I did it!

I finished my 2011 NaNoWriMo Novel!  It required powering through 6,000 words in the last two days, writing late at night while standing in the kitchen with a baby on my back, and getting up very early to sneak in more writing before the kids were awake.  It's very much in first draft form.  But I did it.

Betsy was with me when I finished, and clicked the button to submit it to the word count validator.

And here's my winner's badge to prove that I did it:

More thoughts on the whole thing later.  Now it's time to rest my aching arms, and to have breakfast with my big girl!

Thankful Ten

Things for which I am thankful this year, in no particular order:

1.  Caffeine.  Why did I resist it for so long?  Grad school, first kid, I said no.  It wasn't until I became a stay-at-home parent that I regularly bowed to the power of this miraculous and life-giving force.  What was I waiting for?  A muddled mind on this matter: a clear indication of needing caffeine*.

2.  Cheese.  Just all of it.  Brie.  Gouda.  Cheddar with caramelized onions.  I'm even thankful for that vegan rice milk cheese, which is not much like cheese, but still decent on a pizza, and better than no cheese at all.

3.  Songs We All Know.  Can you imagine birthday parties without "Happy Birthday?"  "Uh, here's your flaming cake."  "Thanks."

4.  Hugs.  Nature's true miracle drug, soother of wounds, bestower of love and affection.  Also, a good way to suck body heat from your partner, if you happen to be cold-blooded and have a warm-blooded partner like I do.

5.  Sticks.  Good for building fires and smacking things, and for making fishing poles, tree forts, and fantastic fake antlers.

6.  Saying Wow.  And not just because my littlest began to say it this week.  Try it yourself, go find some things to say wow about.  I'll wait.  Now don't you feel better?  Wow!

7.   Dressing Up.  As a person who wears slippers for the majority of my work day, I love wearing nice things once in a while.  And the cats appreciate having more luxurious materials to shed upon.

8.  The Color of Cranberry Sauce.  I don't mean the kind in a can, I mean the kind made on the stove with cranberries, sugar, and water.  I've been fortunate enough to see a lot of beautiful things in this life, but few can rival the color of cranberry sauce.

9.  Traveling, and Not Traveling.  I love to go exploring.  But sometimes, like this weekend, I am quite glad to be staying home.

10.  Good Books.  They feel good to read, and they're good for you.  I'll never be able to read them all, but I'll die trying.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

*No matter how much I reassure you on this matter, however, do not let me have a second cup of coffee.  I quickly turn from peppy and productive to angry and jittery.  A second cup of tea should be okay, but a third might be risky.  Be thankful I have told you this.

Insomnia Made Useful

I'm at 40004!  It's a palindrome!  And I'm at 80%, which is good news.  I'd love to wrap this book up by the end of the weekend, so I can start on all these Christmas projects I've been sketching out in my mind.

Near May Be Better Than Far, But It Still Isn't There

Current Word Count:
35,608 (71%)

I totally stole this post title from my friend Sharon's status update, who in turn stole it from the musical Evita, which she'll be directing this spring in the first ever all-cat production.

Don't meow for me, simple human.
The truth is, I have my wet food.
My juicy tuna,
My oceanfishes
I have my wet food
Please bring cat dishes.

And as for opening up those cans
I have tried but I still have no thumbs
Though it seemed to the world
They were all I desired
They are illusions
Mittens don't open wet food as promised to me
The answer is still sleeping in
Oh wake and bring wet food to me!

You'll have to come to the show to hear the rest.

Days Something Through Whatever Today Is

Current Word Count:
30,772 (61%)

I don't even know what day it is now.  I would probably be done with the darn thing if Abigail weren't teething these molars.  As in, not sleeping.  As in still not sleeping now at 11:20 p.m.  Fussing.  Both of us, fussing.

Over the Hill

Current Word Count:
25,095/50,000 (50%)

I am feeling the fatigue.  Suddenly, there is a lot going on at home and I am not wanting to give my attention to this project.  Matthew laughed as I was grumbling tonight, because it's not as if I have to do this.  I apologize if I owe you an e-mail or a phone call, but this project is sucking up literally all of my free time at the moment. 

On the other hand, I'm at 50% now, two days ahead of schedule.  It's all downhill from here!

And now I am going to go have an actual conversation with my husband, because I miss him.

Days 9 & 10

The writing has been a little harder, but I met my goals.  I wish I had time to go back through what I've written, to get a better sense of where I'm going and how I want to structure the rest of my time, but the joy and the torture of NaNoWriMo is that I can't go back and rethink.  I just have to keep going forward if I want to make it to 50k.

A few other positive side effects:  I can't spend time on Facebook hearing about the great artistic things my friends are doing instead of doing my own artistic things.  Since creative work begets creative work, I've sketched out a half dozen more cartoons.  (Yes, this blog will again have content other than me blathering on about trying to write.)  I have a whole list of Christmas presents I want to make.  And Betsy and I made felt carpets for her dollhouse today, and a felt garden dotted with sunflowers, and a felt swimming pool, just because we wanted to.

Day 9 Word Count:
2,033/2,000

Day 10 Word Count:
2003/2000

Total Word Count:
19,234/50,000 (38%)

Answers to my frequent question, "How did this happen?" which I received on days 9 & 10:
"I almost did this great handstand in the box..."
"Blue food coloring..."
"Dada..."