The Run to the Weekend

Remember that busy weekend I had a couple of weeks ago? I'm in a time warp.

My brother called around 4 p.m. on Friday and said he was in town for the weekend. It was unexpected but he's always welcome. He drives a truck and sometimes his route brings him  through here. David's car had broken down and he had to use mine Friday so he headed to the truck stop to pick him up. I got off at 4:30 Friday, so I rode home with my friend Carolyn.  Dave and Bill walked in right behind me so it worked out well.

I had the NaNoWriMo Meet and Greet I had to be at by 6. I got a shower, and got my gear and David dropped me off, my brother along for the ride.  On the way Dave's wife called. She was with a friend and they ran out of gas. She expected him to drop everything and go help them. Remember, his car is in the shop and I have a meeting I'm on my way to and can't stop.

I got there around 5:30, found a few early arrivals and chatted for a few moments then got my supper. By 6:30 p.m they had been filtering in and gradually working their way to filling up the tables in the area where I was sitting. I'd wander around the place and when I found them I just asked them to move once they finished eating. Eventually, by 7p.m. we had 27 WriMos in Panera Bread.

I made a little speech welcoming them and how this was the largest turnout I'd seen in the 6 years I'd been doing NaNo. I gave out my goodies bags and told them what the items were I'd provided. And then I simply turned them loose to visit among themselves. It was really amazing. Everyone had a really great time and mingled and chatted until 8 p.m.

I got home and spent some time visiting with my brother and answering the email response from the WriMos expressing their excitement over the kick off. It was a resounding success by all accounts.

Saturday... I hit the ground running. I was up by 9:30 and relaxed until about 10. My brother and I had plans to go to lunch with my sister and Mike. Dave's car was in the shop and he still had mine. So I met him at the shop and he got his car. I left there and picked up Mike and headed back home and my sister had arrived. We left to get gas and headed to Cancun, our favorite Mexican restaurant. We left there at 1 p.m., my sister headed to work and I stopped on the way back and picked up Sarah. We came home and spent the after noon and evening watching movies, talking and entertaining Sarah. I took her home around 9:30 and Mike and got back around 10 p.m.

This is my last chore of the day. It is now 11:48 and I still have to brush my teeth. Sigh. I'm tired. In the morning I have to take my brother to his truck and then head to church until noon. I believe I'll come home and crash then.

My back and right leg have been giving me fits for several days and my left hip feels like it is trying to lock up. Did I say I'm tired. NaNo starts in four days.

Someone loan me some energy.

Rolling Down Hill

I am in the process of doing just that.. at least it feels like it. Remember that I am the municipal liaison for my region of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and have a kick off planned for Friday evening. I did this last year and had 19 people. It was nice and I enjoyed it. Well, I had everything lined up with a local business and wasn't expecting more than 20 people. Last night I went over 23 RSVPs. The local business backed out. I was up until midnight rushing around getting notices out to everyone of the relocation.

Now, first off, I felt like I should find another venue from the beginning but I figured it wouldn't be a problem. Really didn't think anyone would be showing up. Today, I have more RSVPs and I'm looking at around 30. 

If you go back to my last year's post about this time, you will find that on my way to the kickoff then, I was concerned suddenly that everyone registered could show up. That happened to be over 100 people. The thought horrified me. It does this year, too.

 I have four days to go and the number is climbing. I have 25 gift bags. Not 30. So between now and Friday night I need another 25 made. I think I can do it but it is going to be close. I have to go buy ink! Yikes. Most of the stuff I can print off but it takes time and I don't have a lot of that. None of it is complicated or expensive except as the cost of the items. It is the time involved in creating them, cutting them out, and bagging it. 

Idea... I need Friday off. Yeah! That'd do it. We'll see. The positive is that if I pull this off, it will be a lot of fun. And the TGIO WILL be somewhere I can get a room. Hopefully the library.

