Day 30--Finito!

You can't see me but I'm doing the happy dance. I just finished. I pounded out the end, caught the murderer, and justice was done. Well, more or less. This feels good.

Daily total: 2,029 words
Final total: 50,407 words

It's snowing. Ugh.
--Barbara

Done

I worked and worked today and I finished the Phoenix Tears Scarf. I like it--I think. It wasn't hard or expensive since I did not use Colinette yarns but put together fiery and feathery yarns that were in my budget. And it's snowing. Ugh.

Day 29--WooHoo!

Congratulations, Jennifer! I knew you could do it. Way to go. and now you have something substantial to hold up one leg of your bed or tippy table (if you print it out). That's about what I feel my manuscript is worth today. But as you say, someday down the road we'll look at this pile of writing and make it into something someone might want to read.

Daily total: 2,079 words
Running total: 48,378 words

I'm down to the wire but I'm confident. I should make us a cake for Thursday to celebrate. You like chocolate? Allergic to anything?

--Barbara

Free at Last! Free at Last! Thank God Almighty I am Free at Last!!!

I did it!!!! I busted my hump, my bump, and whatever else I needed to bust to reach Nanowrimo success!

My total word count as of two minutes ago is 50,039. I know it is not done, but for now it is done. I will come back to it one day to smile, to grimace, to laugh and maybe to hurl at how crappy it is...but it is done!

Go Barbara go!!!!! Go Barbara go!!!! You can do it girl!!! Go Barbara go!!!!

Feasting & Knitting

We had a lovely Thanksgiving at my brother's house. The food was good and bountiful, and the service was excellent. And Colton was camera-shy, as are all 14 yr. olds, but Uncle Durwood sneaked up on him. He's growing up too fast. (Colton, not Uncle Durwood, he doesn't seem to have grown up at all.)











After the meal Grandma and Diego stayed out of the way while the rest of us played Wii Bowling and Andy tried his hand at Wii Boxing.










While waiting for my turn at Bowling I knitted a hat for Mom to give her friend but nobody took my picture and I forgot to take a picture of the finished hat before giving it to Mom, but here's the parts and I promise to take a picture before she gives it away.

It was a fun day.


I've been knitting along on the Phoenix Tears scarf. I'm into the Boa section which will segue into the feathery plumes and tears in 8 inches or so. It's going to be cool looking and I can see I'm going to want to make it again to try out other ideas I have about it's composition. Can't follow the pattern too closely, you know.

Days 27 & 28--Not Much Writing, Followed By A Lot

Well. Only 2 more days to go on this NaNo thing and I've got to write two thousand words a day for each of them and, to be honest, I just don't want to. But I will, even if I have to cheat and repeat myself. I have ideas about how the story will go, Don and I even brainstormed the detecting part on our drive to Sheboygan on Thursday, but I'm just not motivated to put it on paper. But I will. Later. Cross my heart.

Daily total (Thursday): 513 words (my worst yet)
Daily total (Friday): 2,206 words (much better)
Running total: 46,301 words

Jennifer, I trust you are bearing down toward the giant shining glow of 50K that I can see hiding behind the November 30 page of my calendar. Come on, we can do it! We are women, hear us roar! We're writers too, even scarier.

--Barbara

Day 26--Writing While The Bread's Baking

I planned to write at work today but 22 cartons of gear arrived by FedEx. Twenty-two, people, I had a fort built in the back room that I called Fort Deep See (the company that sent all the boxes) and Mr. Boss came in to take a bunch of it to store at his house and I couldn't do my usual routine of work a little, write a little, work a little, write a little. So I got a lot of unpacking boxes, entering the items into the computer, tagging them, and putting them away done but not a lot of writing. Grr. So once supper was over (yummy tilapia fillets with homemade salsa baked to perfection by Chef Don with steamed home grown baby carrots alongside) I wrote a bit, then got the onion bread started, wrote a bit, punched the dough down, wrote a bit, formed the loaves, wrote some more. Now I've decided that I'm done writing for the night and will just knit until the bread's done--about midnight. Bread always takes longer than I think it will.

Jennifer, I'm very glad you joined our group. Your excitement and enthusiasm have injected new life into our exercises. It's very satisfying to have someone be so willing to jump into the deep end with us and start swimming. I can't wait to read your next submission.

Daily total: 2,254 words
Running total: 43,582 words.

Line of the day: Checking the clock he realized that it was nearing one o’clock in the afternoon. He had missed lunch and supposed that Mister and Missus Clark (cluck, Rooibos caught himself thinking of the chickens that lived next door to him. A laugh shorted out his nose but he got control of himself with an admonishment not to slip and call the American witnesses Mister and Missus Cluck. He needed a vacation, he decided, as soon as this case was done.) were either napping after lunch or out at a dive site.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I'm thankful to have a group of writing friends who are willing to put up with my weirdness and angst.
--Barbara