Tag Archives: NaNoWriMo

No…No NaNo…

Posted on November 1, 2012 | 8 Comments

I made the decision Wednesday afternoon.  At that point there was still time to change my mind and that fact nagged me.  I waffled a few more times…the wishy washy kind of waffle not the other kind.  Then…since Halloween was called off in our town and we knew we wouldn’t be here on Saturday when they would be holding Halloween….We Ate Candy…

Not a very adult way of handling it and not a very conscious Weight Watchers way, either, but I got over it…

I decided that I was Not going to participate in National Novel Writing Month this year.  I had participated last year and I enjoyed it so much.  I got closer to several of my blog friends by joining in a writer’s circle with them and I hope they allow me to still participate in that with them so I can stay posted on how they’re doing.  I felt a great sense of accomplishment. 

As I said before, I even had an idea this year, but… I’m not completely sure why I decided as I did.  I think the real reason is, I’ve started working on sorting and packing and that needs to continue.  I can write stories in my mind as I work, then write them down when I’m finished with each day’s project.  I like that idea.

I also feel that I’m accomplishing something else at this time.  I’m back to meditating.  In fact as soon as I finish posting, I will be meditating.  Today will be day number four.  I will probably see what time of day will work best for me, I think first thing in the morning is good.  If I can keep myself organized to have my posts written the previous afternoon, I can meditate as soon as I get up, then work on the computer.  I like the feel of that.  I’ll let you know how it works.

The bad news is that I think I’m catching Ralph’s cold.  The good news is, I will actually do what the doctor suggested.  As soon as he wakes up and tells me where he put the Zicam, I will start with that.  I’ll also keep drinking the honey/lemon/ginger combo.  It’s about two-thirds gone because Ralph has decided he likes it!  With that and the chicken soup I made that he loved…two wins for me!

Although I will not be NaNo-ing this year…in solidarity with my NaNo Sisters and Brothers…

I dug my NaNoWriMo mug out of the cupboard.  I figured it would make me feel a little better about my decision.  Once you’ve completed NaNoWriMo, you’re always part of the club! 

Part of meditation is visualization.  I will be visualizing myself participating in NaNoWriMo next year…In New Mexico!!

Happy Thursday!!  Good luck to all in my NaNoWriMo family!! You can do it!

 

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Waffling and Wobbling

Posted on October 27, 2012 | 10 Comments

No…not THAT kind of waffles!!  Last year, I participated in National Novel Writing Month.  It’s a crazy thing where (crazy!) people attempt (and many times succeed) in writing a 50,000 word novel during the month of November.  I jumped in without thinking too hard about it, by signing up on October 31.  Had no idea what I was doing or going to do but I completed the challenge in 3 weeks!  I was fairly impressed with myself.

This year, I had decided mid-summer that I was going to participate.  I even have an idea and was planning to start writing a short outline this week in order to be ready.  But now…

I can’t decide if I still want to do it.  I need to focus and devote time to working on my sorting and packing and getting this show on the road!  I’ve been pretty successful so far with getting things accomplished and I want that to continue.

I will have to adjust things somewhere if I plan to fit in NaNoWriMo.  When I think about it, I haven’t been sleeping anyway so I could fit it in during the wee hours when it’s just me and the Moon up.  I could trim some other activities, less time spent on Facebook (I’ve been trying for that anyway!)  Time spent reading other blogs…I could adjust that for the time of NaNoWriMo.  Reading in general…No…not willing to give that up!

I have less than a week to make the decision.  I wish I only had 1 day like I did last year…it made the decision easier!  This gives me Way to much time to change my mind…then change my mind…then change my mind again.  That’s the problem with being a Libra….wishy-washy…  (My favorite joke about Libras has always been…We’re not wishy-washy…Are we??)

Haven’t talked much about Weight Watchers and my food choices this week.  I think I’m on track, but I’m really not sure what will happen when I step on that scale this morning…as long as I don’t hear…”Boing!”  I guess I’ll be ok.

