A Picture Is Worth

. . . fifty thousand words.

Official NaNoWriMo 2007 Winner

Tut's Message

How does Tut know the correct message to send me? I received this one Tuesday morning and it pretty aptly summed up how I felt that morning.

Remember long, long ago, when you were considering living the "Potential Adventures of Karen Gibson," among an infinite array of other choices, how you suddenly turned to me and asked deadpan, "How much trouble could I get into, anyway?"

Do you?

Do you remember my reply, Karen?

I told you it would depend on a good number of factors, not the least of which would include climate change, geological pressures, celestial weather patterns, the star you're born under, political friction on the street, worthiness, luck, fate, or the mood I'm in.

At which point we both burst out laughing so hard we almost needed stitches.

Like a hyena,
The Universe

From www.tut.com

Day Twelve

I did not write quite as much yesterday. I only managed 4235 words, which brought my total to 44,934. So I still have a little better than 5K to write sometime today and/or tomorrow. The biggest problem is that my story is done. I wrote the Epilogue. Even wrote The End at the end. I have no more to add to it. Some suggestions given to me by fellow NaNo'ers is to write a prologue, have my character write some emails to her children and include them the story line somewhere, maybe even write my Christmas Letter from the viewpoint of the MC (Main Character). I am not sure what I will write. At this point I am tired of the story, tired of the whole thing. Maybe that is because I still am not feeling 100% healthy. Which leads me to the next paragraph …

This post could have just as easily been titled "It's Your Sinuses, Stupid!" Yeah, I know I said earlier in the week that I did not think my vertigo was related to sinuses, but now I think I was wrong. By yesterday afternoon my head was hurting and there was that telltale pressure behind the eyes. When I finally fell to around five in the afternoon that my head was hurting due to sinuses, I broke down and took a sinus tablet. Today the head is better, although the dizzy still feels there a little bit, mainly when I am sitting motionless. Very odd.

Plus, my eyes are tired from my marathon days on the laptop Monday and Tuesday. And now I am tired from sitting at the car dealership all morning, waiting for them to diagnose why my check engine light is on when they supposedly fixed it last week. It did not take even a day for the light to come back on last week after they "fixed" the problem. After sitting there all morning, they found the problem (under warranty, thank goodness), but it will take most of the afternoon to fix. So they gave me a ride home and when the problem is fixed, they will send their shuttle van back out to pick me up. Ugh. Making chit chat with the van driver all the way back in to the dealership again, oh goody. Have I ever publicly stated here how much I hate making chit chat, social pleasantries, with someone I do not know? Well, I do. Hate it, that is.

So I am home, catching up my blog and trying to figure out what I shall write to use up 5+K more words! Tomorrow is the last possible day to finish. Check back and see if I make it!

Oh! And a shout out to my friend Lisa … hey knitbits! Happy Birthday!!! And yes, she's a knitter. Whatever gave that away?

Day Eleven

Another excellent day of writing yesterday. I added 8870 words to bring my total word count to 40,699. Just a little more than 9K to go and I will have done it!! Hurray!

The vertigo seems a bit worse today after being better yesterday. Not a lot worse, not like it was on Monday, but enough to notice. If I remember rightly from the last time I had a full-blown case of vertigo, the doctor prescribed some medication, but I think those meds were just designed to make you sleepy so that you would rest. I can do that without meds. If it continues much longer, though, I may decide to make a visit to the chiropractor. Bill has visited our new chiropractor, but no one else in the family has yet.

Day Ten NaNo Count

I guess vertigo can be a good thing! I managed to write 9,689 words yesterday! That brings my NaNo total to 31,829. Another two days like that and I will actually make the 50K goal.

The vertigo is better today. At least I can walk without playing pinball with the walls on my left side. But when I sit at the computer, I still feel like I am tilting slightly in that direction. And I feel slightly nauseous. Obviously there is still some inner ear something going on. Usually when I feel a little dizzy it is because my sinuses are plugged, but I do not feel like that is the case this time. And I have not had a full-blown case of vertigo in several years, probably since after Charles was born. I remember getting it a few times when the children were very young, which was not handy at all. At least I do not have to worry about taking care of small children this time around.

