Category: What Now?

Today may have been perfect if not for this.

2012: The Year of Everything (at once)

~ JodiLea

2012-header

How many life-changing events did you have this year?
I’ll spare you the “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” sentimental summary of 2012.  I already bitched posted about the details, as they occurred.

  • Preparing home of 24 years to sell
  • Death of my only sibling
  • Retiring from my day job
  • Diagnosed with a “leaky valve“. (What am I – a car?)
  • Moved from a city in the SF Bay Area, to a remote town in the lower Sierra mountains.

If you’re new to Not Pretending, the links above should satisfy any curiosity you may have. And a very hearty welcome from me, BTW  😉

All 5 events occurred between April and July. I don’t remember much of August at all. September-November were a blur. When I began to settle down into my life – the  Holidays showed up. Whee!  The last of our kids left yesterday. Now I need to gear up to “organization level” energy, but a head-cold is sucking it out of me.

It’s snowing every few days now.  This is my fault, as most of you already know. I’ve dreamed of a white Christmas all year, and I definitely got one. I love watching the snow fall.  I can’t imagine anyone getting tired of watching it. I can imagine getting tired of shoveling and driving in it, and I’m happy I don’t have to!

I bought a 20.6 pound turkey and 10 pounds of potatoes (sweet and russet), so we can live on Christmas dinner if we get trapped up here a few days. In fact, it is supposed to snow later today. ..

2013 will arrive in 2.5 days, and soon 2012 will only be memories. It seems like I just said that about 2011. Time really does speed up the older you get.

A happy & prosperous New Year to everyone!

I Love You, Now Go Away!

~ JodiLea

Yet another NaNoWriMo tale…

Hubby and I took a road trip to Lake Havasu, AZ and spent Thanksgiving with his family. The 80 degree weather was fabulous. We literally drove 12 hours to summer!  Like a devoted writer, I brought the novel on a flash-drive with me. Just in case I had time to myself to kill. And could borrow my Sis-in-law’s computer. (I’m asking Santa for a laptop this year!)

No, I’m not blaming the holiday or the relatives for my word count only increasing 2,000 in that 6-day period. I am a social creature on occasion, and always a dog lover. I could lie and say that Ginger and Gabby “ate my muse”, but I won’t. Our mini-vacation with my siblings-in-law, was full of food, fun and laughter. This may be why my muse became constipated. I suspect jealousy.

My brother-in-law(s) set up a computer for me, in the guest house hubby and I were staying in, so I could keep writing my NaNoWriMo novel.  I’m sure this support and encouragement disturbed hubby greatly.  He had already told me that this first NaNoWriMo adventure should be my last. He (claimed) was worried about my health. Not enough sleep. Not eating right. Blah, Blah, Blah.

I imagine there are a lot of NaNoWriMo widowers and widows about now. Take heart! Only 3-days left of cooking your own meals, having the TV remote all to yourself, sleeping alone, etc.  We miss you too of course, but our focus is on writing and this we do alone. At least I do. So please, do not interrupt us with tidbits of trivia you read in the paper, or telling us your plans for home improvements next year.  We understand your wanting conversation. Just save it for meals and break-time, is all we ask.

Day 94: Earplugs

TV noise and chain saws require industrial ear-plugs. I am not kidding – I really wear them. I’d take a picture, but sweats and no make-up is today’s fashion statement, so just imagine me with an orange foam plug in each ear.  Earplugs only work if hubby is making the noise, because he ignores the fact they are plugging my ears and talks to me anyway.

Once my rhythm is broken it is freaking hard to get it back. Distractions abound in the real world. I often fantasize about having a padded, sound-proofed room, with an inside lock, to write in. I even wonder if I should be tested for Adult ADD, or ADHD.

Today is gloomy and rainy – perfect weather to write.  The week’s errands and grocery shopping are done. Leftovers are thawing.  The wood-burning stove is hot and so is the coffee.  So, why am I not spewing forth oodles of words?

Gloomy and rainy is also the perfect weather for a nap. I think I’ll take one, Lord knows my muse is.

😉

It’s a Short Trip…

~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

Whenever I say “That’s driving me crazy!”, hubby replies with “That’s a short trip.”

He is correct, along with being a smart ass.

Because I have nothing else to do (blatant lie) I signed up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) – even when you retire you have to deal with acronyms. I want to give my lazy muse a good workout, get in the habit of working on fiction everyday.

No, this blog is not fiction. OK… The “This Could Be News” posts are as fictional as they get though.

When I signed up for the event, they gave me a free  website  for getting sponsors and displaying my progress. Come by if you feel like it. If you have an extra buck, think about supporting us striving writers. Or is that starving writers?

No purchase required to win.