A busy day awaits me including a birthday gathering this evening…No, not for me…  :-(    but since my Birthday Month is almost over and I haven’t celebrated lately…I think I’m going to consider it a co-birthday party!  What do ya think?!?  ;-)

Thought I’d share some sunrise pictures I forgot to share earlier in the week.

Let’s see what the day has to offer!

Happy Saturday!!

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Veggies and Leftovers and a Little NaNoWriMo

Posted on December 1, 2011 | 22 Comments

I always get a little thrown off after WIAW!  I forget where I did what and when!  I guess I could look at my Weight Watcher’s journal, but that’s never near me when I’m posting…Anyway!

Since I was able to get to the produce stand earlier in the week, I am back on the all things veggie bandwagon.  I feel so much better when I have all my veggies here and ready to be cooked up.  I planned on doing some roasting, but I’m cooking them up so fast that I may need to shop before I roast!

The usual characters showed up for this veggie combo.  Garlic, tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, canned black beans and a new member of the cast, red quinoa which I talked about yesterday.

All cooking up happily together

I was given custody of the leftover succotash from Thanksgiving (ask me if I’m happy?!?) so I added about three-quarters of a cup.  Pardon me while I take a moment to do my happy dance.

Topped off with some mozzarella cheese and sriracha sauce.  I keep forgetting that I bought some of the garlic chili sauce from the same company.  Need to give it a try.

After opening the can of black beans I used for the last two days, I realized they are not very good compared to my home made beans, so…

Dragged out the old crock pot and a bag o’ beans and got to work.  Made a save a step realization.  If I soak the beans IN the crock pot, I don’t have to wash an extra pot…DUH!!  I still have to rinse the beans of the soaking water, but that’s easy enough.  The picture above turned into this container of wonderfulness…

It makes me happy!

In other leftover news…my wonderful sister Ele gave me a chubby little container of her home-made cranberry orange relish along with everything else she gave us.  I wondered what I could do with it.  It was all mine because Ralph only likes the kind in the can.

Enter oatmeal!

This was just delicious!  Never thought of it before, but believe me, I’ll think of it again!

Now on to NaNoWriMo news!  Having completed the challenge, I thought I deserved a treat.

Ordered myself a NaNoWriMo Winner’s tee-shirt!  Did I need it, well no…Did I feel I deserved it… Well YES!!!  It’s actually a very nice tee-shirt. It’s a dark heathery grey and very soft.  And then there was this…

A NaNoWriMo coffee mug.  It’s like the Fall one that Ele got me that I like so much, now I’ll have one for year round.

I love what it says on the back…”Write First, Ask Questions Later.”  I love it!  All I have to do now is print out my Winner’s Certificate and I’m Official.  (Gotta get my printer working first :-(   )

It’s a beautiful sunny day out this morning.  Chilly but we’ll take it if it sunny and clear.  I have a lot of things I want to do today.  I’m trying to focus.  Always an issue for me.  Just do it and ask questions later!!

Happy Thursday!! (This week has Flown!  Can’t believe it’s Thursday already!)

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Plan Of Attack

Posted on November 29, 2011 | 18 Comments

Good Morning, All!  I decided yesterday that it was truly time to get back on track with my efforts with Weight Watchers.  Now is the time because as the weeks creep on toward Christmas and the New Year, I need to be on top of my game.  I had been doing so well, getting below my Weight Watchers goal and even below my personal goal.  I want to be there again.  No one is keeping me from achieving that but me.  I’ve lost my focus and I need to get it back.

That’s actually something that I’ve learned from working on the NaNoWriMo project.  I don’t think I believed I could do it when I started.  I had no concept of what 50,000 words were in terms of time spent writing them, in terms of number of pages.  I had no clue.  I had no idea how to arrange my time to accomplish it.  But I figured it out.  There really wasn’t all that much allotment of time needed. I would write in the morning for a while after posting on BCDC and then for a while in the afternoon.  I focused on it and I accomplished it.  I can’t say how excited I was to complete it and a week early!  I never expected that.  I haven’t worked on it for a few days and I must say, I miss my characters and I want to get back to it.