I think that maybe another day of resting in the recliner will be a good thing. Both for my vertigo and for my NaNo writing!

I'm a Great-Aunt, again!

I just received an email notifying me that I am now a great-aunt, again! My niece, Melanie Gibson Webster, gave birth to a second boy this morning.

Welcome to the world, Aidan Ansley Richard Webster! Mommy (& Daddy) and baby Aiden are doing well.

Ansley is a family name on mommy's side of the family and I assume Richard is a family name on daddy's side.

Now, I am off to do some NaNo writing. I seem to have a case of vertigo this morning, so I believe I am going to take the laptop and plant myself in the recliner and do nothing but type. Even sitting here at the computer I find myself leaning to the left. Hopefully the laptop idea will work. I have a lot of words to write today!

A Haircut!

Miss Munchkin now has bangs! Kat said she cut them while Miss Munchkin was asleep. And then she had to wait for Miss Munchkin to sleep again so that she could even them up a bit. She looks so much better with bangs! You can see her lovely blue eyes now!

Day Nine NaNo Count

Slow going, what with Thanksgiving, Miss Munchkin here for an extra day and Bill home for the four-day holiday. I did manage to write 1463 words on Wednesday (my Day 9 of NaNo writing), but I have not gotten back to it since then. That brought my total up to 22,140 words. That leaves me with 5572 words to write each day for the remaining five days of November. Not sure that will be possible, but we'll try!

Day Eight

Yesterday was a much better day for NaNo writing. I managed to type 5200 words, which brings my grand total to 20,677. Phew! So six more days like that and I will make 50K. Of course, with Turkey Day coming up and all that requires, I do not think I will get another 5K-word day until next Monday. That will be cutting it way too close for comfort.

I just spent all morning at the car shop getting my van serviced and a small repair done. So no writing then, although I did get a lot of crocheting accomplished. I am working on an afghan for my niece Melanie, who is due with her second child any day now. So that was not wasted time, really. Just not writing time.

And then this afternoon is a trip to the grocery store. Oh goody. The grocery store two days before Thanksgiving. Brave, aren't I? Or just plain insane!

Ninety Days until the Daytona 500

February 17, 2008 will be the 50th running of the Daytona 500 and the beginning of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Only 90 days away!

Yesterday's race was just a bit disappointing. Sure, Jimmie Johnson had a great season and probably deserved to win. But as a Jeff Gordon fan, I was just waiting for a wheel to fall off of Johnson's car or some other benign mechanical failure that would cause him to drop low enough in the points to let Gordon win. Didn't happen. What a season Gordon had, though! Makes one anticipate next year all the more!

And poor Little E. Could anything more have gone wrong this season than did? You almost feel he's like Pigpen from the Peanuts cartoons, with his own personal dust cloud following him everywhere.

I saw advertisements yesterday for Daytona 500 tickets. Daytona is an easy drive from Tallahassee. I wonder how much the tickets cost?

Day Seven - NaNo Update

2614 words written yesterday, for a grand total of 15,475. And I wasted too much time at chat today!!

Finished Flying Crows by Jim Lehrer last night. Interesting read. Odd, but interesting. I'll have to try to get a review up later. And yes, it is the same Lehrer that does the PBS news show. He has written about fourteen fiction books.

Day Six - NaNo Update

A great day of writing yesterday, 3289 words. Hopefully today will go just as well! I am up to 12861, which is 1/4 done! Of course, the month is 1/2 done as of today, but that just means I need to keep on!

Great American Word Challenge

Have you heard about the Great American Word Challenge? It is quick and painless. Here is a bit from the official e-mail invitation:

The Challenge is a fun nationwide contest that pits city against city in a friendly competition of word knowledge. You'll improve your vocabulary, plus your score might even put your hometown on the map! And if your city gets the highest average cumulative score, it will receive a donation to a terrific local literacy charity.

Just for taking the Challenge, you'll also have a chance to win a Nintendo® WiiT and the game "My Word Coach," or even a trip to Washington, DC.

It's quick and fun and all you have to do is visit www.greatamericanwordchallenge.com to play.

