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.