But for now I’ll share this with all of you…

Yup!  That’s me.  A Winner!!  After you post your novel to the NaNoWriMo web site, you get this!  I’m pretty excited about it.  It’s gotten me started and I really have to thank Stephanie at Love Life Project.  She’s the one who encouraged me to do this.  Well, actually, she threw down the gauntlet saying she was diving in, who was with her?  I decided to be with her and I’m so glad I did.  Thanks, Stephanie, you are the best!

So back to my Plan of Attack on Weight Watchers.  I have been off track because I didn’t really have the right things in the house which is my fault and no one else’s.  If the right food is here and ready for me to make the right choices, I will make the right choices.

Monday morning, my first project was to get to the produce stand.  I now feel ready to begin.

So many goodies!

Spinach, romaine lettuce, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, red delicious apples for Ralph and Portobello mushrooms!  I think there is roasting in my future.  I have come to enjoy the roasted veggies so much.  I got all of this for $14.75!  Pretty good!  As I look at it now, I should have gotten some onions and garlic to add into the roasting.  I can pick those up today. 

I realized over the last few weeks that I’ve missed my salads and roasted veggie combos.  They are so tasty and they’re part of what helped me stay on track.  I am back to it today.  My big salad or veggie combo for dinner helps me to be less inclined toward snacking in the evening. 

Three meals a day is also important.  I’m trying to get back to that as well.  As the week goes on, I’ll be more specific on my plan.

I also got back on my stationary bike on Monday.  It felt so good and I love the fact that it gives me time to read. I’ve missed that too!

I woke up this morning to pouring rain outside in the dark.  Not too long after as I was working on the computer, I realized it was getting light out.  What did I find, but this…

I love that gnarly old tree!  I think it’s going to be a beautiful day!

Happy Tuesday!!

 

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Another Weekend, Another Birthday!

Posted on November 28, 2011 | 25 Comments

It seems as though lately, the birthdays are never-ending.  But that’s a good thing!

Sunday we were off to celebrate the birthday of our wonderful little nephew, Jesse who turned Two last week.  It’s a fun age for a birthday party especially when you have a creative Mom to make it even more fun.  The theme of the party …

Elmo!!

Elmo!!

Can we all say ELMO!!!

These were the cutest cupcakes I’ve ever seen!

My problem was…The Birthday Boy was too fast for my slow camera!  He was facing me when I started to take this one!

This is Jesse with his beautiful Mom, our niece, Marie.  Marie told me I wasn’t allowed to take her picture.  I got this one by accident so it doesn’t count.  ;-) I like the happy, startled look on her face!

The man of the hour!

Finally a smile!  Too bad the soda bottles were in the way!

You’ve heard of the Full Monty…well this is the Full Elmo!!

Opening Presents!

Laughing with his pretty Mom!  Don’t be mad, Marie!  You look beautiful!

As we were leaving, the start of a beautiful sunset through the tall pine trees.

This morning, a beautiful sunrise.  It was strange.  The photos were not taken looking at the sunrise.  The color was reflected in different areas in the sky.

I’m so lucky to get these shots.  I try never to miss the opportunity. :-)

Lots to do today.  I’m about to send my NaNoWriMo project to them to be validated!!  I can’t believe I actually completed it.  In December, I’ll get the chance to re-read and edit and see if this is The Book I want to work on, or start again with something new.  It’s been a cool adventure so far.  Now to see where it takes me.

Happy Monday!!!

 

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The Day After The Day

Posted on November 26, 2011 | 12 Comments

Friday morning started with a beautiful sunrise. 

I love it when the day starts that way. 

