And They’re Off!

Was that the starting gun I just heard? Welcome to NaNoWriMo! Huzzah!

I just finished my first installment in this year’s novel. 2,123 words, a cushion for the day of more than 450 words. Not bad. The most logical way to win NaNo is to plug away at it a little every day until you reach that elusive 50,000 mark on November 30th. That averages out to roughly 1,667 words each day. Single spaced, with slightly more than minimal dialogue, that’s about 4 pages. No problem.

The website’s running really slow at the moment, so I haven’t updated my word count, but it’s not like it officially counts until the 30th anyway. I just really like that steadily increasing blue bar. ^_^

I recently picked up a book from the library called The Secret History of the Pink Carnation and the entire time I was reading it, I would get Don McLean’s classic "American Pie" stuck in my head. (Lyric: "I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck with a pink carnation and a pick up truck, but I knew I was outta luck the day the music died.") And now it’s on the radio. How odd.

Sorry if this is disjointed. I was holding a plotline in my head for two hours, so now that I don’t need to focus, I’m a bit scattered.

In my domestic world, there is feline felicity at last… Well, mostly. Karma’s still doing a bit of hissing when Aladdin gets a little too playful, but I think she’s mostly figured out that he’s a gentle giant. Hell, he doesn’t bite or scratch us. Sometimes he’ll get carried away and latch onto my arm, but it never hurts or so much as dents my skin, and he always looks so remorseful afterwards. Last night was her first night with free run of the house. I went to roll over, half asleep, only to discover a little ball of fluff under me. I scooted her up towards my chin and slept like that most of the night. I love Aladdin, but it’s nice to have a cuddly kitty. He is most decidedly not interested in cuddles. Karma, on the other hand, wants to be where her people are, the closer the better. She has a habit of trying to meld with my chin or crawl into my nose or just sit and lick my face for ten minutes. She also rides on my shoulder. It’s cute.

I should mention, that I was right. That girl is a complete flake. I’m feeling much less threatened now.

Still no job, but I’m not despairing. I have a plan of attack for my entire week. Tomorrow I do the grocery shopping and set up online bill pay with our new joint checking account. Then I’ll apply for at least 3 jobs. A walk in the woods to loosen the creative muscles and then back here to churn out another 2,000 words or so (I really want to bolster my count in case life comes up). Then I’ll cut and pin the backing for my mom’s Christmas present. Maybe I’ll sew it too. We’ll see how the day goes. Some time with Alan, and some time for meals and tomorrow’s good.

And I’m taking the Fly Lady’s advice and assigning each day a specific cleaning task. I mean, if I’m not working, I might as well be contributing. Plus, if I have other things to do, I’m more likely to get my daily writing done as well. Monday will be a thorough cleaning of the kitchen. Tuesday will be devoted to laundry. Wednesday will be the bathroom. Thursday, the living room. Friday, the bedroom. Saturday will be my usual grocery shopping day, and Sunday will be my day to pay bills and balance the checkbook. And every day will see three jobs applied to, a walk taken, and novelling done. ^_^

And somewhere in there, I’ll be reading as well. I’ve got six books out right now, and I’ve finished one of them. I should have seven because I requested two inter-library loans. One came in, one didn’t. And wouldn’t you know it, the second one came in first. And it’s a series. I can’t read it until I get the other one! Ack! Why they didn’t request them both from the same library I have no idea. Hopefully it’ll be in tomorrow, because it’s an awesome series and I’m looking forward to more. Too bad I’ll have to wait for the last one. ::sigh:: Such is life when you devour your favorite author. You eventually get to a point where you’re waiting for the next one because you’ve read all the others (multiple times).

Anyway, I’ve been sitting in front of a computer for much too long. I’m going cross-eyed. And I still have a little novel research to do. Fun fun fun. ^_^

~Liz