New Mommy Musings

 Little One had decided to go to bed a little earlier the other night (an hour), so I decided to curl up on the sofa and read the latest “American Baby” magazine that had come in the mail that day. American Baby is a monthly magazine that I somehow got on a mailing list for when I was pregnant. It's a really good magazine and caters a broad category of mothers, from pregnancy through the toddler years.

Each issue of this magazine is packed full of helpful tips for new mothers on parenting, how to save money, what the best toys are, and where all the good deals are for babies...so imagine my excitement when I got to an article called “Help Me Look Better”. The story was about how they took six new moms and made them “look better” by helping them find clothing to flatter their figure. Their “before” pictures were not bad looking by any means. All six of the women looked very nice – but yes...of course they were all looking indeed FABULOUS on the next page in their “after” photos. The after photos also included information on the clothing that the women were wearing in the photos - in fact, one pair of heels cost $349 and another pair that one of the other women had on was $178...FOR SHOES!!!

WOW! This magazine really has new mommies figured out don't they? I mean...what wouldn't make a new mom feel great by rushing out and buying a pair of $349 high heels? One problem with that theory: about 90% of new moms are young and likely don't have $349 to throw around on one pair of shoes. Honestly...what were they thinking by putting this article in this magazine? Dumb. As a reader, I guess the point they were trying to make to me is that if I want to “look better” I need to spend a lot of money.

I was irritated when I read that article, so I decided to move on to the next article in the magazine: “Can You Afford to Quit Working” - I just had to laugh.

 

My blog on MySpace, Facebook and Windows Live is mirrored from my website: www.beccastrat.com

mood: nervous

The last four days have been pretty crazy around here.

It starts out Friday morning bright and early (or dark and ugly I should say) when our water alarms downstairs started going off at 1:30am.  We were in the middle of a torrential rain storm and the drain tile system apparently just couldn’t keep up with what was coming at us (we later found out that a manhole had also popped up down the street as well and all that water ended up in our back yard as well).  Normally Hubby is gone when stuff goes wrong around the house…but to my excitement he was home (I literally was excited he was home for this).

Naturally Hubby had to do most of the work…moving furniture…sucking up water…drying….and disinfecting everything.  I wasn’t much help because starting two days before this I realized that I was really having a harder time getting around.

Friday afternoon, after not sleeping much of Friday night from the flooding, I had my doctor appointment where I learned a couple more very important things….one of which is that there mucous plug is gone (sorry if that’s TMI) and the second important thing I learned is that the doctor found upon examination that the baby IS READY to come out already – earlier than I even thought.  The baby had dropped quite a bit in the week and a half from when I saw him last.

“Have you noticed that you’ve been waddling or anything?” he asked me.  I hadn’t noticed waddling…but I had noted that it had been harder to get around lately and then there was the one day at work when one of my co-workers took one look at me and said that I looked like ten miles of bad road (but it felt more like 50 miles…you just gotta trust me on this one).   

At any rate…I will be having this baby soon and the doctor was genuinely concerned about the whole thing because the hospital/doctor that I have chosen to deliver my baby are for “standard” care only – and so they just wouldn’t feel comfortable delivering a baby less than 36 weeks gestation.

So…I gotta somehow get it through to my son that he can’t come into this world until AT LEAST June 21^st when I officially roll into the 36 week pregnancy category. 

Look at the calendar and you will see that June 21^st is only 12 days away.  YIKES!  

To go back to my website:  CLICK HERE

mood: exhausted

DISCLAIMER:

Though I have proof-read the heck out of this blog entry prior to posting…be advised that I recently purchased a new notebook computer and I’m still getting used to the new keyboard on the thing.  To make matters even more complicated, my baby belly now covers the bottom row of keys when I’m typing with the notebook on my lap.  Hence…typos.   YIKES!