It was kind of a lazy day.  I did get back to work on my NaNoWriMo project.  I didn’t do any work on it Thursday and I have to be honest, I missed it!  I missed my characters and I was happy to get back to getting all involved in their lives again.  I did an additional 1260 words for a current total of 51,336.  Now I have to figure out how to post it to the NaNo website so that I get credit for what I did!

Friday night we were at Ele’s house again.  We had more company and things were more laid, just pizza and salad.

I had two plates of salad like this.  One included a slice of pizza but that was all.  I was proud of myself for that.

I also had a piece each of Ele’s yummy gingerbread and apple cake.  Really good.

Some people got caught eating pumpkin pie with whipped cream…can you guess?!

Smiling visitors…

Carrie and Patrick

Diann and Terri.  We were so glad they could all come to visit!  It was a lovely evening.

There was also a cool sunset…

This morning another beautiful sunrise…

I was grateful for the beautiful sunrise.  I needed something cheery because when I got to Weight Watchers, I had a gain.  I was up by 3.4 pounds. ;-(  I wasn’t happy, but my eating was very much off track last week.  I will not allow that to happen this week.  We’ll be at Ele’s again tonight for left overs.  I’ll have to be on my best behavior!

Now to figure out how to post my novel to the NaNoWriMo website!!

Happy Saturday!!

1260/51,336

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Give Thanks and Be Joyful

Posted on November 24, 2011 | 21 Comments

I had hoped to have a wonderful, thoughtful post prepared for Thanksgiving.  I wanted to list the five or the ten things for which I am grateful.  There are so many things to be thankful for today.  If I dive right in it may make sense even without much preparation.

1.  I am grateful for the wonderful people in my life.  Ralph, my sister Ele, my sweet nephew, Michael, my friends Gail and Alice. I am grateful for Ralph’s family too. I have grandchildren because of Ralph and it is a wonderful gift.  I am grateful for Ralph’s sisters, especially Maddie, my biggest cheerleader next to my own sister. 

2. I am thankful for my good health.  I am thankful for what I’ve learned from the Weight Watchers program.  Through this I have been able to reach and maintain this level of health. 

3. I am thankful to all of you who come to read Broken Cookies Don’t Count each day and to share your thoughts and your lives with me.  I feel I have an even wider circle of people for whom I must be thankful.  You have all made me feel that what I do here has meaning.  Even when I have a hard time expressing what I want to say, as is the case today.

4.  I am thankful for the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  On November 1, I started on a project that at that time was a whim which I thought was an impossible goal.  To write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days.  I never thought I could complete it by November 30 but I was willing to give it a try. As of yesterday November 23, I have completed 50,076 words. 

I can’t believe I have gotten to the goal and a week early.  I’m not bragging, I’m as stunned as you are.  It’s funny, considering all that I need to do today because of the holiday and the fact that I don’t need to write today, my fingers are itching to continue.  Is it a finished novel?  Not by the stretch of anyone’s imagination.  But it is so much more than what I started with.  I’m going to continue writing.  I can’t post it to the NaNoWriMo site until Friday so I might as well keep at it.  I do intend to continue working on it beyond that.  Will this be the first novel I attempt to publish? Probably not, but I’ve learned so much from it.  Most of all, I’ve learned not to be afraid of a blank page and a challenge.  I know now that when I set my mind to it, I can do it.

There are so many other things for which I am thankful. 

The Sunrises

And Sunsets in New Mexico.  We’ll be there soon.

The incredible Fall we’ve had here in New Jersey.

I am a very lucky person.  I am grateful for so many things.  As I think about it, I don’t think I have to tell you all what I’m grateful for.  I tell you every day. 

So Thanks to all of you out there in the world of Blogs and those of you who still aren’t quite sure where all of this is coming from.  It doesn’t matter, you all enrich my life.  Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2337/50,076!!

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Bowl Me Over…It’s WIAW!!

Posted on November 23, 2011 | 34 Comments

Good Morning, Everyone!  Is this our favorite day of the week?  Well, if it’s not, it’s pretty darn close.  What day is it??  What I Ate Wednesday of course!!

