having raised twins or knowing how to grow beetroot. Mind you, if you know how to fly a helicopter or have worked as a film extra, do feel free to let the rest of us know about it :-)”

I tag anyone else who wants to play and hasn’t already…

The family is gone. I’m going to do some catching up this afternoon - blog hopping and message board reading. Hopefully I’ll get some writing done this afternoon.

I’m thinking tomorrow will be another day long trip to Starbucks for another marathon writing session. I’ve got 4 NaNo days to make up!

So, how was everybody’s weekend?

These are all from my fun powerless weekend last week, and Halloween of course.

The burning bush!

Lots of power trucks lined up:

Saving the best for last, the crazy Halloween House!!

Unfortunately, the picture doesn’t really do it justice. Among other things, you can’t see the giant tarantula on the roof of the garage. The NY Jet has been there since the start of football season (and is the one thing that remains). Also, you can’t see the tombstones, pumpkins, scarecrows, etc, spread throughout the yard. The hubster actually took this picture on Halloween and you can see, they had a fog machine going.