I have been explaining to the doctor when I go in for my prenatal visits that I’m almost dead certain the due date they’ve given me is wrong.  They’ve given me July 19^th.  I have had four ultrasounds during this pregnancy and they do consistently point to within a week of that day…but I know they are wrong.  At this stage in the game…three weeks is a big difference because it could mean the difference between whether your labor is allowed to proceed or whether they will try to stop it.  Being born too early by even just a few weeks, the baby could have some lung development issues.  I figure my due date to be around June 28^th….but the doctor gives me a firm July 19^th and he is not budging.   I share my concerns about my due date each time I’m at the clinic.  He’s convinced of July 19^th and I’m convinced the date should be June 28^th.  There’s no compromise…and believe me…I’ve tried to cut a deal with him on this issue…

“So here’s what I’m thinking,” I tell the doctor all serious-like at one of my appointments, “I’m thinking that since you’re saying July 19^th and I’m saying June 28^th, maybe we could go halfsies and say July 5^th?  Huh?”       He’s sticking with July 19^th and that’s all there is too it!    Apparently it doesn’t matter…there are just some things in life that are not negotiable.  When it comes right down to it…it’s just a date after all (and I’m a silly goose for trying to negotiate my baby’s due date with the doctor…think about it…I’m being crazy!).

Now…in all of the reading materials I’ve run across on pregnancy it’s written that if you are less than 37 weeks pregnant and you experience cramping AND low back pain at the same time you should call the doctor right away as you could be in preterm labor.  So naturally when I had this pop up on me last week I was a little concerned.  I mentioned it to a few friends who’d been pregnant not too long ago and they all explained that they had the same symptoms I was having…when they were at the same stage that I’m at.  So who do you listen to?  The book?  The moms?    I was frustrated and confused with the conflicting information.  Since it had been three days with these symptoms and they just weren’t going away, I decided it was best to call.  Thanks to the lawsuit happy society that we live in, every time you call the doctor about anything they basically tell you the same thing…that they really just need you to come in and be seen.  

I did go in and everything turned out to be fine.  I was not going into preterm labor but he told me that the pain could be my body telling me that it’s time to start slowing down and take it easy.  Take it easy?  TAKE IT EASY?   I don’t do a damn thing now as it is – how am I supposed to make THAT easier?  

He then preceded to tell me that… “…we gotta keep this little boy in there for at least three more weeks.”

WHAT?  Did he just say three more weeks?   “Ahhhh ha!  That would bring us to the end of June…say June 28^th…wouldn’t it?”   I said to him.    

“Not so fast.  I’m just not going to change your due date,” he reaffirmed to me…again.

I’m getting to the real uncomfortable end-stage symptoms of pregnancy and I just know that there is NO WAY that I can go another seven weeks until the baby arrives.  The actual birth timing will be interesting.  I think that my own intuition will win out and he will be born the end of June.  Of course I want to be right – who likes being wrong?   But what I really want is a healthy baby no matter what date ends up falling the closest to the birth.  I guess we’ll find out in three…or….six weeks.  Time will tell!

To go back to my website:  CLICK HERE

I’ve been so terrible at keeping up my blog!  I know…I know…I whine about that almost every time I do write an entry.  I don’t understand why I don’t update more often because this “surprise” pregnancy sure has given me PLENTY of topics to blog about.  I have been keeping a list – so now I will begin to attempt to update this more regularly (and yes…you’ve heard that a dozen or so times before too haven’t you… LOL).

PANCREAS MIRACLE:
This pregnancy has done wonders for my pancreatitis problem.  As of January 14^th of this year, I’ve had little to no problem with my pancreas, which had been an ongoing problem with me since July of 2004 when I was fist diagnosed.  I’ve been able to indulge in food items that I haven’t been able to touch in years!  It’s wonderful!  Neither the doctor nor I understand this phenomenon that we’re calling “pancreas miracle”.  It is highly likely that the pancreatitis will swing back into full effect once the baby is here…but in the mean time, I’ve been able to put on TONS of weight (and if you have read my blog in the past – you probably know that weight has been an issue…I’ve struggled to gain weight since I got sick).   Okay…so maybe not TONS of weight, but I have gained a lot of weight – and it’s a good thing.  This way, if the pancreas problem comes back to haunt me after the baby is born…I’ll at least have something to fight with this time.  