Go to www.greatamericanwordchallenge.com to see how your city stacks up against the rest of the country.

And now it is time to quit procrastinating and get writing!

Day Five

I got in a bit of writing yesterday. 819 words. So a running total of 9572. Not quite where I had hoped to be by now, but I should be able to get some good writing time in the next couple of days.

Home Sweet Home

Bill and I arrived home last night, road weary and glad to be back. It is an eight hour drive from Tallahassee to Fort Lauderdale and it does not seem to make much difference time-wise which route you take, Interstate or cross country from Tally to Ocala. At least the traffic was much less hectic yesterday than it was going down on Sunday, which was a good thing. I think our supper Wednesday night might have been loaded with MSG or something. I know I did not like my shrimp dinner and did not finish it, which is practically unheard of, me not finishing shrimp! But it just did not taste quite right and Bill said afterwards that his did not either. Whatever the cause, Thursday morning we both woke up with killer headaches and feeling very lethargic, like we were hung over (which we were not!). So that made for a very long drive home.

But the stay there in Fort Lauderdale (actually Pompano Beach) was very nice. I had a nice visit with a UL friend on Tuesday, Carol B. (Auntie Carol, for you ULers), and I took some cute pics of her granddaughter. Carol's whole family was very nice and it was great to be able to put faces to names.

Here are some pics from our hotel balcony:

The beach on Monday morning, around 9 a.m.

A sailboat I watched on Wednesday afternoon when I was taking a break from writing. I am thinking of making a series of several of these sailboat pics framed above our couch.

And does anyone know what these flowers might be? They were blooming in the pool / courtyard area. I think they might be a variety of hibiscus?

Whatever they are, they were very pretty to look at first thing in the morning while eating breakfast!

Day Four

Day Four of NaNo writing for me was Wednesday, November 7th. I completed another 2108 words, for a grand total of 8753. I am not sure when I will next have a chance to write, possibly not until next Tuesday. But I will be sure to post an update when I can.

Day Three

I know this is actually Day Five of NaNo, but it is Day Three of actual writing for me. Another 2641 words today. Total of 6645. More than 1/10th of the way there! I might just make it!

Very distracting, writing with the sound of the surf in the background. But a nice way to relax and refocus the eyes every so often after a period of typing, to look out on the horizon, watch the boat traffic, follow the birds in the sky. One could get used to it!

Vacation From Reality

Pinch me, quick! I must be in heaven! Picture this. No children. No meals to fix. No hubby during the day time. No laundry to wash. No errands to run. Open my door from the bedroom and I step out on to a balcony overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Blue sky. Rolling surf. Palm trees. Warm breeze. And all the time in the world to write!

We are staying at the Beachcomber Resort in Fort Lauderdale. Bill has three days of Citrix training and so the days are mine!

The drive down yesterday was nice, although the traffic once we hit Interstate in Ocala was crazy. Speed limit of 70 mph? Yeah, right!

And what is it with Ocala and horse farms? It felt like we were in Kentucky with all those horses! I will have to remember to Google and find out why Ocala is horse heaven. Sure was pretty, though.

And now, I'm off to write. Maybe I will take the laptop out on the balcony? Or would that be too much of a good thing?

Miss Munchkin Pics

Pictures taken from Miss Munchkin's stay earlier this week.

Miss Munchkin has a hat thing. This pink one is her current favorite.

The children in her Signing Times videos sing and dance with microphones, so I guess it looks like fun!

Day Two of NaNo

I wrote another 1418 words yesterday, Day Two. So my running total is 4,004. Not quite 1/10th done, but getting there! I probably will not get much time for writing this weekend, but Monday I will be back at it and should have lots of time on Monday - Wednesday.

The weather today is just perfect. Cool this morning, down in the 50's. 70's today, light breeze coming in the windows, brilliant blue sky, not a cloud to be seen. We all keep pinching ourselves; this can't be November 3rd!

Day One

A good day of writing yesterday. 2586 words! Another day like that and I'll be 1/10th done!

Arg!

My pirate name is:

Captain Mary Cash

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Thanks, Amy, for giving me a fun way to procrastinate this morning when I ought to be writing!