Peas and Crayons

That’s the day when all of the fun happens over at Peas & Crayons presented by the lovely Jenn!  When you’re finished getting your fill here at BCDC, please wander over to P & C to read some blogs, get some ideas and leave many comments!  Don’t just be a lurker…everyone likes to know that you’ve visited!  It’s fun, I tell you!

It seemed that the foods I wanted to share with you all happened in a bowl, hence the title…Bowl Me Over!

Monday night I was very hungry for some reason.  I wanted pasta, but pasta meant some waiting time.  I started with a ready-made but very delicious salad.

It was actually the side salad that came with Ralph’s dinner on Sunday night.  He doesn’t like the way Picasso’s makes the side salad.  I happen to think it’s delicious and since they gave me extra balsamic vinaigrette, I was perfectly happy to do away with it while I waited for my pasta to cook.

I was turning whole wheat rotini pasta into what we call in our family “stinky feet” pasta.  It gets that name because of the Locatelli cheese that we use.  It tastes delicious regardless of how it smells.  I made it with some of the special olive oil I got in St. Petersburg this summer from the Kalamazoo Olive Company.  The variety I used was Tuscan Herb.  It was so good.  All you do is cook the pasta and drain it, then you add the amount of olive oil you like.  Then you sprinkle with the cheese.  I also like to add some crushed red pepper flakes.

Mix it all together and it is just the best.  I think I love it because it is so simple.  It also tastes good!

Tuesday morning I was up early working on NaNoWriMo.  I knew I had a busy day ahead of me and I wanted to add as much to my word count as possible because I wasn’t sure if I’d have a chance to get back to it later in the day.  I also figured I needed breakfast early for the same reason.  I put together something that I love.

It looks a little strange I realized.  It’s cottage cheese and apple butter.  It probably sounds a little strange to some people too.  However, it is very tasty.  So sweet and creamy that it tastes decadent although it’s not.  It’s something I’ve loved for a long time although I’m usually hard pressed to convince other people.

I took it into the computer and ate while I worked.

That’s my view lately.  I’m kind of liking the view I think!  So as you can see, I’ve been a little bowled over, but I keep working!

Now don’t forget to make your way over to Peas & Crayons see what’s happening and say hi to all of the fun people.  They love to hear from you as much as I do!

I’ve got to get some more work done on my novel.  Enjoy your day!

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!

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Monday…Where Am I?

Posted on November 22, 2011 | 16 Comments

Monday was one of those scattered days.  It seemed that every time I tried to be one place I needed to be someplace else.  Guess there are just days like that.  Dazed and confused, that’s me.

We started out on a fun adventure.  My favorite nephew, Little Michael was visiting with my sister, Ele for the weekend.  We hadn’t had the chance to get together so we decided to go to breakfast on Monday.  Michael got to choose as usual.  His choice…Dunkin’ Donuts!  Trust me, no one complained about his choice.

We really like going to the local DD.  Not too many people seem to want to sit for any length of time and we can sit there as long as we like.  The coffee is good (Duh!) and I’m not in danger of buying any books (can you say Barnes & Noble!)  So Ralph, Ele, Little Michael and I piled in the car.  I could have had a breakfast that was more on Program, but I sure enjoyed this.  Simple, sometimes that’s all you need.

A cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese (next time I have to ask them to be light with the cream cheese) and gingerbread spice coffee. Great big Yum!

Uncle Ralph and Little Michael.  I love this picture!

Michael munching away at his bagel.

Ele and Ralph

It was lots of fun.  When we were finished, Ele and Michael talked me into going with them to a place called Five Below.  It’s a great place for kids and everything is $5 or less.  Very good.  We looked around.  Michael got a few things and I was able to get a birthday present for a party I’m going to on Sunday.  Good deal!  We then realized that the new Dollar Tree had opened in the same shopping center.  Very clean and spacious.  We always need another dollar store!

Michael with one of the treasures Grummy bought him at Five below.