PICTURES:
I’ve had so many people ask me why I don’t have any photos of me pregnant on my website, MySpace, LiveJournal or Windows Live pages.  To be quite honest…I’m not happy with the way I look.  While I’m anxious that I’ve put on some weight…I’m also a woman…and I think it’s wired into women’s brains to not like weight gain, regardless of the situation.  There are no known photos of me thus far in the pregnancy…I’ve managed to dodge the lens!  I probably will post some photos…eventually.  But in the mean time, I keep telling my friends to just picture a great big swollen blonde talking wood tick…that pretty much sums it up – you get the idea.

BABY:
I’ve had several ultrasounds with my pregnancy and they have been able to determine that I’m carrying a boy.  As of the time I write this, I figure he’s about 14 and a half inches long and weighs about two pounds.  We’ve thought of a couple names so far, and the name that both hubby and I seem to agree on is “Jack” (of course it’s early yet…and  will more than likely change a hundred or so times – LOL).

MY WRITING:
Not only is my body going through a few major changes…but my house is too, primarily my office.  My office is officially going to be the bedroom for my little boy.  I’m in the process of dismantling the room.  We do have one other spare bedroom in our home that would also make a good office, but I have decided that I would really like to have a “guest bedroom”.  So for a stint I will be sharing my office with the family room – and I don’t know how that will work (me trying to write while hubby has his turkey hunting videos blasting in the background), but we’re going to test it out. 

I have put my novel work on the back burner right now and have begun to focus more on the nonfiction freelance side of things.  I still plan on keeping up with fiction…but I will just be working on smaller projects for a while.  I’m also toying around with the idea of web publishing my NaNoWriMo 2007 novel, My Murder, on my website in electronic format as a series.  I will keep everyone posted on that.

Well, as I mentioned I have PLENTY of topics to blog about and I will do that separately…for now I just wanted to get an update out there.


To go back to my website CLICK HERE

A pretty sad thing took place in my family this past Friday.  My 41 year-old aunt passed away.

Tammy had been sick.  She was diagnosed with breast cancer many years ago and it had spread around her body.  Tammy fought this cancer with everything she had for about 14 years.  Yes…you read that right…14 years and most of those 14 years she was actively going through treatments.  14 years of fighting to live while maintaining a marriage and raising three kids at the same time…what an incredibly STRONG woman!

My sister and I stopped over to visit our Grandpa on Saturday to see how he was doing.  You could see the pain and devastation behind his eyes.  Here is a man who has lost two children and his wife, all within a period of five years.  To rub salt into his wounds, Tammy’s passing on Friday also happened to be on his birthday.

Knowing that Tammy was sick and that it could eventually lead to her death still doesn’t make any of this easier on the family.  This is hard.

My aunt Tammy and her extremely long and brave fight to survive will never be forgotten…not ever.

So this morning I was sitting in the living room reading a book that I’m just having a hard time putting down (An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England, a novel by Brock Clarke), when Hubby comes out of my office and says “Are you EVER going to update your blog?”    Well…I guess someone had to say it.  LOL

It has been a long time.  Truth:  My life has been a little upside down the last two months.  I have pancreatitis and I’m also pregnant and I’m finding that the two P’s do not mix at times.  I’m also scared as hell at the realization that I’m going to be a mother in 6 months.  I’ve always thought myself to be very self-centered, selfish and just not wanting to share my life with anyone other than my husband.  That’s all changing now.  Have I accepted motherhood in my mind yet?  Not exactly…but it’s finally becoming more real.  Am I excited yet?  Hmm…I don’t know how to answer that.  I guess there is just too much anxiety with this whole thing right now.  I’m not sure how I feel.  I do know that in time, everything will be just fine.

