NaNoWriMo: Thanksgiving Gift of 50,204 Words

Total Word Count on Day 28:  50,204 verified! 

As you can see, I have completed my goal of writing over 50,000 words in a novel in the month of November. True, I didn't write every single day or I would have finished this goal a few days ago, but I still feel like I accomplished something.

Is the novel finished? No. I still have a few things to do to complete the story. I have a lot of loose ends to tie up and a lot of chronological plot points to fix, not to mention, I lost complete track of what chapter I was on and just wrote "Chapter Something Something" to start off and end a section. The lesson in doing this is not to have something written that is "perfect," in the words of Fred Gleeck, "Done is better than perfect." I totally agree. I had to keep writing and keep going and just let the words flow out. To stop and edit, well, that would defeat the purpose and slow me down. Editing is for later. Get the story written down. Whatever you don't like about it, you can cut out and rewrite, or you can change it or if you love it and can't make it fit, then you can keep it, and find a way around it. There is more than one way to write a novel.

Congratulations to everyone this year who met and exceeded their goals, whether you participated in National Novel Writing Month or not. If you even wrote an article, a journal entry, a paragraph, or just a note to your spouse expressing how much you love them and you received a positive response, then you deserve congratulations. Writing is a very solitary and underappreciated undertaking. Most people who are not writers wish they could be, and most of the people who are writers know they can't be anything else.

Thanks to all my family and friends, writers and non-writers who cheered me on and told me to keep going. I appreciate all of your love and support and encouragement. Without that, this would never have happened. I truly appreciate all you have done for me, not just this month but every month this year. 

I hope all of you had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday and I will be posting soon about the novel and what I plan to do with it, so stay tuned. It's not completely over just yet! :)

Thanksgiving, Movies, and Family

I was so excited my son would be spending Thanksgiving with us. Then, the phone call.

Because his ship would be out to sea in a week, he wouldn't be coming home for Thanksgiving after all. Sad as I was, I realized that this is what it's like to be a Navy Mom. I was fortunate my son is still state side, and he would be coming home after Christmas for a nice visit.

Some of those who served our country and their families are grieving the loss of their loved ones who have given the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. My prayers and condolences and my heartfelt thanks go out for those who served so bravely and their families. And this includes those who were gunned down in Ft. Hood. Thank you, is not enough words, but it's the best I can give you all.

I was sad he wasn't home. It didn't feel the same without him, but we did have a visitor stay with us, Andy, QH's son, stayed with us, and it was nice to have one "kid" home for the holidays.

I decided to splurge, so I rented some movies. "Star Trek", which was awesome; "G.I.Joe" was pretty good; "Year One", with Jack Black and Michael Cera was hysterical; "Angels & Demons" which was good as movie, but it wasn't as good as the book; and finally, "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" was really cute.

On Sunday, I took the movies back and decided I wanted to rent some more. I rented two: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" which got to be a bit much with the graphics, and a bit long in the movie pace as well; and "Up" a Pixar movie about an old man who floats away with his house using helium balloons.

"Up," if you haven't seen it yet, is sad to start, in fact, have the tissues close-by, because your going to cry. It's a lesson in how you live your life, and what you get out of it in this crazy journey. It relays the message the dreams you have when you are younger don't necessarily die as you get older, but they might change a bit into something you least expected. And love never dies. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it, but I think it's a great movie to see, especially these days when we all think that we are beyond the age of having any kind of adventures, and our definition of "family" may not include those who are born into it.

I read something interesting today about age and whether you're too old to start over in your life, in your career, or in your business. In an e-book written by Bob Bly, the copywriting genius, he tells the story about the actor, Abe Vigoda.

Abe Vigoda, before he was a regular on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" was in a television show called "Barney Miller" and played a cop named Fish. But his career began in the movie, "The Godfather". Guess how old he was when he played in the "The Godfather"? He was 50 years old when he was in that movie, the movie that launched his acting career!

It's never too late. It's never too late to start over. It's never too late to tell someone you love them. It's never too late to be the success you were born to be. It's never too late to enjoy the moment you are in right now. It's never too late to be thankful for everything you have and everything you are receiving.

In counting my blessings this year, I am thankful for the lessons I've learned, especially the most painful ones. I appreciate them because I consider them growing pains. I've grown from last year (and not just horizontally). I'm not the person I was last year, and I'm glad about that.

I'm thankful for the family I have and the love and support they've given me this year. Especially, QH, who has taken on the role of breadwinner in this family since I lost my job in June. He's had a rough year this year, and I'm thankful he's been so patient and understanding with me, even when I wasn't patient or understanding with myself. I pray this next year brings his dreams and wishes and prayers to fruition. That would make me very happy, to see him get back all the good he's given, not just to me, but to everyone around him, and reap the rewards of being the wonderful man that he is. He deserves that and so much more. If they gave out medals for being him, he would get a whole box full of them. But a Harley will have to do. Or a 1969 Chevelle SS.

Thanks to all of you who read this little blog of mine. You are the reason I keep writing. I almost gave it up altogether, (AGAIN) and while I had such great ambition to win NaNoWriMo this year, life interrupted my intentions. Oh, well. I'm still writing, that's the main thing. And there is always something that brings me back to it. I get a call or an email or something from a reader who says they laughed when they read something I wrote, or it made them think differently, or it made them cry, or just that they felt SOMETHING from my writing. It's worth a million bucks to me and more.

