Shake your NaNo-maker....

I did the 10K Boogie yesterday afternoon. I hit the 10K mark 3 days ahead of schedule and by bedtime I had 10,353. Well, truth is, I don't write "just" up to the daily word count goal. But it's nice when I glance over at my NaNo calendar on the desk next to me and see I'm head of what would be necessary to hit the 50K mark by the 30th.

And I've still been doing this through the haze of sinus headaches and pressure and a nose that has declared itself a drippy faucet. LOL

I've not been doing the Gazelle, thanks in part to the drippy faucet, but I'm actually thinking today of getting on there anyway. A little bit of exertion and exercise might be the thing I need to sweat the illness out. Who knows?

We're just a few weekends away from our trip to Pigeon Forge, too and I need to get in touch with my MIL and find out if there's a website I can go to and get the driving directions we'll need since we haven't ever been with them down there and we'll have to leave out separately from them because we have to wait that Friday till hubby gets home from work and kids get in from school. I'd also like to see if there's a website for the place we'll be staying, just to familiarize myself with it a little. Boy, I hope I'm feeling better by then!

The following week I've got to make the mac and cheese and a Pig Lickin' cake to take up to my family's for Thanksgiving. This month is already getting away from me and it's barely started.

As for NaNo- The story is coming right along- 20% of the way to winning NaNo and I'm 12% of the way to my tentative word count total. So long as I reach 400 pages, the word count could range from 80-85K for all it's worth. I can't say that what I'm writing is exceptional or even the best I've ever written cause I don't think it is. I think it's truly the bare bones of this story.

But, I feel like my hero and heroine are growing with each new page and scene, and that's good, because the better their personality come out, the better I can actually write them. The rest will come out in the wash.

It feels really good to be writing again, that's for sure. I have REALLY missed the freedom I feel when I throw myself completely into a story and can bring my characters more and more to life.

Well, I better go- time's a wastin'!

Have a great day!

1st Day of NaNoWriMo

It started off typical, of course. I would swear that the past several years I've done NaNo have always started similarly. I was absolutely FINE on Saturday and felt great. Had fun dressing up for Halloween and whatnot, but when I woke up Sunday morning, I was SICK AS A DOG! It's like my body KNOWS it's NaNo time and wants to throw an extra monkey wrench into my plans.

I had an itchy sore throat and a stuffed up head. I felt miserable and couldn't concentrate at all. I spent the better part of the morning taking care of things around the house that I knew weren't going to do themselves (and no one else would lift a finger to do them either)- emptied the litterbox and bathroom trash, the kitchen trash (which hubby did take out to the trash can for me)- started all the laundry that needed doing and put up more that I had folded but set aside. I changed the bedsheets and did the dishes and made overnight coleslaw, but by lunch time, I was feeling far worse than I had when I got up.

I did sit down here and try to write, but the story refused to get going...I couldn't get past "Chapter One." I ate tomato soup and a grilled cheese and ham and still sat here, hoping inspiration would strike.

Instead I found myself dozing off and my head getting heavier and heavier until I finally gave it up and lay down in the bed and slept restlessly for several hours. I took a couple of those NyQuil pills for cold and flu, but that seemed to make me feel worse.

I got up around 4 pm to find hubby mixing up a bag of chocolate chip cookies and insisting that he could fix the kids a sandwich instead of me having to cook. I still heated up chicken noodle soup for myself and ate that. Felt a little better, so I gave my daughter her bath and decided that perhaps I could get something from reading the last few chapters of my previous novel, which is connected- the heroes are brothers from one story to another.

Well, it must have helped some because at 7:30, after the kids were put to bed, I started chapter one and nearly had it finished by 9 when hubby and I go to bed. I made my minimum goal for the day. As most NaNo'ers know, you need to write at least 1,667 words a day in order to hit 50K by the 30th. Of course, if you get on a role, you can get ahead some, but I did get 1,684 written last night and that was good enough for a sick woman. LOL

This morning, I'm back at it, hoping to keep my nose to the grindstone since my total goal isn't just 50K but to finish the novel will at least 81K OR around 400 pages. So there you go. I'm already up to 2,140 words this morning so I'm moving along.

Best of luck to everyone else participating!

Happy Halloween All!

My kids' pumpkins turned Jack-O-Lanterns I fixed yesterday.

The cat is my daughter's the spider my stepson's.

NaNoWriMo 2009- Coming Soon to A Computer Near You!