I called the doctor the other day, on Friday, to inform him that I’d been having some issues with my heart racing and he decided that maybe I should just move my normal check-up appointment to that day instead of the following week as it was supposed to be.  Turns out the racing heart is probably normal and caused by hormones.  Also – the doctor was going to listen to the baby’s heartbeat on the Doppler for the first time.  My sister accompanied me to the appointment so that someone else would be able to hear the heartbeat too (Hubby was supposed to go to the normally scheduled appointment for next week – but this new appointment was kind of last minute).  The doctor could not find the heartbeat.  I guess I wasn’t too concerned because I still felt that everything was fine…but my doctor did not share my same confidence apparently.  The next thing I knew…my sister and I were being sent across the street to the hospital for an impromptu ultrasound which did reveal that everything was fine.  

The ultrasound was amazing to say the least.  At just 12 weeks gestation the baby was moving around like crazy (that’s why we couldn’t get the heartbeat on Doppler).  Turns out, my kid is quite the dancer already.  There were ten fingers and ten toes and at one point we could see the baby opening and closing its mouth.  Keep in mind that I could not feel a thing yet – it’s still early on and so I don’t even get to feel the baby dancing around in there.  I was amazed that the baby is so far developed at just 12 weeks gestation.  My sister and I were in awe at the ultrasound monitor.  It was truly precious to see.  Hubby feels bad that he missed it…but there will be another ultrasound in a couple of months so he’ll get to catch up at that time.

Other than that – my writing hasn’t been real productive the last couple of months.  I’ve taken to reading more than writing.  I do, however, have some New Years Resolutions that apply to my writing:  I will be finishing up the final revision on two of my novels that I have written so that I can start to query them out.  This will be a big goal to accomplish…but I have nothing to lose.

To go to my grossly un-updated website CLICK HERE

I officially crossed the finish line about 12:00pm yesterday and it is now official…I am a winner of NaNoWriMo 2007.

I didn’t think that I was going to be able to pull off a win, because on November 14, 2007 when I got the news of my pregnancy…I was not able to focus at all on writing, and remained in a trancelike state for a period of 12 days.  Finally on Monday, November 26^th I decided that I really needed to get moving on NaNo if I wanted to finish it.  It didn’t look very promising because on Monday my word count was only sitting at about 30k…and I had just a few days to get up to 50k.  Something came over me and I was able to accomplish that goal…and I surprised myself (as well as a few of my close writer friends who knew I had just been dragging my feet in the mud the last couple of weeks).

So here I sit…it’s Friday November 30^th…the last official day of NaNoWriMo 2007…and I’m already done.  It’s nice to look on my NaNoWriMo profile and see the purple winner icon.

I do feel like the pregnancy news is starting to sink in a bit for both Hubby and I.  We’ve really been walking around in a state of shock for the last couple of weeks – but everything is going to be just fine.

And now for my next project:  I need to get moving on some housework that I have been putting off this week so that I could finish NaNoWriMo!   

To go back to my website:  CLICK HERE

mood: drained

WARNING:   Long Blog from a very LONG day.

I have some vacation time to burn up at work so I thought I’d take today off.  Hubby had the day off too so I figured I could stay home and work on my writing while he was away hunting for a few hours.  I didn’t do much in the line of writing – but I got a wild hair to start cleaning out some kitchen cupboards.  

But let’s go back to yesterday…
My friend Angie and I were chatting about a medical diagnostic scan I was going to have done on Thursday (I’d go into more detail with you but you’d say “too much information”).  I was going to cancel the scan and see if I could postpone it for a week because I just was so tired and not up to it.  Angie told me that she was just convinced that I was pregnant.  

“Yeah, I don’t think so Angie…after all those years of trying and nothing happened.  I’m sure I’m not.  It’s not unusual for me to be a week late – especially with the way my health is,” I explained to her.   