At any rate, I suddenly feel like I'm rolling down hill. Someone needs to reach out and grab me. 

The Minds of Children

If the world can survive until this young lady becomes an adult, the world will see an amazing leader in Canada! 

And if there are other adolescents with this kind of concern for their nations who will make the effort to change it, the nations might just survive. 

How I Spent My Weekend

It was an insane Saturday. I was up at 7 a.m. and went to the hospital. I the ultrasound on my gall bladder, x-rays of my hands and feet, and they drew about 8 vials of blood. Then I dashed back across to the east side of town to take care of a bill. It was around 8:30 or  9. I stopped at Sonic for breakfast. My blood work and ultrasound had to be fasting so I was getting hungry. I turned around and went back to the west side, stopping at the house to pick up NaNo signs and continued on, picked up my first son so he could help me get some furniture I had seen beside the road for sale and bought. I headed back to the east side, stopping briefly to drop off said signs for a patron, before continuing to the far east side to pick up second son.

The three of us went north to Menards to rent the truck. We went west to my house to get the furniture (dresser, chest, and bunk beds for Sarah's room). We followed the owner to a second house on the south side to get the second bunk. He'd originally planned on keeping it but the room was just too small for a bed and sewing machine. On the way the mirror flew off and shattered on the road. Yes. We got the bed and went back to second son's house on the east side to unload truck.

We went back to my house to get my car, unload the mirror frame. I'm going next week to have the mirror that is sitting against a wall in my study installed in the frame. We once again headed north to turn in the truck, drop second son off on the east side, and first son and I came back to my house. He did several errands for me and then it was 6 p.m. when I took him home.

Second son, wife and Sarah came by around 8 to do up laundry in prep for his trip to Indianapolis for job training. He'll be there a week. I am praying this will be a good job for him and lead to other things. Pray for him with me please. He really needs a job that will allow him to provide for his family.

I got daughter-in-law to help in preparing my NaNo gift bags. I'm getting there but the minutia is just so tedious.

My feet have been hurting for about a week now, particularly the right foot. Previously, the left one acted up. It got better but it too is a bit sore. So far no one has offered a solution which makes me think there isn't one. This is not good. At its worst I can barely walk. If it gets worse, I'm in serious trouble. I live alone and I have to work. My house is not set up for wheelchairs or crutches. I couldn't do crutches anyway. I have too much shoulder and neck problems.

I sat up late after the kids left last night. I don't feel I've had a relaxing weekend at all. I overslept as a result and woke with a headache. The weather is gloomy but actually warm. I'm praying that the headache goes away.

I was unable to get the Imitrex because when the doctor rewrote the prescription she didn't say, "No generic". This hasn't been a problem before but I was under a different insurance. Anthem wants you to get generics only. I only get to non-generic medicines. This was a trial and error decision on my part. One is a patch that stays on a week. In the generic patches they don't stick. They won't replace a patch if you run short because it came off and you had to replace them. In the Imitrex, I did try a generic. I don't know what was different but I got really sick with it. This is a dangerous medicine and I don't feel like playing roulette with it. I'll call my doctor on Monday and ask her to resend the script. If she does, great. If she doesn't, that'd be bad. I'm not getting migraines as frequently but I still get them. The reduction is because I've been treating the neck and shoulder differently, making them the focus rather than the headache. I think I've proven the headache is a symptom rather than a cause.

Now it is Sunday and I overslept. I was looking forward last night to going to church this morning. I feel doubly bad because Mike misses when I do.

I'm supposed to got to David's to eat later. Becca called and asked me. I'm going to lie down again I think later and put up my foot.

I've got to actually start planning something to write in the event pantsing doesn't work. I actually like starting blank because my mind is forced to go in some direction of its own choosing. Those are the times when the story can get very intense and the characters start talking. Maybe it is because the want to talk and with no restraints they can do so more freely. I don't put expectations on them. I let them go where they want and say what they want and do pretty much what they want. Sounds like fun.

