I missed yesterday’s writing, but it should count that I spent a good amount of time discussing writing with a friend — someone who is also working on his first novel. And the entire experience left me remembering how much I used to profess that thinking is the most important aspect of writing. Of course, that doesn’t make much sense if I never actually sit down to write after that thought, so here I am. Processing. And I’ll do that through this weekend considering my novel, moving things around, adjusting bits of my character’s life — bits of ideas that only come with letting writing sit for a while. Letting it sit for as long as I have is probably not a good thing, but that will change in a few days.
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Kickstarting a new routine
Mid-week taking stock of things reveals I’m here and for the third day in a row, writing. And clearly, writing here means I’m not writing my book, but it’s not going anywhere. It will be much better waiting for me to establish a routine — even a glimmer of one before I sit down to finish it.
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The Last Summer Vacation
It seems no matter where I am on the web right now, someone somewhere is headed Back-to-School. Mothers are sad summer is over (or secretly not), healthy lunches are discussed (or those not so healthy tsk-tsked over), and teachers are settling in with yet another year’s classroom full of children. The smell of crayons and freshly sharpened pencils waft through the streets.
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One step at a time. Maybe.
I woke up well before I normally do today, willing myself to stay in bed and lie still, listening to the fan whir back and forth, the puff of air it creates just reaching me. I watched the brightness on the walls created by the streetlight outside slowly fade as the dark sky made its way toward morning, but grew bored after a while and decided to get up.
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DIY: Travel Planning
In less than a week, we will be on a non-stop flight to London, then take a short flight to Paris. Yes, Paris.
I’ve been many places before — many — but think I’ve been saving France in general for when my husband and I could go alone. We’ve enjoyed trips to England and Wales with our youngest, then another fabulous road trip there with his parents. We’ve also traveled through Italy with one of my older sons, but we’ve never been with each other — alone.
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To write, or not to write…
I’ve learned that where I write has just as much to do with whether I write than anything else. Where as in sitting in front of my Mac instead of outside on my tree shaded patio complete with morning cup of coffee, a pen with the just right feel, and my turquoise Moleskin (which is full of thinking about my novel and various explanations of why I’m not writing it). But that isn’t the kind of writing I’m talking about. It’s more what I’m doing right now. The sitting in front of my Mac kind of writing.
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Thirty-four years ago, tomorrow.
Tomorrow my oldest will be 34 years old. My first boy. The one I remember thinking wasn’t real when I found out I was pregnant. I was unmarried, and not quite 22.
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Planning for Paris
February is nearly half gone and I’m just now feeling as if there’s a new year ahead of me and things to plan for. The holidays have long passed, the remnants of that nasty bout with bronchitis are finally gone, the Super Bowl — which always seems to allow some sort of hanging on to a reason to plan a party — is history, and finally, a lovely several days spent with an old friend who came to stay have also been crossed off my calendar. Time flies.
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2012: A year in photos
Twenty-twelve was a blue ribbon year for me and for many of the people I care about. Milestone birthdays and graduations abounded. There were planned trips to familiar places, and an unexpected vacation to somewhere new. Day trips were enjoyed out and about the city we’ve called home since 1968 and tend to take for granted. A mix and match of family got together for myriad reasons. There were babies, continued good news about a friend’s fight with cancer, new homes warmed for the next phase in lives, and deaths mourned.
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Procrastination and Christmas
NaNoWriMo is officially over and what have I done with my crappy draft of a half-done manuscript since November 30th?
Well.