She talked to me more about how I really should make sure that I’m not pregnant before I go have this scan because I shouldn’t have the scan if I’m pregnant.  I kept picking on her that she shouldn’t mention pregnancy to me because I swear this woman is a pregnancy detector.  She had a feeling about her daughter’s pregnancy a month before she even got pregnant!  So I told her that she was jinxing me.  There was no reason for me to even consider the idea of pregnancy…never even crossed my mind.

Well today I had the day off as I mentioned, and Angie wasn’t going to put this whole “pregnancy” thing to bed…and about noon the text messages started:

Angie:  I am waiting…

Becca:  Me too!  Quit jinxing me.  LOL

Angie:  So you don’t know anything yet?

Becca:  Nope.  I will go out and pick up a test this afternoon.

Angie:  It is afternoon now.  Time to go to Walmart.

Becca:  Leaving for Walmart now.

Becca:  On my way home.  I’m giving you a play by play.  LOL

Angie:  Feel free to skip the peeing on the stick text and skip to the results!

I’m one of those people that always thinks that everyone really cares about the things I do…so when I went to Walmart I was all embarrassed about buying a PG test (kind of like a teenage boy having to go buy maxi pads for mom or something).  I’m not sure why…but I was embarrassed.  So I picked the test up and held it inconspicuously in my hand so no one would see what it was.  I was too nervous to go through a cashier aisle, so I walked up to the self-check-out.  Ever done the self-check-out thing there before?  It’s easy!  You basically scan your item, slide it across this magnetic thingy and then put it in the bag…pay for your stuff and your done.  I didn’t even have to let anyone see what I was purchasing – PERFECT!    

So I had done all that and I was on my way out the door when I set the alarms off…my face turned BEET red.  Here I had forgotten to slide the “item” across the magnetic strip at the self-check-out.  The greeter waved me over to the side and took my receipt.

“Clearblue Pregnancy Test,” he said VERY loudly, “Is that what you have in the bag?”
"Yes,” I said sheepishly looking around to make sure no one else heard.
He had this little piece of paper and he was writing some numbers down off my receipt and he was saying loudly and slowly as he wrote it down:  “CLEARBLUE PREGNANCY TEST”    
Great!  Why not just get on the damn intercom!

So after I was cleared of any criminal involvement I left for home to take the test so that Angie could get this thought out of her mind and get moving with her day.

The test results nearly blew me OUT of the water.  The results:  POSITIVE.  

I immediately started crying and not exactly out of excitement..  Hubby and I HAD tried for several years and then when my health status changed a few years ago we kind of gave up on the idea.  I was perfectly happy not having children because I’m very set in my ways and comfortable with life as it is (not to mention I can’t find the time anyways now to do the things that I enjoy doing…the thought of throwing kids in the mix just wasn’t an option).  I had accepted some time ago that I would not have children.  I didn’t need children.

The test’s positive results were confirmed this afternoon at the clinic.  My tentative due date is July 17, 2008.

I’m not super excited and bouncing off the walls or anything.  I’m actually quite numb about the whole thing…Hubby is too.  We will get there eventually…it will just take us a bit of time.

What a day!

To go to my website:  CLICK HERE

What a weekend this has been…

I got into a “word challenge” with some fellow NaNoWriMo participants this weekend.  The challenge:  To write 10,000 words over the weekend.

Saturday completely got away from me.  Between a crafting class, not feeling well, and having dinner with friends, I didn’t think that I had a chance.  I did not write anything toward the 10k challenge at all Saturday.

This morning, Sunday, I woke up determined…but then I went grocery shopping and seemed to find all sorts of other things to do instead of writing…but about 10:00am I got “the bug”.   I sat down and I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote…wrote some more, and my fingers even began to hurt from typing, but I could not stop.

The story is going well.  Brett’s body was discovered, along with some other evidence that will eventually lead Ed Mundall to the murderer.  I had to laugh at myself though.  I follow a strict outline when I work on a novel…and so here I was working on this story…found the body…forensics processed the evidence…the surviving family members were notified and then onto the next order of business – or so I thought!     Here I had left out one very important part of this story…Brett’s funeral.  