The set had a whole collection of them…a little creepy…Smarmy McSmarmalson.  We love him anyway!

When I finally got home, I got to work on NaNoWriMo.  I think I’m getting to the home stretch on this project and I’m pretty excited about it.   I was able to get in 2148 words for a total of…

I wish I had found this handy little widget sooner, but I can enjoy it now.  Still 8 days to go before the deadline, I’m happy!

While working I was forced to eat a Huge oatmeal cookie that Ralph had bought at Dunkin’ Donuts…

With my afternoon cup of tea, it was very good.

The day seemed more disjointed than it does now that I write about it.  Never the less we got through it!  I have to do some grocery shopping this morning for Thanksgiving things and it’s raining. :-(  Why is it I hate grocery shopping in the rain?  I just do.   Then we’re off to celebrate Alice’s birthday. Should be fun! 

Happy Tuesday!!

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Blogging and Shopping and Writing

Posted on November 21, 2011 | 14 Comments

On Sunday I was up early (good early, not middle of the night early) and ready to go.  I posted on BCDC and got right into work on NaNoWriMo.  I have to admit that I am impressed with my own dedication to this project. I’m learning a lot about the writing process and about myself as a writer.  In both cases I like what I’m learning.

Gail, Alice and I had planned to go on another trip to the Christmas Tree Shop in the morning.  We we were out by about 10am.  We were meeting our friend Margot there and planning on lunch after.  Although the parking lot looked full when we got there, it was not too bad inside.  I hate crowds and was not looking forward to it for that reason.  I’m sure if we were there later in the day it would have been impossible.

I got a few treasures while there.

I hear everyone talk about Peanut Butter & Co. but I haven’t had the chance to try it.  The cinnamon raisin swirl sucked me in.  I got some Chili Garlic Sauce made by the company that makes sriracha sauce.  Also a jar of bay leaves.  It’s soup season and I’m out of them.  All of these were much less expensive than I would have gotten them at the grocery store.  Christmas Tree Shop has lots of reduced price foods.  My helpful check out lady also told me about another shop in that general area that is similar to Christmas Tree Shop in pricing but with additional merchandise.  We’re planning a trip there when we get the chance.

I also got some pretty things.

Two pretty bowls that will be good for oatmeal or soup and a flat plate that will be good for wraps or sandwiches.  I like to have pretty things to use to photograph my foods but I don’t like to spend a lot of money.  The bowls were $1.69 each and the plate was $1.99.  I also got another set of the little ceramic spoons I had gotten last time we were there.  I was happy with my purchases.

For lunch we went to…Say it with me…Taco Bell.  I don’t actually get tired of eating there.  It’s tasty and it certainly is reasonable.  $2.33 for two hard tacos.  Pretty good.  I just didn’t think that you needed to see another shot of Taco Bell tacos!  ;-)

I worked hard on my novel when I got home and then Ralph decided that we were hungry. ;-)   We decided on Picasso’s Pizza and since we were both working on projects we decided to have it delivered.  I love Picasso’s for one thing that they have, the mixed cheese salad.

Regular salad things, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and sweet peppers topped with American, provolone and mozzarella cheese.  I love that they like to give me extra of their balsamic vinaigrette.  I get to use it again.

I take it out of the container and mix it all around.  It is so delicious and we also like Picasso’s because they are so reasonably priced.  Ralph never eats the side salad that comes with his dinner so I have that to eat too.  Sounds like lunch to me!

I felt really good about my word count for Sunday.  I found a fun widget on the NaNoWriMo web site to tell you my total.  My daily word count was 2438.  My current total is…

Pretty cool.  I’m excited and as I’ve said all along, I can’t actually believe I’m accomplishing this.  I’m proud of myself. 

Ralph and I are off in a little while for breakfast with Ele and our special celebrity guest, Little Michael.  We always have a good time together.  I think there might be Dunkin’ Donuts in our future.

Happy Monday!  Stay Productive and Have Fun!

2438/43,405

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