Category Archives: NaNoWriMo

Posts having something to do with NaNoWriMo.

Catching Up: August 14, 2024 Edition

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Wow. My break from posting lasted longer than expected.

[+] To nobody’s surprise… I’m laughing my butt off at how Joe Biden played the GOP with the timing of his announcement that he was dropping out of the race. He hasn’t said that it was intentional, but he completely managed to foul up Trump’s campaign to the point that Cheeto Guevara has had to redo his attack ads.

Also…

I'm with her.

Why wouldn’t I be??? I’ve been voting her into various statewide and national offices since her first run for California Attorney General in 2010. The last thing I did before moving to Washington in 2016 was to vote for her in the California State Primary for U.S. Senator! I’m even getting involved in her presidential campaign.

[+] Vance. I did my due diligence and looked into J.D. Vance… and it just turned me more and more off from him. It’s not just his bitchy remarks about cat ladies. He solicited money to create a charity to fight opioid abuse and used the money on a political consultant to decide about running for office instead. (Appalachians are big mad about this.) He had a lot of advantages and he could have used them to actually *HELP* people… but he didn’t. He and Trump are very focused on what will benefit themselves, and that is not an appropriate attitude to have for the offices they are seeking. Also? He’s allegedly a techbro, and none of my Silicon Valley friends in the industry have anything good to say about him. He has almost no political experience, and his foot-in-mouth comments show that.

Not to mention, a lot of Appalachia thinks he’s a loser. There’s a whole Twitter hashtag about this.

I do enjoy a good troll.

[+] Books. I finally got a Mount Vernon City Library card (which only took me 8 years), and I’ve been curled up in Joanne Fluke’s books since. A new one is coming out at the end of this month, and I’m reading through all of her previous ones to get ready!

[+] Skagit County Fair. Daniel and I finally made it to the county fair for the first time in 7 years. We had been thwarted by surgeries (2018), family funerals (2019), and the pandemic (2020-2023). It was hot, but it was still worth it. My monster indulged me traipsing through all the animal barns, the quilting and craft displays, and standing in line to cross a few “fair food” items off of my bucket list. (The deep-fried Snickers was a 9/10, and the deep-fried Twinkie was completely forgettable.)

[+] Camp NaNoWriMo. I attempted Camp NaNoWriMo in July, and only made it to 20,000 words because of severe writer’s block. Given that it was completely a last minute decision, I’m going to do some planning and re-attempt it in November.

7 Quick Takes: TGIAF Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

The dangers of negativity. Apparently, I’m not the only one who finds perpetually negative people to be a cancer?

To a degree, being happy is a choice. I don’t believe depression can magically be cured by happy thoughts, but you can choose to find happiness in really difficult circumstances.

— 2 —

An interesting protest. Some Catholic protesters in the Russell Senate Building formed a cross with their bodies while protesting the draconian immigration situation. A friend found some other pictures of the protesters being arrested which included some Dominican nuns.

— 3 —

OCD princess learns about the BUJO lifestyle. I want to start a bullet journal, but I’m having a heck of a time figuring out how to start and what to do because I’m OCD as all get out. So… I’m reading a book on it.

— 4 —

NFP Week, yo! It’s NFP Week, so I’m betting there will be a boatload of posts on how WONDERFUL it is (not!). Here’s the first one posted.

By the way, my Fitbit app has accurately predicted my period’s start date two months in a row. Woo.

— 5 —

Camp NaNoWriMo update. I abandoned my novel at 30,000 words after it stalled out because I had letters to write. No regrets. None at all.

— 6 —

Just why… A friend of mine got these for her kids. She regrets it. Apparently, the envelope stank to high heaven. Just.. why do these things exist in the first place?!?!?!?

— 7 —

Minion update. Baby Blackpaw had his yearly vet visit on Tuesday. He was quiet in the car with the exception of giving me his order at Starbucks. (No, I did not buy him coffee. He steals mine.) He purred like a jet engine for his vet tech and vet until they trimmed his claws, at which point he started growling and hissing and meowing. He was doing all of this while trying to snort up the Cheez Whiz they put on the mat to distract him, so it sounded like he was saying “omnomnomnom!”

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: July 21, 2019

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For Today… July 21, 2019

Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window… sunny and in the 80’s. It’s also humid, which is not making me feel good. I don’t do heat well.

I am thinking… about my Camp NaNoWriMo piece. I’m around 3,000 words behind, so I think my character is going to have a long conversation or write a long letter.

I am thankful… for the opportunity to help with VBS for the last two weeks. I was washing dishes for it, and it was fun though exhausting!

Me in dishwashing clothes.

One of my favorite things… calm and quiet. It’s in short supply in these parts with Daniel.

I am wearing… my “All Together Now” shirt from Old Navy and jeans capris.

I am creating… my my Camp NaNoWriMo piece.

I am reading… Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchet. I’m just a few pages in but very much enjoying it.

I finished Inspired by Rachel Held Evans on our 3 (!!!!) hour drive home from Seattle last Tuesday. It was wonderful though bittersweet as it is her last book with her passing on May 4.

