NaNoWriMo--Year 2

Around the world, National Novel Writing Month begins on November 1. NaNoWriMo, as it is called for short, is 10 years old, and this is my second year in joining the madness.

The goal is to write 50,000 words of the first draft of a novel. Chris Baty, who is founder of the event, cautions writers not to have a goal of writing beautiful prose. The idea is simply to give yourself free rein to get words on the page--1667 words a day to be exact IF you want to make the 50,000 word mark by November 30.

It's a blast! It's insanity! It's an awesome commitment that feels wonderful in part because of the Internet which maintains a connection between the 125,000 writers who take part in this challenge. The NaNoWriMo web site has forums, radio programs, interviews, and pep talks. Each writer has his/her own page where counters tabulate the number of words accumulated each day.

Last year I "won" NaNoWriMo which means I wrote the 50,000 words. I wrote the worst mystery novel ever, but I learned a lot about the genre and about myself as a writer. Two local friends joined me in the event, Arlyn, who had been in my writing group for years, and Annie, who had never written a word in a creative genre before. We started meeting once a week at Starbucks to clack away together on our laptops for a couple of hours. Such events are called Write-Ins by participants. That's where Charlene found us. A 3-year WriMo veteran, she introduced herself and soon joined our weekly contingency. On the last day of the month, we had a party to celebrate our awesome accomplishment with ice cream cake and balloons.

This year, we had a kick off Write-In at Starbucks. Charlene had bumped into 2 more writers, Sherie and Phil, who were eagerly awaiting the November event, so we were 6 strong on Saturday (7 if you count Miles who is Charlene's consultant and readily provides answers to obscure questions that any of us ask while in the throes of creativity). Annie didn't join this year, but Shelley, another writing group friend, took her place. Here we are in the 2nd hour of Saturday's Write-in. We all made the requisite 1667 words and most of us surpassed that number on the first day out. Stay tuned for updates.

I Love Fridays

Friday is my favorite day of the week. I've survived the overwhelming fatigue I always feel by the end of a Thursday. I wake refreshed and ready for the fluidity of the day which often starts with blogging after which I head to yoga class. Brother John is usually at Friday yoga class, and I get to marvel at the agility of his 59-year-old body.
















The rest of the day unfolds differently each week. For instance, on this past Friday, I had Cindy's truck loaded with two bicycles for grandson Cody who builds bikes from a mish-mash of old bike parts. When I saw a couple of bikes at Fred's and Bonnie's yard sale, I was pretty sure Cody would be interested and he was. I was impressed by his knowledge of these older bikes. He explained the differences in the gear configurations on each bike and recognized one of the bikes as the kind his mom had owned as a girl.
















The afternoon was spent with 16 Waldorf kids age 3-6 years old. Andrea volunteered to do childcare while their moms set up the Fall Festival at the school. Since I live close by she asked if she might bring the kids here where it would be easy for the mom's to collect them after the work was done. In addition to Andrea, three other moms stayed to help. I arranged to open the clubhouse in the park and the kids played on the play structure, rode bikes and trikes that Andrea brought, and played inside with building blocks, memory games, and child-size cooking paraphernalia. They also ate sliced apples with almond butter, pretzels, and popcorn. The kids were fantastic about sharing and getting along. The whole thing was so successful that Andrea announced that she thought this might be the "First Annual Pre-Fall Festival Childcare at Rawhide MobileHomepark."
















Cindy got home from work shortly after the last child was picked up and we started getting ready for our evening event, the annual Fall-o-Weenie Party hosted by our friends Morgan and Lynn. It's always fun to see the crazy goulish decorations Morgan has on display, and of course it's a treat to visit with friends whose company we don't have enough opportunites to enjoy. I fell into bed after this long luscious Friday and slept wonderfully against the backdrop of wind and rain.

Prayer for Goodwill

It's truly scary when my friend's Obama sign is ripped from her yard night after night. Why? It's just a sign speaking one household's opinion. Isn't that what the US and freedom of speech allows and respects?

This morning so many of the blogs I read are discussing fear mongering and viciousness with regard to the election. One blog writer told about her friend who is volunteering in the Obama campaign in Littleton, Colorado. Here is part of a letter this volunteer Laurie Adams wrote to friends:

I am writing this to you now because, in the midst of one of the most vicious political weeks I’ve experienced, I hope everyone can still feel a little of what this election should be about, and is about, among the people who are working for and voting for an Obama/Biden ticket. Out here in highly Republican Jefferson County, it is easy for me to feel overwhelmed at this point by the cynicism and negativity, the racism, and lies that are informing a lot of people’s decisions.

People’s yard signs get stolen each night, a woman told me to “go away . . . he is an evil, evil man.” College educated people admit, “but what if he really does have ties to Al Qaida?” I don’t know what it feels like other places, but I’m afraid that things are getting overwhelmingly bitter and mean (and potentially dangerous). And so I am also asking you to take some time each day for the next 6 days to offer a prayer or some silent intention, a chant, a song, or whatever you have, for this country, for this world, and for everyone to stay SANE, to stay calm, to have open hearts and courage. I want to feel the power of caring love is stronger out there than the power of fear and self-interest. Please.

Won't you please join me in a prayer of goodwill for our country and for the supreme good intentions of both candidates?

Birthday Pictures

Who is this man with such a gorgeous family? Could he be my son?

Happy Birthday, My Son

Raleigh, who is 31 today, and his beautiful wife Jenny!

HOORAY! HOORAY! TODAY'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!

