"Frame It" Challenge

I discovered a photo challenge with a chance to win a new Kodak All In One Printer. The challenge is to take find a creative way to frame the subject in a picture using surroundings, objects, etc.

This photo was taken from our hotel balcony in Fort Lauderdale last month. The palm trees in front of the balcony frame the sailboat.

To check out more “Frame It” Photos, visit Life on the Road. They are hosting the 13th Challenge issued by Two Moms In A Blog.

"Paying it Forward … "

Molly posted this over at Dark Oak Woman. I was the first to leave a comment with her, so I am looking forward to something hand made by Molly in the near future. Here's how you play:

"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I don't know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

So, just leave a comment with your e-mail address and if you are one of the first three to leave a comment, I will send you something hand made. Right now I am making doilies and other Christmas goodies, so you will have to wait until after Christmas to receive your giftie. There is no telling what I might make for you, but it will be crocheted, that I can promise.

If you play, put this on your own blog and pay it forward by sending handmade items to the first three people who leave comments! If you do not have a blog, I guess you can not play. Awww … quick, go set up a blog!!

Catching Up

Now that NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) is over and successfully completed, it is time to begin catching up on all that was left hanging during November. For those of you who have asked, this first completed novel is not something that anyone will ever see. A first draft is just that, a first draft, and not meant for anyone but the author's eyes. Whether I retain any of this first effort remains to be seen, but it is doubtful. My basic intent was just to prove to myself that I could do it, that I could actually finish a novel. Too many stories have I begun and set aside when the going got tough or life intruded. But now I know I am capable; I can see a story line through from beginning to end. Not only that, but writing that many words in not an impossibility, as long as you keep writing! That is the key, to keep writing!

I did discover one thing about myself. That email is my main time waster. When I removed myself from the computer that has my email program, I could write for several hours without even thinking about email. I accomplished big things! But sitting at the computer with my email, the temptation is there to check it frequently. This not only takes time away from actual writing but also distracts the mind, causing me to lose the flow of the story and lose my momentum. Better to write one hour uninterrupted than to write three hours with many interruptions. As I was reading my favorite blogs (playing catch up after finishing the story Thursday), I came across a timely post: How to Keep E-Mail from Wasting Your Time. If you have find email to be taking up too much of your daily focus, check out the article. It has some good tips!

So, what do I need to catch up on? Besides the usual laundry, dishes and house cleaning? Numero Uno is my desk! I had done quite a good job of keeping it clean until NaNo hit. Oi! It is going to take all afternoon to find the desktop again.

Second is crocheting. I finished the baby afghan for my niece's new baby boy. I will get a picture taken later today and posted up asap. Thursday, while waiting for my car at the dealership (which I still do not have back!), I began working on a doily for a Christmas present. I need to make two and will not be able to post up pictures of those until after they have been given to their intended recipient. And I have several items to make for Miss Munchkin. First her Christmas stocking and then two hat and mitten ensembles, one for her and one for the dolly that Santa is going to be bringing her. Or for her favorite Miss Kitty stuffed animal or any of her mommy's several teddy bears that are fair game for playing with. She is at the age where she likes dressing up dollies and kitties and bears. Hmm . . . maybe I will need to make more than two.

Third, Christmas cards must go out soon. I did not send out cards last year … last year was the Christmas from Hell and no one felt in the mood to do any celebrating. Plus, with our move, I need to get cards out early so that people have our new address. Luckily, the MC (main character) in my just completed novel wrote her Christmas letter and it looks remarkably like what I need for my letter! So that is done and I just need to get it printed off and mailed out.

And last, but certainly not least, I am sure that my readers here would appreciate something new to read besides NaNo updates for the month of December. So I will strive to provide something that might actually be interesting and/or thought-provoking reading, although maybe not both at the same time!

NaNo Creator Interview

One of my favorite blogs lately is Writer Unboxed. Their October 19th entry is Part 1 of an interview of Chris Baty, founding father of NaNo. If you want to know more about how and why he started NaNo, check it out! I particularly love his viewpoint when asked how many people who have participated in NaNo in the past have actually sold their books:

"I think that nobody has it as bad as aspiring writers. Look at the world of sports. If I went out and played a round of golf, when I came back from it, none of my friends would say, “Oh, you going to join the PGA?” The sense is that you do it for fun and you do it regularly, and it doesn’t have to be something you make your living at. My goal for the last decade has been to make a living as a writer. And I think there are other people in National Novel Writing Month who share that ambition, but I think that represents 10% of the overall population, and the other 90% are doing it for completely different reasons."