I am hoping… the intensive ABA therapy with Daniel works. We are really struggling here.

I am learning… that my sleep deprivation is at a point where my body is just dropping into sleep at night, regardless of my plans to get some writing done.

In my kitchen… Cherry Delicious, a cherry cobbler recipe where the crust is made with cake mix and butter. I made two pans of it for coffee hour this morning, and I think I had one serving left of the gluten-free pan. (It was as good as the regular one, though the crust wasn’t as soft.)

In the school room… Daniel has ESY this week and then he’s off until the first week of September.

Post Script… an excellent guide to tipping.

Shared Quote… “What I love about the Bible is that the story isn’t over. There are still prophets in our midst. There are still dragons and beasts. It might not look like it, but the Resistance is winning. The light is breaking through.
So listen to the weirdos. Listen to the voices crying from the wilderness. They are pointing us to a new King and a better kingdom.” – Rachel Held Evans, Inspired

A moment from my day…

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: VBS, Take Two! Edition

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

ICE Training. My VBS kids had to do ICE training this week, as in what to do if ICE knocks on their door. Many were born in the USA and have parents who are citizens. Others have some level of legality due to DACA, and there are still others where I am choosing not to know their status because it doesn’t actually make any difference to me. In any case, I am furious that the political climate is such that they have to be trained in this stuff at a place where they should be going to sing songs, do crafts, play games, and learn about Jesus.

This is similar to how I feel about kids having to have school shooting drills because we grown-ups cannot get our [expletive] together.

— 2 —

Happier topics. My kids knew me a bit better this week, and singing silly songs with them helped them to warm up to me a bit. A few of them would always come and say “hi” to me every day, and there were a couple of them who would attach themselves to my legs when they needed something.

One of them came to me with their counselor today and asked for a snack. Last week, one of the mission team grown-ups had told me about storing the Go-Gurts in the freezer in case one of my kiddos needed a treat, so I grabbed one and gave it to him. His smile was pretty fabulous. 🙂 I also got to make a special PBJ for a kid last week with similar results.

— 3 —

Daniel update. My wee bairn starts intensive behavior therapy next week and it goes for 12 weeks. The promise of having an end to the ear-piercing screaming, slamming of doors, and hitting me if he’s mad is pulling me through and keeping me from trading him for a goldfish.

Hopefully, we don’t have 12 weeks of commutes from Seattle like we had on Tuesday of this week. It took us THREE HOURS to go 60 miles. But Seattle TOTALLY doesn’t have traffic, yo! [/sarcasm]

— 4 —

Whoa… I fell down a Facebook rabbit hole today and found this. Apparently, there is a serious plan in place for what will happen when Queen Elizabeth II passes.

— 5 —

Camp NaNoWriMo progress. I’m currently ~2700 words behind the pace, but I can probably make it up this weekend if I can get some consistent writing time. If you’d like to help me catch up by letting me kill you off creatively in exchange for a donation to help refugees, click here.

— 6 —

Racism. Unless you live in your own little bubble, you’ve heard of 45’s racist tweets involving 4 female Congressmembers. I am not surprised that he said it, but I am definitely disgusted. All four of them are US citizens, and three of them were born in the USA. (Ilhan Omar wasn’t, but she became a citizen at 17.) Two of them have parents from the USA (AOC’s parents are Puerto Rican and Puerto Rico *IS* part of the USA), and all four of them pledged an oath to this country when they were sworn in as Congressmembers.

— 7 —

Speaking out against racism. You don’t have to start yelling and making a scene. Seriously, you don’t. When we were at the Autism Center on Tuesday, there were two women of Somali descent and they were in beautiful abayas with their heads covered. They had gone into the quiet room with their son, and Daniel and I went to go open and close doors elsewhere. When we came back, one of the dads made a catty remark about the women, who were sitting behind him. I smiled and told him that they were just fine. I didn’t yell — I just made it clear that I was not going to trash them. The dad blushed and refused to look at me the rest of the time until we were called in to see Daniel’s autism specialist.

The younger of the women and I ended up having a lovely conversation about our kids, and she told me about living in Nairobi where she was born.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: Why I’m Helping At VBS Edition

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7 Quick Takes

It’s week 1 of VBS at the Spanish-speaking mission attached to my congregation. We had a team from multiple churches in the diocese doing it this week as a mission trip, and I volunteered to help them in the kitchen. I’m not volunteering tomorrow (Daniel is off of school), so I thought I’d talk about WHY I’m helping this week.

Also, if you’d like to help refugees and give me some help in reaching my Camp NaNoWriMo word goals, my fundraiser for RAICES is here.

— 1 —

Because I have nothing better to do. My demon child has started ESY and I have four hours to myself. Why not go spend time on my sore feet in a steamy kitchen?

— 2 —

Because my First Aid skills needed a thorough retest. Apparently, I do know what to do if some idiot tosses 180F water on themselves… especially when *I* am that idiot. (The answer: strip every affected piece of clothing off and douse in cold water, except for my shirt because I didn’t want to be standing in the kitchen in my bra.)

