I’m thinking about life.<\/p>\n
November isn’t turning out like I expected when I decided to try NaNoWriMo after all.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s Day 10, and so far, I’ve written 4,214 words on my novel.\u00c2\u00a0 I had hoped for 2,000 words a day.\u00c2\u00a0 I thought that adding to my personal goal with anything I write on my blogs would make up the difference, but so far I have only written 1,114 words on my blogs, for a grand total of 5,328 words.<\/p>\n
But you never know.\u00c2\u00a0 Today my headache is finally gone.\u00c2\u00a0 Calloo!\u00c2\u00a0 Callay!\u00c2\u00a0 And all the odd days off in November are starting up.\u00c2\u00a0 I have Veteran’s Day off, then Friday, then Sunday and Monday (for working the previous Sunday).\u00c2\u00a0 On Thanksgiving weekend, I’m working Saturday, but I get Wednesday off to make up for it, and I’m taking the last day of November off to attempt a last blitz on NaNoWriMo.\u00c2\u00a0 My son will be with his Dad for Thanksgiving, so I will have no excuses not to do some writing.<\/p>\n
My headaches have been something of a puzzle.\u00c2\u00a0 After being completely under control for years now, why are they suddenly acting up?\u00c2\u00a0 They haven’t been very severe, but so persistent.\u00c2\u00a0 I have an appointment\u00c2\u00a0 with a neurologist in a couple of weeks to begin finding some answers.\u00c2\u00a0 It will be interesting to see if they stay away until then.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not sure if “headaches” are really the problem, or if it’s a symptom of another problem.<\/p>\n
Then there are the hassles from my husband over visitation logistics.\u00c2\u00a0 We were best friends for at least 15 years.\u00c2\u00a0 We both love our son.\u00c2\u00a0 Why can’t we just talk with each other about what times are good for each of us?\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t know, and it can absorb far more of my attention than I want it to.\u00c2\u00a0 I wish I had my husband and family and best friend back — yet I am surely enjoying this life of doing what I am interested in without worrying about whether it’s taking too much time from anyone else.<\/p>\n
Today I learned that I was not accepted for ALSC’s Bill Morris Seminar in January.\u00c2\u00a0 But the nice part is that I have no more assignments of books to read.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve finished the reading for the online Newbery class I was taking (It was wonderful!), and now I’m very curious if I could read lots of books that were published this year, if I might be able to guess next year’s winner.<\/p>\n
What am I trying to say with all this rambling?\u00c2\u00a0 Well, that life is full and interesting.\u00c2\u00a0 Two of my best days this past month were when I had headaches — but I went hiking anyway, and walked in the glorious, gorgeous, incredibly beautiful Autumn woods and took some wonderful pictures.\u00c2\u00a0 Somehow surrounded by majestic beauty, everything falls into perspective.<\/p>\n
One of the cool things about NaNoWriMo is that it looks like a whole lot of people who do it don’t meet the goal of 50,000 words.\u00c2\u00a0 So that is NOT failure, by any means!\u00c2\u00a0 But the fact is, 4,214 words toward my novel is 4,214 words that weren’t written before, and that is a wonderful thing.<\/p>\n
I learned so much in the Newbery class, and read so many incredibly good books.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m excited about posting reviews of them and getting my website caught up — and then beginning to put in place some of the suggestions from the Kidlitosphere conference (which I attended the day before the latest headache started) and building community and making a better blog, and making connections.<\/p>\n