WHEW! What a Week

Life got over full last week, so none of the blog posts that I wrote in my head ever got posted. Fortunately my granddaugthers were busy blogging and chronicled reports about some of my activities.

Anna Mae wrote about homeschool for the pre-schoolers at her house on her blog Sunrise. We were working on the letter "C" as in "cupcakes for cousins."

Taylor wrote about the American history project we've been working on at her house. You can see her creativity in the sample she posted on her blog, June Special.

Also, Anna Mae discovered gmail chat last week, and so she and I did a lot of instant messaging in the evening. We are planning our trip to Arizona next week to see my Aunt Jean, and we were discussing our route which she was checking out on Google Earth and our hotels which I was reserving on Expedia.

My work at the college has gotten easier but also more intense. I have 25 students in various stages of learning disabilities assessment, and so I work solid from the minute I get to the college until I leave each Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday. I have a goal to complete all of these assessments before my contract ends in December. It's ambitious but possible, and it sure would help DSPS get back on their feet if I could accomplish this.

Cindy is equally busy, and I tried to help her a little last week. She is doing a huge job at a bunch of pharmacies, setting up gift card displays, so on Wednesday after work at the college, I went to Angels Camp to help with one of those. I had helped the week before, so she didn't have to train me, making the work pretty efficient. I also helped her work on a gift for her nephew's 18th birthday. She puts together photo albums for her nieces and nephews for this landmark birthday. It's a big project but well worth it watching the kids get their albums and enjoy looking at their life thus far in pictures. We celebrated nephew Rex this weekend with a trip to the casino Saturday night followed by a birthday gathering with cake on Sunday. (Cindy was a winner at the Casino which made us both happy.)

Wednesday was also my writing group day. We had a great meeting as always. Some of us are preparing to do NaNoWriMo in November. This will be my second year, and I'm still not sure which of two "books" I want to work on. Guess I'll just see what comes out of my fingers on Saturday at our kick-off Write In.

Thursdays I leave the college early to go get Huck and Nell at Waldorf. I got there a half hour early last week, so I could visit with my friend Trish who has 8th grade twins at the school. We rarely get to visit but realized this was one way to fit in a quick chat. We sat under a tree and talked as fast as we could.

I managed to fit in one yoga class on Friday which was without a doubt a highlight in my week. The Yoga Loft is my stress saver and I adore my teacher, Cherie. My body is so grateful for her guidance.

Friday was also "Meet the Author" at the College. I got all worried that no one would show up but the turn-out was wonderful--about 33 people. I was nervous at the start and did a lot of stuttering, but it smoothed out as I got warmed up and the crowd asked great questions following the reading. The Democrat had a nice article in the Weekender, and low and behold my picture was in Monday's paper too as Teresa Chebuhar, the editor, came to the event and took photographs for the section called Weekend in Pictures. Nice publicity all around.

And I feel full of hope that Barak Obama will be our next President. I am not watching the news as I dislike all the negative stuff, but I've discovered some heartwarming and encouraging pieces in my blog reading. Two of them gave me a rush of satisfaction along with the desire to jump and dance! YES! Here they are if you want to feel good:

First, Donna Brazile is simply inspiring in I'm not going to the back of the bus!

Second, watch this lovely video answering the question Who is Barak Obama? I watched it 3 times, grinning, grinning, grinning. I see this man as MY President!

This week is as full as last, but I'm going to try to post small bits more frequently. Stay tuned!

Belated Blog Action Day

I have never been politically active. My mom and dad always kept their voting decisions confidential and I generally follow that practice too. I don't display bumper stickers or wear political pins. However, I always vote, having NEVER missed an election since I turned 21(even the tiny ones with only one local issue on the ballot).

When my candidate or issue loses, my practice is to find small ways to work at a grassroots level to facilitate change or support conscientious and ethical behavior. For instance, I recycle as best I can; I try to choose "green" action whenever I can. I never let the water run while I'm doing dishes or brushing my teeth. With regard to controversial issues like abortion, I look for ways to facilitate wise decision making, and I donate to my daughter-in-law's annual walk for local pregnancy agency. Economically, I've turned a big corner and work consistently to live within my means and eliminate previous credit debt. I know I could be doing much more in many ways, but I try to not beat myself up for only making small steps in the direction of living and acting responsibly.

And sometimes I accidentally do something that feels very good. Last week, I got an email message from Code Pink about a single mom, Jocelyn Voltaire, in New York state who lost her eldest son in Iraq and who was also unable to keep up with skyrocketing mortgage payments so she about to lose her home.

This amazing video clip by American News Project describes Jocelyn's plight.

Her story was so compelling that the chance to help seemed like a no brainer. Plus I was inspired by my daughter-in-law Jenny's blog post Coats, Coats, and more Coats.

I donated $25 immediately to help Jocelyn Voltaire.

Apparently, in less than 2 hours with the assistance of the Internet, Code Pink raised enough money to save Jocelyn's home. It felt so exciting to be a tiny piece of a bold statement. While our government has taken billions of our tax dollars to bail out the wealthy, a bunch of Americans came together to bail out a desperate mother.

Now, I'm looking for other small ways to help. And so, of course, I was immediately offered a suggestion in the form of Blog Action day which was a day dedicated to talking about poverty on blogs across the world. I actually missed the day, for it happened on Oct 15, but I know it's not too late to address the topic. In fact with the economy flopping all around me, any day is a good day to consider ways to do something.

Check out this list of 88 Ways to Do Something About Poverty Right Now. I'm going to choose a few to do right away! Won't you join me?