— 3 —

Because I have fiendish plans for global domination by teaching everyone on earth the “Penguin Song”. Actually… I kind of do! (Not to mention, everyone loved it and it will now probably be sung at diocesan youth gatherings.)

— 4 —

Because the steam from the industrial dishwasher is a great facial. My skin is better this week, even if I’ve had to work without my glasses on to keep myself from being bat blind for several hours.

— 5 —

Because I get fed. I was going to be snarky about this one, but I’ve enjoyed having other people make me breakfast. It’s nice not having to make my own bacon… and I never make bacon for myself!

— 6 —

Because we had an amazing team putting on VBS this week. Last year, some of this group came in to do the food while next week’s team was doing the program. This year, it’s youth and adults from four different churches combining for the first week, and the bigger church coming and doing it next week. The combined group has been SO. MUCH. FUN! They all get into doing the Penguin Song with me, we brainstormed verses for “Boom-Chicka-Boom” today, and they have been super flexible with making things work for the kids.

— 7 —

Because these are the coolest kids in the world. I wish I could share pictures of the kids from this week because they are so precious. They are so happy to see me, they enjoy having fun, they say “please” and “thank you”, and some of them patiently taught me my colors and numbers in Spanish two years ago while playing UNO. It really saddens me that these are the kids who would be in the horrible conditions on the southern border, and they are one of the reasons I’m being so utterly vocal about the issue.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: Why You Should Support My Fundraiser for RAICES

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7 Quick Takes

I’m using my Camp NaNoWriMo novel to raise money for RAICES. If you don’t think what’s going on at the southern border is atrocious, read this. If you are feeling helpless in this situation, read this.

— 1 —

Because RAICES is actually on the ground and working in this situation. RAICES stands for Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. According to their “About Us” page:

RAICES is a frontline organization in the roiling debate about immigration and immigrants in the world. As an organization that combines expertise developed from the daily practice of immigration law with a deep commitment to advocacy, RAICES is unique among immigration organizations. A diverse staff of 130 attorneys, legal assistants, and support staff provide consultations, direct legal services, representation, assistance and advocacy to communities in Texas and to clients after they leave the state. In 2017, RAICES staff closed 51,000 cases at no cost to the client. Our advocacy and commitment to change are driven by the clients and families we serve every day as our attorneys and legal assistants provide legal advocacy and representation in an immigration system that breaks apart families and leaves millions without pathways to legal status.

In other words, they provide the services necessary to help the situation.

— 2 —

Because I need people to kill off interestingly in my novel. It’s a murder mystery and I’ve had people ask to be killed off interestingly every time I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo. Starting the second time I participated, I’ve asked for a donation to charity in exchange for me making that person one of my victims. We’ve had drive-by scythings, we’ve had someone killed by poison in the chalice during Communion, we’ve had various types of tainted food, someone has spontaneously combusted on a waterslide… (Apparently, I need to find a friend group that doesn’t like slasher movies?) If I didn’t have people to kill off, I’d have to start killing off characters based on people I actually like.

— 3 —

Because it helps out people who are in an impossible situation. People don’t randomly decide to leave everything and walk through multiple countries to get to a place. For example, my dad’s family left Ireland to escape the famine, got to America where the harbor was closed to their ship, sailed up the St. Lawrence River into Canada, and came across the border from there. (I’ve actually seen my great-great-grandfather’s citizenship papers where he forswears his loyalty to Queen Victoria, who was the monarch over Ireland at that time as Ireland was part of the UK.) Our currently impossible citizenship process was much different at the time, or I would probably be writing this from somewhere in British Columbia.

— 4 —

Because the ones suffering the most are children. Some idiot on Fox News made the comment that it’s not like this is happening in Idaho and that these are not OUR children. I find that statement reprehensible. Imagine your child being taken from you and put in a place like that. THESE KIDS DID NOT ASK FOR THIS TO HAPPEN TO THEM! We as a country have a horrible history of doing this with the babies of slaves (they weren’t the babies of the slave-owning families) and Native Americans (we sent them to boarding schools where they were severely abused and forced to give up their culture). WE NEED TO BE BETTER THAN THIS!

— 5 —

Because our Lord commands us to not abuse foreigners. Here is an article that lays all of that out beautifully with Scriptural citations. Also, people get hissy about helping Syrian refugees because they’re Muslim… so I hope those people (misguided as they are) might consider helping because THESE REFUGEES AND ASYLEES ARE CATHOLICS.

— 6 —

Because it’s personal for me. I know a family who was separated and united. The son was sent to Texas, the husband was sent to Arizona, and the mom was sent to Washington. She somehow ended up in my area and came to my church. With the help of the Diocese, we were able to get legal help to get everyone back together. The family is lovely and the son is doing spectacularly in school in the local dual-language immersion program.

— 7 —

Because it’s fun. You get to pick how you die and I will send you whatever I write about your death. RAICES gets necessary funds to do the amazing work they do and can help in this situation, while you get a small piece of fiction written about you.

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.