NaNoWriMo – Day 30… I DID IT !!!

I DID IT! I completed the 50,000 word challenge on November 29th… actual validated count is 50,310!

And my daughter validated her word count at 50,291 an hour before I did, and was declared a WINNER, too! Congratulations, Rachel!

Today our family will celebrate! Lunch is planned… hopefully I can think of someplace special… then we will just spend time together (and no writing allowed)…

Of course, tonight I will get back into my novel and work a little more… although I wrote the ending, it needs more work… more words… more time.

I am planning to take a 2-week break when I feel that I am done. Then go back to it and see what I think… I’m sure more editing will be done.

But with God’s help, if it is His will, I will be thinking seriously of looking at publishing choices. And while I was writing this month, God gave me an idea for another novel that I will be starting next year.

God bless you…

And a special blessing to those who prayed and encouraged me. You are the best!

Please keep following my blog… I’ll keep writing…

NaNoWriMo – Day 29

Big day today… Day 29 of NaNoWriMo… Black Friday…

As far as NaNoWriMo goes, I still haven’t passed 50k but I feel that I am a winner nonetheless, because I accepted the challenge, I wrote every day for a month, I started a novel, I participated in local events, and I kept up every day (for the most part) with the daily goal. Even if someone doesn’t pass the 50k mark to be declared an official winner by NaNoWriMo, shouldn’t they be considered a winner, just for trying?

However, unless I get very sick or my laptop dies, I should be able to pass the 50k mark tomorrow before the deadline! YAY!

And… I did not participate in the Black Friday sales today. I stayed home to help my grandchildren put together the game table we bought last night… and enjoyed being at home with my family… and continued to write.

Here’s the game table… they love it.

OK, it’s back to writing…

God bless you and good night.

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NaNoWriMo – Day 28

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a day to remind us all to be thankful…

My homeschooled grandchildren created a harvest tree with fall decorations and leaves that have notes, telling what our family is thankful for…

GOD’s love, family, Tom & Joyce Harmon (special friends) and SNOW!

I have so much to be thankful for… my salvation and the love God showed me (that I don’t deserve and at times have not appreciated), my wonderful family, including 2 very loving grandchildren, my home and my job, friends who are encouraging and supportive, music – which is important to everyone in our home, IBLP, ATI and Bill Gothard, who has made such a difference in our home and our lives… and all the many blessings in my life.

And it is Day 28 for those busy with the NaNoWriMo challenge!

TWO NaNoWriMo buddies of mine have passed the 50,000 mark and were declared a WiNNER!

Arphaxad (Mike) and JC Morrows – CONGRATULATIONS!

It is also the weekend to catch all those amazing sales, so my post will be short… I’m on my way out to shop!

God Bless You!

See ya tomorrow…

NaNoWriMo – Day 27

Aside

What is it about weekends, holidays and extra time off…

We have so many things to do that we stay out longer and I get less and less writing done! Today, for example, we left home early to go to the grandchildren’s piano lessons – actually we didn’t have a piano lesson today, we had breakfast (homemade waffles) with our friend, who happens to be the piano teacher. We left there at 11:30am, ran by a local shop nearby and found two inexpensive (not necessarily cheap… but they were) violins for the grandchildren to learn to play. It was 12:30…

We headed back to the teacher’s house so she could check them out. She said the violins would work and she kept them to clean up, replace strings, and do a little more maintenance. She is a wonderful friend, concert pianist and violinist… and composer.

By this time it was 1:30pm… we went to Wendy’s for crispy chicken sandwiches (nuggets for my grandson) and a tall skinny peppermint mocha next door at Starbucks for my daughter. Time: 2:15pm

From there it was just a hop, skip and a jump to Cracker Barrel to pick up our Thanksgiving meal, packaged nicely in a big box… and then we figured a quick trip to the mall to check out Williams Sonoma for pumpkin pecan butter would be a good idea. They were on sale for $8.99 so we bought 4, as they usually last us awhile. Time: 4pm

From there it was time to run by a Redbox to return the movie I rented last night… but of course I forgot and got almost home, then had to turn around and go back.

By the time we got home, it was almost 6:00pm. Empty car. Fix dinner (we snacked on a little of the Thanksgiving food). Grandchildren settled. Friend in Washington State called to chat.

Now it’s after 8pm and I’m writing my blog.

Hey, after it’s done maybe I can write on my novel…..

I’m thankful for a day spent with my family, visiting with a friend, finding two affordable violins, and that we arrived back home safely, so it was a good day! Now I’m really going to get to my novel writing…..

God bless you.

NaNoWriMo – Day 26

Hello World! Sometimes I forget you’re out there because it’s…

Day 26 of NaNoWriMo!

and that’s the world I’ve lived in for the past 26 days…

But if you glance at the little box on the right that shows my total number of words… I’m still in the ballgame, with 43,000 words. I just have to write 400 more words tonight to be caught up… I’m planning to write at least 1400 more words!