Yep yep, it's that time of year again. I decided I will probably crosspost from here to my LiveJournal (and Myspace, as usual) this year- it would just make things easier, I'm sure.

I have a lot on my plate in the coming weeks along with NaNo- Today I am going to tackle carving the kids' pumpkins. Saturday we have a trip to Bowling Green to pick up the in-laws Christmas presents we're having made and I might see if we can do some last minute shopping for something for me to dress up as for Halloween that night. Of course, if the weather forecast for our area is right, it's going to be rainy and it's going to be interesting getting my daughter- the Southern Belle, in all her hoopskirt glory, in and out of the car in bad weather...I'm hoping to squeeze in watching Rocky Horror before Halloween's come and gone and there's also the Ghost Hunters Halloween special on that night, too....But that's just the beginning of the insanity-

That night Time "falls back" and it will be Midnight Cinderella- my beautiful coach will turn back into a pumpkin and as the mice scurry away back to the attic- the real fun for this Noveling Princess will begin.....I don't have a Prince Charming- unless you count my hero, but he has a heroine of his own to win over, and I will have NaNoWriMo chasing me down through the cold falling leaves of November to find out if my glass slipper still fits and if I still have the ability to accomplish a LOT in so little time- especially with so many other things going on as well.

Once November gets underway- I will be writing like crazy as well as cleaning house and getting decorated for the holidays- tree goes up, Christmas village pops up on the shelves, outdoor decor lights up the evenings, then filling out all the Christmas cards, wrapping presents, baking some goodies, Thanksgiving with my family and this year- before Thanksgiving we're having a weekend get away with Hubby's dad's side of the family to Pigeon Forge, TN.

Sounds like November is going to be JAM PACKED with excessive writing and all kinds of travel and holiday goodness! Yummy!!!! Can't wait to take a bite out of it! LOL And that doesn't even include the children's birthdays within the first 2 weeks of December and then Christmas and New Year's..... Wow!

Multi-Author Book Signing at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington

Just wanted to post a quick promo and shout out for my fellow KYRW who will be in attendance at the Kentucky Romance Writers Day multi-author book signing at Joseph-Beth Booksellers from 1-3 p.m on October 31st- this coming Saturday.

Love romance? You'll find stories in all romance genres by a LOT of talented women at this book signing! Drop by Joseph-Beth and meet these fabolous ladies and find some great books to enjoy by the fire on these cold Autumn evenings.

Authors attending are:
Toni Blake/Lacey Alexander
Dianne Castell
LuAnn McLane
Patricia Rice
Shiloh Walker
Sheryl Brennan
Sophie Danu
Teresa Reasor
Jules Bennett/Sophia Rae
Rosemary Laurey/Madeleine Oh
Molly Harper
Anya Bast
Georgia Evans

http://www.kentuckyromancewriters.com/Meetings.htm
http://www.josephbeth.com/AdultEvents.aspx

Fall Break Fever and Looming NaNo....

Things just have NOT gone the way they should in recently weeks. Stepson was out of school sick September 14th- 18th with a fever, lack of appetite, nausea, but it wasn't the flu in any way, shape or form. He went to the doctor on the 14th and they thought it was an ear infection. They ran the flu test, nope...Took him back Wednesday when his fever hadn't gone away and they said it wasn't an ear infection and told us to take him off the Amoxicillin- ran the flu test again and- nada...Just gave him oral suspension meds and said to keep him home the entire rest of the week. They couldn't figure out exactly what it was....He had a lot of homework to make up (and suddenly developed sniffles when that was picked up from school for him to work on while he was home sick LOL) and he missed out on the ONLY school photo day they were going to have this year. No retakes for some reason...not sure why...

Got him back in good health and back in school for a full week and then they were out for the 28th because of professional development day for teachers- they went 4 days after that and have been out since for Fall Break.

Fall Break hasn't gone well at all. We left out Saturday the 3rd to go visit my family in L-burg for the week. Girlie Girl was fine when we left that morning. That night, she was running a fever. She was miserable every day, spiking high fevers and just not feeling well at all. When I talked to hubby when he got home from work on Tuesday we decided it would just be better for him to come get us so I can try to nurse the sick little thing back to health here from the comforts of home. We got home late that night and I took her temp- she wasn't even running a fever anymore. Just congested and croupy now.

This, of course, falls during hubby's change of jobs, too. He just started a new one- had to take a lower paying job because the other company he had been at for 6 years is on it's way out...so needless to say, there's a shift in that part of our lives, too...