I was shocked that I completely forgot about the funeral and I’m so glad that it popped into my mind as I was writing because it allowed me to add a whole new level of suspense to the story.

So…I ended up meeting my 10k challenge.  My current word count is sitting at 29,212, which is over the halfway point and it’s only November 11^th!   I’m feeling very accomplished today.

To go to my website:  CLICK HERE
To view my NaNoWriMo profile CLICK HERE

mood: sleepy

My NaNoWriMo story is taking form quite nicely.

Ed Mundall, the lead investigator in the “missing persons” case has found Brett’s vehicle in a parking lot.  The vehicle is currently being processed by forensics.  Sadly for Ed, I already know that he will find nothing on or in the vehicle that will help his investigation.  Kandis has covered her steps quite well.  HOWEVER…Ed has caught on to a couple of things that just don’t make sense to him concerning how Kandis never tried to reach Brett on his cell phone after he went missing…but yet she was “so very” worried about him not coming home.  Also, she told Ed that she didn’t know where he went that night after their argument, but records indicate that she has “automatic transaction notification” set up on their bank account, and was sent an email indicating that a transaction has taken place at a casino about 20 minutes away from their home on the night he disappeared.  Go figure.  Ed knows something is not right.

My word count is sitting at:  17,358.  This is about 4,000 words higher than my goal for today so I’m happy about that.

To go to my website:  CLICK HERE

mood: drained

I didn’t get much done in the line of writing last night.  I just had too much on my mind after a bad day.

Last May I posted an entry where I was kind of griping about how I'd lost some weight (okay…quite a bit of weight) from a bout of illness.  I was thin, felt like hell, and the comments people were making were just really starting to get to me.  

I work in a small company where there are departments of people.  My particular department is a group of wonderful people and we are all like family.  They all know that I’ve been going through a rough time health-wise the past year and they also know that those “thin comments” hurt me and so they are ALWAYS very kind and refrain from making the comments.  They all truly are a God-send to me and a nice escape from the cruel world I sometimes encounter, and this is important when we spend 40 hours a week together.

Last week when I went to the doctor I learned, and it was quite a surprise actually, that I’ve lost even more weight.  I now weigh what I did when I was 12 years-old (and I’m 30…so that’s not good).  I thought I had gained a little, but then I came down with pneumonia and three weeks of battling that took a toll apparently…and the nasty, piercing, intrusive comments by people who have no idea who I really am, have begun once again…

     *  “You look terrible.” 
     *  "Have you even tried to gain weight?” 
     *  “Are you anorexic or something?”  

The comments hurt.  I know that I look terrible…I see photos of myself and I look tired.  Yes, I am trying to gain weight…desperately, but it’s hard when I can’t eat fatty foods and if I eat too much of the low-fat variety I get violently ill.  Yes…I’m doctoring.  Yes…the doctor knows that I need to gain weight.  The weight will come back but it will take some time.

I’m thankful that I have my family, Hubby, and my co-workers in my department to understand me.  I think without them I’d be in an insane asylum right now.

To go back to my website CLICK HERE

The weekend is officially over (gee…I don’t know what part of 5:30am on Monday makes me think the weekend is over? Ha!).

I worked for just a small amount of time on my NaNo story this weekend.  I have found that mornings are much more productive this week and so I’ve decided to go to bed early this week to get up an hour earlier than normal just to work on the story.

I wrote the official murder scene this weekend.  That was hard.  I dived right into it…and last night I was lamenting over how I could come up with such grisly details.  Essentially I scared the heck out of myself.  LOL

My word count is at 10,029 as of the time I’m posting this blog.  I’m about 1,694 words over where I wanted to be at the end of the day today…so I’m ahead of my own game I guess.

I’ve also decided to post my story’s prologue….


My Murder…and how she almost got away with it.

~Prologue~

     I thought we had a pretty good thing going, Kandis and I.  Sure we had our problems…and she was changing everyday.  Definitely not the same person I married…but I’m sure I’ve changed a bit too.  That’s pretty normal I guess.