I'm going now. I've killed enough time. I've had my coffee, eaten breakfast, and read a bit. Now I can sit and listen to the clocks tick.

Are We There Yet?

The weekend looms... but in the distance. Tomorrow stands between me and Saturday. That's not a good place to be. I have so much to do both at the office an at home. I've spent the last several evenings getting some things together for my National Novel Writing Month regional kick off. If you don't know what that is... you haven't been reading this blog very long.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people around the world, sign up to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days in November. This is my 7th NaNoWriMo and my second year as my region's Municipal Liaison. I still have to write a novel but I'm now coordinator for write-ins and general cheerleading.  You can read all about NaNoWriMo at www.nanowrimo.org. I dare you to try it. You'll have a blast, meet some wonderful people and you might end up with a good book.

Today I didn't go to work. My right foot felt broken. Usually it is my left foot. That's the arthritis and there's nothing they can do about it. I put some medicine I have on it but it is only slightly better since I got up. It hurts to walk. That's not why I stayed home. I'm supposed to have my foot x-rayed this week. I have to have blood work, too.

I also has a doctor's appointment because I think I'm having a gallbladder problem. I had some discomfort yesterday that followed some nausea on Tuesday. After my younger sister's horrible experience with a gallbladder that went critical, I'm not about to delay. I'm scheduled for an MRI on Saturday morning. I'm going to get all those other test done at the same time.

What I really want is to retire. The weekend is closer than my retirement.

An Exciting Life

I've never called my life exciting. Really. From my perspective it is totally boring. You all have been reading me for a while and know it. If you're new, skip back a couple of years, oh, say January 2009 and you'll understand a lot better. There's ups and downs, the latter often far outnumbering the former, but totally boring.

I actually dreamed of a simple life with normal family and friends and a job I loved and a husband to rub my back now and then or to rock on the porch with as the sun sets. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Dream on.

 I went to bed at 9:30 last night! Unreal but I simply couldn't hold my head up. Does that  sound exciting? No. Of course not. I had a writer's meeting at 6:30 and was done by 8:30 and in bed by 9:30. How exciting is that. Don't get me wrong. I have the best writing group. They're all a hoot. We all have a good time in our G+ hangout. But I was about to fall over by the time we were done.

There was the weekend, of course. I spent it making little boxes to go in my gift bags for the NaNo kick-off on the 26th. I killed my printer. Not on purpose. But I broke it somehow. Paper jam I think but who knows. I discovered it tonight when I was going to work on . . . something else. I thought, great one more thing. I couldn't remember when I bought it but I did remember I bought an extended warrenty on it. At least I was pretty sure. I couldn't remember where I bought it, though.

So, I dug around in a box of papers. I found it. Yep. It came with a 1 yr warranty and I had bought an additional year. I bought it December 24, 2010. What in the world was I doing in Sam's Club on December 24? Apparently buying a printer.

I loaded up the printer, after asking Sam's Club what to do and being told they weren't sure, and carried it to the store. A little blond welcomed me and said, "You got here fast." Three clerks later, and one who thought the extended warranty expired and my statement that they did not run concurrent and if so that was a rip off, I walked out with a printer that cost me....$10.39.

Buy the extended warranties, buy them for a couple of years if possible. I've replaced four printers this way. They wear out if you use them a lot. Or if you kill them. Office Depot has the best ones for electronics. And they price match. The original printer was one cent more than this new one. It is virtually the same printer but a newer model. I saved a penny. Well, not really. The warranty cost a couple of dollars more. But hey... I'm good with it.

I have the warranty. The new one is not as good as the other one. I have to call in, report it is broken, and they mail me a gift card. So, what would I do while I wait for that to arrive?

I'm going to try really hard not to kill  this printer.

Darn it. I left the paper in the dead printer.

In the Numbers

I love looking at interesting stats. Interesting in that it concerns me. NaNoWriMo is coming and for the month of November I'll be watching the stats regarding my word count and cheering on my local group and some online friends as I watch their counts.