Seems we're still riding the tail of the Mercury retrograde that happened last month. Sure, Mercury turned around on September 29th or so and has been heading back in the right direction since- but I think we're still feeing the affects of the retro and I don't like it. I had hoped to enjoy my trip my parents this week and that got cut short and Girlie Girl HATED to leave...she wanted to stay and visit with her grandma and pop pop, but well, sometimes things just don't work out the way you expect them to.

Rather than posting a separate blog about exercise on Taryn Up in Smoke, I'll just mention here, in passing that I haven't weighed recently- I did my measuring last week (the 29th) and HAD lost 1/2 inch on all accounts- waist, abdomen, hips, thighs, and calves. I'm not sure I will be able to say that come next Tuesday's measurements though since this week I fell off the exercise wagon while I was at my parents and since being back home, I haven't yet gotten back to doing the Gazelle or watching my meal intake. Gotta get back to that for sure!

And in the last bit of news- I already ordered my NaNo shirts and made a small donation that will go to the YWP (Young Writers Program). The top photo is of the official NaNo 2009 shirt with the "noveling" machine on it- feeding in ideas and spitting out books and stories. The second shirt's design is simply for fun- the idea of a camp getaway for those of us participating. I meant to spend some of this week deciding which brother's story I will write during November, and get a bit of the characterization interviews and outlines done, but I've yet to find time between traveling a sick kid and traveling back home and still tending to a slowly recovering sick kid. Definitely need to get on the ball though considering there's just barely over 3 weeks till November arrives and along with it the need to actually concentrate on writing again.

I wish all a wonderful day and wonderful rest of the week. Have a great one!

Whazzup?!?!?!?!

It's been awhile- again- I guess the last time I posted was a couple of weeks ago.

Things here have been busy. It's not been hectic, but for some reason it had FELT that way for a while with the kid back in school and whatnot. I feel Fall setting in now though and there's a strange "humming" and it seems a regular routine is slipping back into place, but....

My yard is showing signs of the change in seasons and it would appear there is all kinds of changes and transitions afoot. Mercury is in retrograde now until the end of this month, though things won't be truly back on track until mid-October. Thank goodness it went retrograde BEFORE November and NaNo. I hate and avoid starting any new projects when it is.

I added nearly 2500 to the current manuscript that I am revising and editing, but that was on the last day of August. Since then, I've yet to do anymore work. I'm so tired of distractions and irritations....

It's just silly little things, but it's nerve-wracking nonetheless- like the little friend of my daughter's who thinks the telephone is a toy and has- in the past two weeks made a nuisance of herself because she doesn't know how to take "no, she can't come to the phone right now" or "don't call back again tonight" (after she's called back 10-15 times DURING supper). Stubborn, bossy and rude, I'm to the point of contacting her mother and having a talk because I honestly don't think the little girl's mother KNOWS she's been doing this. I'm tired of it and it seems my hubby doesn't want to deal with it, don't want to rock the boat and just wants to "ignore" it as though it's not a big deal. Arrrggghhh...There's NO way I'd allow my daughter to make a pest of herself that way. It needs to be nipped in the bud.

Yesterday I was a little more than irritable because a neighbor's dog had gotten loose from her chain and dragged our welcome mat off the porch and down the road. Hubby went and talked to the neighbor, who said he'd go get it, but hasn't yet.

That hadn't been the end of it though- she dragged my daughter's toy watering can across the yard and chewed the handle on it, bit the cap on a big jug of bubble blowing stuff and tipped it over and spilled it all over the porch and then got hold of a bottle of lighter fluid that had been sitting out there from when we grilled once and was using it as a chew toy. I luckily got it from her before she punctured it and spilled FLAMABLE liquid all over our yard. {rolling eyes}

I like dogs, but goodness gracious! It rattled my nerves. I've been so irritated recently and that was nearly the straw that broke the camel's back! LOL

I just want normalcy again. I want to FEEL like writing and working on writing and right now I feel like I'm on this kooky merry-go-round that won't stop and I can't seem to slow it down or get off so I can get back to my groove.

I hope everyone else is having a much better time of it with their writing and life. I'm going to try to start posting blogs more often. Just feel like I've run out of things to talk about because I'm not writing, so I don't feel like I have a wealth of things to say about anything in particular. Blah, I guess you'd call it.

Have a good one!