So, thank you all for your prayers, your comments, your wishes and your opinions. I pray the next year brings you many blessings and adventures.

I have much more to do before this year closes, but one message I want to give is this:

Never give up. Never. Just keep going and listen to your gut, it will lead you to your dreams, even if it's not exactly the same dream you started with. The journey is worth it in the end, because once you end it, you can begin another adventure. And bring someone you love along for the ride. ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We had Thanksgiving dinner last weekend with my son, Alex, in Illinois. We are still eating the leftovers.

We went to my parents house this morning for traditional turkey dinner, then went to QH's parents. I didn't have the space to eat again. I'm still full and it's almost 11pm!! But that's fine, I won't have to cook all week! :)

The best part was spending the time with my family and getting caught up on what everyone has been up to. We also have a houseguest, QH's son, is staying with us this weekend.

I am still doing the NaNoWriMo novel, and hope to be at the finish line before Sunday night. I will keep you posted. My current word count stands at:

23,426 words

I will count my blessings, and I hope you all do the same and have a great day!

NaNoWriMo Update--November 10, 2008

Hello, Everyone!

In my last update I wrote 8,305 words. I wrote later that night and added 2,320 more words. On November 6, 2008, I wrote a measly 670 words which brought my grand total to 11,295. Not a bad start.

On Saturday, November 8, 2008, I beat my previous personal best. I wrote 8,832 words, in one day!!! That brings my grand total up to 20,127 words. I am more than halfway there.

I decided to go to bed early last night. I was pretty tired. I made banana bread all day, and cooked dinner. It was cold and windy and we had some snow flurries, so it was the perfect day to stay inside and warm up the oven and cook. We spent Saturday, during the day, taking down my gazebo for the winter, putting the cushions for the patio chairs in the storeroom, and we put plastic on the windows inside the house to keep the cold drafts from coming in. We do this every year and it helps a lot with conserving heat. We do have one window above the sink we don't put plastic on, so if we need to get some fresh air into the house, we have that and the door.

I am getting excited to finish NaNoWriMo, but I am more excited to be going to Illinois on November 21, 2008 to see my son. We will be taking Thanksgiving to him this year, since he won't be able to make it home. I have a smoked turkey on order, and will make cheesy potatoes, blueberry cheesecake bars, and bring bread and butter along with a few other goodies from me and Grandma. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by, can you?

I will keep you all posted with any news, but in the meantime, stay warm and keep on writing!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

I love Thanksgiving. I have many reasons to love this holiday, but mainly it gives me the opportunity to thank everyone for everything, all at once. I thank God, my family, my friends, my co-workers, and some of the strangers I have met through the year who I believe to have been "angels in disguise". I was taught this lesson of gratitude over 20 years ago during one of the most difficult times in my life.

I was 18 years old. I had just graduated from high school, my parents were separated and heading for a divorce, my mother was struggling to take care of all of us, and the decision was made to move from Garrison, ND to Minot, ND. More job opportunities, a fresh start, we were hopeful that this would be what we all needed.

When we arrived, we had to find a place to live. Mom found a small apartment. She found two jobs, one at the Little Flower School as a cook, and the other was at K-Mart. I found a job at McDonalds. But even with 3 incomes coming in, we still had a hard time. It was Thanksgiving, and with all of the family drama going on, nobody in Garrison was inviting us for dinner. We were on our own and we didn't have much. A container of Jello and a half gallon of milk with assorted condiments were in the fridge. That was it. We were trying to keep from thinking about it, and getting more depressed about this situation. Not only was I worried, as I'm sure Mom was, about eating for Thanksgiving, but for the rest of the week. Then, there was a knock at the door...

Two ladies carrying big grocery boxes full of food were there to give us what we needed. Food. They were from the church. There was two of everything. Turkeys, canned vegetables, boxes of stuffing, boxes of mashed potatoes, bread, butter, and pies, and of course, the cranberries. Mom had to swallow hard, because pride doesn't go down easy, and she had never taken or needed to take a handout in her adult life, that I could remember. I remember Mom starting to cry and in a shaky voice, she said, "Thank you on behalf of me and my children." We hugged those ladies and Mom and I vowed on that day to try and donate something, ANYTHING, to the food shelves because they had helped us when we needed it the most.

I thank those ladies to this day, whereever they are, for helping me and my family. I'm not Oprah, giving away refrigerators, or building homes for people, but I try to do what I can and give what I can. It might be a few dollars to a friend in need, who is down on their luck. It might be to the Salvation Army in the big red kettles (they are all out now and they need your help this year more than ever). It might be to give a ride to a co-worker that has their car in the shop. Any small Act of Random Kindness is important in the life of someone who has run out of luck and hope. Just do it, and then thank God, the Universe, your Higher Power, for all of the blessings you have received in your life. Here is a small portion of mine:

1. My health.
2. My home, job, family, and friends.
3. My future.
4. My past. Because I can't appreciate anything I have today or tomorrow if I don't appreciate where I've come from.

Make your own list, and then in a grateful voice, say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

To everyone in my life who has helped me get this far, and for those who will be there to help me in the future. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!