I also watch the stats on this blog. I have always found it interesting the way Google tracks things. It has been both confusing and interesting over the years. Mind you, I have never marked it much or said much about it. However, since the advent of G+ I've watched with increasing interest.

On December 12, 2011 this blog was at just over 7500 hits. I posted about it. This could be bots, intentional visit by people and unintentional visit by people. I wasn't impressed because I've been here since 2005. That's pretty pathetic. What did impress me at that point was that it had jumped from 4500 to 7500 in two months. The only change at that time was that I posted the link in my NaNo profile and I linked my blog with G+. I also began posting a link on my Facebook page. It's private but shares would account for an increase in traffic from that portal. See, if you look at the referring URLs you can see where the traffic originates. Those are people clicking on the links. There's a lot of y'all!

Most educated folks know about correlations and one can't argue that there is one. Still, I wasn't terribly impressed. But I find it interesting enough to start paying a bit more attention.

A few weeks ago I think I mentioned in a blog I'd topped 15,000. Today I was looking at the count page where it shows the most viewed posts. I do this pretty frequently. If people are reading, I'd like to know what interest them most. Cause you want to write about that.

Today, the count stands at 17, 619. {gulp} In 2011 I was slightly impressed at 2000 in a couple of months. I've doubled in less than a year. In about a week, if the trend continues I'll top 18,000. I think I'm now at the surprised phase and a bit more impressed.

No, for those who would like to throw cold water on me or deflate my ego or tear down my euphoria, move along. For those who think it's needy and tacky and all those other big words you use, move along.

I think this is cool. And for those real people out there, thanks for dropping by!

Busy Weekend

I've felt pretty good most of this weekend. Not a lot of pain most days. One day my hip had a catch in it but it seemed to pass off by the end of the day.

I've been hustling around getting things together for the NaNoWriMo Kick Off. I hesitate to call it a party since we really just use it to meet up and get acquainted with all the local participants. This year I do have some goody bags to give out... well, I'm working on them. I've put out feelers to see if everyone wants to bring goodies to share. We'll see. I have the date and time but the location is a problem still.

I don't actually have an idea of anything to write. I'm had a couple of thoughts but can't call them ideas at all. I suppose it will come.. or not. I hope it will!

Dave and Becca have decided they are going to try and work things out and they've spent the weekend getting her and Sarah settled back in. She's stayed with me for a week. I'm glad they're doing this. They get along so well and it would really be a shame to throw away seven years.

Sarah is learning to read. She's so excited about it. We tease her and tell her that now she can read stories to us. I can't wait until I make her read the same story three times. She loves books and stories.

I've not had time for much of anything so I'm probably behind reading my friends blogs. I'm behind in doing a lot. Did I already say that?

Tomorrow is a new work week and the boss is out for six days! I will get so much done if all goes well and people will not call me.

The Countdown Begins!

T-30 and counting! National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner. The 2012 NaNoWriMo begins on November 1. They've updated the site and added some new features and today it officially opened to everyone.

As ML I was able to get in and see the site the day before and it was so exciting. Everything is just looks really nice. They got rid of all that red ink!  The don't have the forums up yet but I suspect in the next few weeks other things will come online.

The web badges are posted and they are just so cool. Every year you get a new one to show you're participating, another when you win. I'll be adding this one to the bottom of my  page where all the others reside. I hope to get a winner's badge by the end of November.

I love doing NaNo and since becoming an Municipal Liaison, it has been even more exciting. I get to add my second ML badge to my wall. I have to say that I like my first badge best. That being said, there is a lot to do. I have to plan my Kick off meeting and get the NaNo calendar set up with write-ins. That's a juggling act.

From this point on, the blog will probably reflect a flurry of activity and ultimate chaos. Come November 1 it will be insanity.


Note: To see all my NaNo badges, check at the bottom of the home page.