My friend Tammy wrote about the Baty interview on her blog, Just Enough, and Nothing More, "Homeschooling Is Like Music". Can you tell we've been discussing this interview on a list that we're both on?

Penelope Update

Penelope is still at the shop and we do not have a clue when she'll be done. Her bodywork was finished last week, but there was a noise the shop couldn't pinpoint. She went to another shop and had her front end aligned, but that didn't end the noise. Now the diagnosis seems to be a new steering box, but since that is over a certain dollar amount, the shop has to go back to the insurance company for approval of additional expenditures. So there Penelope sits, waiting for approval. And here I don't sit, because while we're down to one vehicle I get to be the chauffeur, driving Bill to work, driving David to college, picking them up, taking people here and there to appointments, etc. David has taken the bus a few times to college, but for an 11:15 class he has to leave here at 9:30, and it only takes 20 minutes to drive there. So most days I drive him there.

There is an upside to all this driving, though; listening to the local NPR radio station. For some reason I do not remember to turn the radio on at home, preferring to listen to Folk Alley. I get more accomplished at home when I listen to music. But I love NPR for all the great interviews, book reviews and talk shows they offer daily and it's great company in the car.

Of course, there is also a downside to NPR; it spurs on my reading habit. After listening to interviews of authors who have new books coming out and listening to book reviews, I now have more books that I want to read. I have to keep a pad of paper handy in the car so I can jot down author names and book titles of those that sound really interesting. And when I get home, I head to PaperbackSwap to see if I can acquire a copy. If reading is my habit of choice, PaperbackSwap is my enabler. Most of the books I have read this past year have come from PaperbackSwap, and when I am done with them, I relist them and swap them back for more! If you like to read, check out PaperbackSwap. And if you decide to join, I would greatly appreciate it if you would use my email address ( wdkmg@pipeline.com ) as your "sponsor." That will gain me a book credit! Thanks!

NPR and PaperbackSwap are the reasons for no blog post yesterday. I was engrossed in The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer, an author I listened to a couple of weeks ago on NPR. But more about that tomorrow, when I post my review!

October Already?

Where did September fly off to? If this is how quickly months go by at my age, how fast are they going to whiz by when I am ninety? And yes, I do plan to live at least that long! Many of the women on my dad's side of the family lived to be well into their nineties and I do not plan to be the exception.

So we begin a new month, October. And November is only one month away. November is National Novel Writing Month. Last year I participated in NaNoWriMo, but did not succeed in completing 50,000 written words. This year I will try again. No, what is it Yoda said? "Do, or do not. There is no 'try.' " So this year I will DO (write) 50,000 words.

To prepare for said feat, I will be writing here daily for the entire month of October. So enjoy the feast of posts this month while you are able, for next month it will be famine here as I write for NaNo instead!

I Won!

Whoooeeeee! I won a blog contest! Amy held a blog contest for all her readers to celebrate her first full year of blogging. And I won one of her awards! I will be getting some Rhode Island chocolate (from The Chocolate Delicacy in East Greenwich, RI), Newport Coffee Traders coffee, and a Beachcombers Guide to the North Atlantic Seashore. Maybe I'll have to take a trip to New England beaches now! Well, not NOW, but sometime in the future. Thanks so much, Amy!!

Site Feed Working Now!

I finally got my site feed setting correct, so you can now subscribe to my site. Just scroll down and you will see
"Subscribe to Posts [Atom]"
on the right hand side, below the Archives section. Click on that and you can use your favorite reader to keep up-to-date with the LeapingFromTheBox Blog. I use Google Reader, but there are many other reader services available.

What Kind of a Blogger Are You?

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

I always enjoy these types of quizzes, except that they do not always have the correct choices to question. Or you can only pick one choice to a question when two or three might be more accurate. For example, one of the questions was "Why do you blog?" I could only pick one answer, but there is no one answer. I blog for several reasons: my own enjoyment, I like to write, to keep family and friends informed, as a daily diary, to share information. No one reason is predominant.

Many thanks to the "no school, just learning" blog for being post fodder.