My plan is to stay as far ahead as I can and to get those 50k words done so I can be declared a WINNER! Then I plan to spend most of December finishing the novel and taking a break. I’ve read that it is important to finish the book and take at least 2 weeks off, without reading or doing anything to it, so…

January 15th… time for major editing.

In the meantime, yes I’m writing on my lunchbreak again… iPhones come in handy for times when you need to get something done online.

 

My sweet family brought me vegetable fried rice from Panda One to enjoy for lunch. It’s yummy!

I try to pick some up every week or so.
I’m off to finish my lunch.

Have a great Tuesday!

Blessings!

NaNoWriMo – Day 25

It is Day 25 and I’m still rushing to keep up with the daily goal… yesterday’s was 40,000 and I barely made it – again.

Today it’s 41,667 and that really doesn’t look like much more than the previous goal, but since lately all I worry about is catching up, staying caught up, and getting ahead so that I don’t get behind…

I’m ready to QUIT !!!

but I won’t… at least not yet.

OK, let’s change the subject for a minute…

My family recently visited Cracker Barrel and by the time we left, we had been talked into coming back for Thanksgiving. Since we are a small family, we have decided to let them do the cooking and we will just enjoy the day!

Yum… turkey, cornbread dressing, sugar-cured ham, sweet potato casserole, cranberry relish and a slice of pumpkin pecan streusel pie with real whipped cream!

Honestly, I’m going to miss cooking a dozen things, but hey, I can do that again next year, right?

Happy Thanksgiving. God bless you.

NaNoWriMo – Day 24

Well, it’s Day 24… and I’m not even close to 40,000 yet.

Another busy Sunday has kept me from writing. After getting some much-needed chores done this afternoon, and doing a bit of experimenting on a new dessert, I’m ready to write…

Oh yeah, the dessert? I have tried for years to make a dessert that my parents would bring to me for Christmas, but it never worked out. So today I’ve created my own… with lime jello, cream cheese, whipped topping (we make fresh because we can’t use cool whip (it has high fructose corn syrup in it), crushed pineapple, miniature marshmallows and nuts (but I didn’t add nuts yet). It is chilling but should be ready to eat sometime tonight.

So now it’s back to writing. TIme to get serious… no more posting… or twitter… or facebook… or anything else that might deter me from my daily goal.

See ya tomorrow… and God bless you.

NaNoWriMo – Day 23

Today is Day 23…

Just as we have experienced in previous weeks, we get less writing done on the weekend.

Today was no exception. Just squeaked by with required goal…

I was blessed to spend an hour chatting with a close friend tonight… she and her daughters participated in a holiday bazaar today. In her words:

We had the bazaar today… Several things were just plain sold out and our friend sold many, many aprons and rice packs. Ashley made doll clothes for the 18” dolls and she sold every single outfit. Clara made some suet bird feeders and they all sold as well. I made some snowmen that had 3 flavors of popcorn seasoning inside. These too sold out. It was a good day.

I’m happy for my friend… she is teaching her daughters well and they are very talented.

We had a great time chatting.

It’s getting late so I’m off to bed.

God bless you – everyone!

NaNoWriMo – Day 22

The days are passing quickly… day 22 is almost gone (or it will be by the time I get off work and take my family out to dinner, stop for snacks and head back home) – I may have a couple of hours to write!

The accumulated daily goal for Day 21 was 35,000… I just passed the goal in time to hurriedly shower and fall into bed, exhausted.

Yesterday my plan was to write an extra 1000 words – HA! Instead, I found myself going back to the beginning of the novel and filling in gaps. I don’t think we’re supposed to do that now, it might be considered editing, but it worked out ok for me, since I did reach the goal and pass it ever so slightly.
 

And tonight… tomorrow… Sunday…

So far, weekends have been my worst time to write – the first weekend I got behind and last weekend I barely got caught up, but I’ve stayed caught up all week, so perhaps this weekend I will forge ahead.

My goal is to get all 15,000 words written by Monday or Tuesday and pass the 50,000 mark. Once I’m officially declared a winner, then I can go back and fill in more gaps and do some serious editing.
 

Will I write 15,000 in 72-96 hours… who knows?

NaNoWriMo – Day 21

When I look at this picture, I think of Christmas… we live in East Tennessee, where it rarely snows, to the great disappointment of my grandchildren. Well, actually my daughter and I both love watching it snow, too.

We always planned someday to move where we could enjoy the snow in the winter, but so far, it’s just a dream.

There are so many possibilities for those who really want snow… Alaska, Wisconsin, Maine – how do you pick? (besides the obvious… you go where you have a job).

We laugh about moving somewhere just for the snow, only to find that it stops snowing there. So we have revisited our dream.

The new dream is to move closer to North Carolina, Virginia, or Kentucky. To not go specifically for more snow, but a few cooler degrees (especially in summer). Then to plan vacations around Christmas and go somewhere just for the snow!

Will we do it? Possibly. At least it seems more doable than the previous plans.

I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, everyone seems to be on the mend, and we’re writing… writing… writing.

9 more days!

God bless you.