I don't believe in curses, I don't believe in curses....

I do feel a bit guilty about not posting, on the other hand, November is when I am huddled up in my Writing cave for NaNoWriMo, and any other writing done during that time feels like words taken away from my novel!

I've been thinking about making a post, but it's been hard to actually sit down and do it. So, in the spirit of NaNoWriMo, I'm giving myself a time limit, a word goal, and I'll just sit down and write!

Can I just say that I'm a little freaked out by this month? I purposely don't schedule things in November, I try to plan as little as possible to leave plenty of time to write. This year, I am working on a project that I'm really excited about. It's a story that I started last year but I've been outlining and doing more research hoping to put together a more coherent draft. Despite the fact that this is my fifth year doing Nanowrimo, I have never felt so much resistance, not just from myself; my own doubts, fears, struggles with procrastination; but the circumstances around me. It sometimes feels like there are some sinister forces at work, conspiring to keep me from winning!

To illustrate, here is my NaNoWriMo week by week recap:

Week 1

Ahead on my word count, I decided to play outside in the leaves with the boys. While raking, Miles accidentally whacks his brother with the sharp end of the rake!

ER for four hours- Stitches :(

Week 2

Both kids got food poisoning.

DO NOT eat at the Chinese and Thai food place in Ringwood...just no.

be grateful I have no pictures for this one.

Week 3

Skylar never fully recovered from the food poisoning and as a result ended up in the hospital AGAIN, this time for Ileus, or bowel obstruction/paralysis. We were admitted this time and spent two nights in the children's hospital.

Except for the first day when he was on the IV, and wasn't allowed to eat or drink, he had a pretty good time. I couldn't get him to leave the playroom after we were discharged and had to bribe him with some of the free cookies in the family lounge. (If only the adult hospitals had free cookies and play rooms!)

Now this is the really freaking part, before we took Skylar to the hospital for the second time, I wrote a scene that took place in a children's hospital! Thanks for the immersion experience, Universe, I definitely got some good material, but next time I'll just use my imagination!

In all of this though, I kept writing, and surprisingly only fell behind a few times. I am on track now to sail right through week four and claim my victory on the 30th. The way things are going though, I can only imagine what this next week will bring. There are already ominous reports about the weather. Send out your prayers for us for a safe drive to and from PA to visit my family over Thanksgiving, choking on a turkey bone, burning my hand on a pie plate, and any and all hazards you can think of! Don't worry, I am bringing an extra roll of bubble wrap for the kids.

Happy Thanksgiving.

We eventually got to play in the leaves!