     Her main complaint with me was that I gambled all the time.  I notice that really bothered her.  Right about the time that she started complaining about my gambling, I noticed that she was pulling away from me.  Sure we still lived together and many aspects of our relationship were quite normal, but it just changed…hard to explain.  Did I think I had a problem with gambling?  No.  Heck…how can it be called a problem when you’re gambling and winning money?  I would be excited that I’d won…she wouldn’t be.  I was sure she was the one with the problem.  I realize that we really probably should go to some sort of counseling – I firmly believed that we both needed it.  She didn’t think so.  She did, however, go to Barnes and Noble and buy up all sorts of self help books on marriage relationships.  She was always reading.  

     For awhile I thought everything seemed to be going well.  While Kandis still had seemed withdrawn…she seemed to be making an improvement.  I got to see her smile from time to time.  She was making meals and seeming more motivated with life.  I loved seeing her like that.

     It was these changes that really made everything that happened so hard to understand.  Right when everything was getting better, the whole world came crashing down on us.  I try to make sense of it…but it’s hard.

     You are about to read the story of the last day of my life…

To go back to my website:  CLICK HERE

The second day of NaNoWriMo didn’t go quite as well for me as the first day.  I sat down to start writing late in the afternoon and I was starting to have my little pain problem.  I couldn’t sit in my computer desk for more than two minutes.  So…I high-tailed it to my bedroom where I sat in bed with a notebook and a pen….and unfortunately the remote control for the television.  I ended up finding shows to watch on television that took my mind off of writing.

I did manage to sneak out 561 words…handwritten.  Whatever works right?   Current word count 5,647.

To go back to my website CLICK HERE
To see my NaNoWriMo profile CLICK HERE    (note:  this link seems to stop working from time to time)

Well, the opening day of NaNoWriMo is coming to a close for me.

I definitely didn’t spend as much time writing as I thought I was going to – but I did manage to meet my personal word count quota for the day which was 5,000.  I ended the day with 5,086.  Not too shabby.

Normally I spend lots of time preparing for NaNo by conducting a lot of research for many aspects and situations I encounter in my story.  This normally consumes months of my time – and normally this research slows down my creativity process quite a bit…so I decided to try something new this time around:   I decided not to really do much research

beforehand so that research would not slow me down I’m making notations in my writing to look up when I have some extra time or when NaNo is done.  Unfortunately, I’m finding some snags in my new method that are causing me a few headaches.  It’ll pass.

Tomorrow I will begin working on the murder scene portion of the story…


To go back to my website CLICK HERE
To view my NaNoWriMo profile, CLICK HERE

mood: drained

So much for my big plan of staying up until midnight and starting to write for Nano right when the clock strikes 12:00….

I’ve really had a rough couple of days with pain – and that has made me tired.  I managed to get through two days of work with a smile on my face – so that’s good.  I’m tired alright…and then in the middle of the night last night I woke to getting kicked out of bed by one of my dogs.  Turned out that my dog, Lillie, was having a seizure, and it was during this seizure that she was kicking me.  It was pretty sad.  We got Lillie two years ago from a fellow who just “couldn’t take care of her anymore”.  Once we got her we found out there was MORE to the story. Our vet figures that she had been pretty neglected and she has some very serious mental issues.  Despite the issues…she is the sweetest dog and an excellent companion to Abbie, our other dog.  It broke my heart to see her having the seizure, but we’re figuring that she has probably been having them in the night for quite some time now; especially since Abbie was acting normal the whole time it was going on…normally Abbie panics when Lillie has something goofy going on.  Poor Lillie.  But…she’s doing well today and that’s good to see…makes me feel better too.

Back to Nano…I took the day off of work tomorrow so I can focus on the first day of Nano, which is a National Holiday in my humble opinion.  I won’t be staying up until midnight to write…but I will be getting up early tomorrow to begin my novel.

I will post my stats on my blog here daily.  Wish me luck!

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