Top 10 Most Popular Posts at Lunacy

The infamous Ben who was born in the car on I-70!

The infamous Alex who thankfully slept through the whole thing (at home)!

It's been a busy week here on Lunacy.  Ever since Gabrielle's link (over at Design Mom) to my "birth in the car story," thousands of people have been reading about Ben's untimely and hilarious birth.  I've also had lots of questions about my blogging, my writing and my life in general. One of the most common questions is: Where can I read more posts like this one?  To better your reading enjoyment at Lunacy, I've compiled a list of the Top Ten Posts from throughout the four years I've been blogging.  Enjoy!

1. Is That My Uterus in That Taurus? - The story of my second son's birth on I-70, America's busiest highway.
2. Chocolate Chip Cookie Wars - A glimpse into my neurotic life and in which I clearly determine the definition of fair and equitable sharing of chocolate.
3. Is That a VW on My Uterus? - The story of my first son's birth.  Not nearly as exciting as Ben's birth, but for those of you who love birth stories (like me), you'll love reading about the Potty Parade here.
4. Cover Your Ears - The story of my two children (age 4 and 2) who are destined to embarrass me at the grocery store by inadvertently turning Bob the Builder and Saltine crackers into dirty words.
5. Lie To Me. I Promise, I'll Believe You - The day that I discovered that becoming a mother has turned me into a pathological liar.  Who knew? Does that happen to all of us?
6. Shopping for Fish-Fishing for Compliments - Did you know that you can define your place in life by which checker you choose at the grocery store? At least I can.
7. As I Lay Dying - A recap of some of those little, but truly amazing moments in life that make you lose your breath for just a second.
8. I'd Like To Thank the Academy - My first foray into community theater.  Ever feel like the dorky girl with the braces and the poodle skirt on her sweater from Sixteen Candles? You're not alone.
9. All About Me - A 100 item list? Cliche, I know. But sometimes you have to bow to the peer pressure that those dang memes create and write the list.  Read mine and you'll get to hear about lightening strikes, close calls with trains, high school cheerleaders and foods that make you gag.
10. I Think God Is In the Kitchen... - My restaurant recommendations from across the globe.  Not sure why people care where someone else has eaten, but I get lots of comments on this one, as well.  I think that people love to rally around a really amazing restaurant.

Speaking of food, here's one bonus entry.  With all of the crazy stories I've had in my life, more people want to know about my Cheddar and Ale Soup recipe than my near-death experiences in Bolivia.  Go figure.  Enjoy!

Busy, busy, holiday busy...

I'm been remiss in blogging for, oh, about a month.  Life got the best of me with holiday happenings.  Lots of shopping, cooking, entertaining, skiing, wrapping, laughing and good times shared.  I'd say the blogging break was worth it just to spend the time with family and friends.

Now it's back to real life.  I have a lot of things on the docket for 2010.  Not resolutions, just a lot going on personally and professionally.  Here's the latest run-down:

I was selected to be a guest blogger for the new Colorado Ski Mamas tour being sponsored by Colorado Ski Country.

I'll be heading out to Powderhorn Ski Resort in late January or early February to enjoy a fun ski weekend with the family.  This opportunity is perfect for me because I love discovering little tips that make mothering easier - particularly when it comes to mothering on the ski slopes.  I'll be blogging and tweeting about the exeperience.  Stay tuned for an update on the all of the fun adventures in Mesa/Grand Junction, Colorado.

I just finished a revision on my brother's blog template.  Check it out here.  I love the slideshow header with rotating images.  Trying to come up with a way to incorporate this into my own blog design.  I'm itching for an excuse to redesign my template anyway, so perhaps this technique will be the starting point.

I'm editing a book for an amazingly talented colleague of mine, Mike Strunk. He is a photographer and writer who is finishing up his second coffee-table photography book.  His photographs are stunning.  I proudly display his first book, Potraits of Preservation, on my own coffee table.  And I can't wait for Butch Cassidy and Outlaw Trail to be complete in the next few months.  You can check out all of Mike's work, including photos and excerpts from both books, here.

After an extremely productive November thanks to NaNoWriMo, I cranked out half of my novel, Sliver of Souls (working title - still not sure what it's going to be called.)  I had every intention of finishing it in December, but then life at the holidays happened.  So, January is the month that I'm back on track to crank out another half. I can't wait to see what Maggie and her cohorts do next.

Just picked up a new story assignment for Purina about rescue dogs and their owners who are involved in agility competitions.  I love writing these stories for Purina's publications, and I get to meet some amazing people in the process. True animal lovers are some of the most passionate and caring people in the world.

I've been in the midst of assisting with the planning of my husband's 20th high school reunion.  I just finished a very down-and-dirty web design for their class to track RSVPs, etc.  You can check it out here.

Lots of other professional activities - a strategic planning session this month, two more website redesigns and a new travel brochure layout for a local travel organization.  The year is starting off to be a busy one, and I'm focusing on taking it one day at a time.  Tomorrow is the beginning of Alex's Mini-Moutaineer program at Echo Mountain ski school.  Shoud be a great day for all those little skiers.

NaNoWriMo 2009 Winner

I did it.  I clocked it on November 29 with 50,167 words.  And it felt good but a little anti-climactic.  I'm definitely proud of myself.  I've never had the dedication to slog through 50,000 words in one sitting - or 26 sittings, as the case may be.  But the book is only halfway finished, so if I keep up with my word count, the true celebration will be on December 31, 2009 with a completed first draft.

NaNoWriMo was an amazing experience and one that I'm sure I will repeat year after year now that I've discovered its benefits.  Things that I've learned:

1) I do have the discipline to write at least 1,667 words a day - every day.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I tend to build up steam and take off on projects full speed ahead.  Then on day four or five, I lose momentum and end up abadoning the project.  Not so in this case.  In fact, even when I skipped a day (or two when we had friends in town on the second to last weekend), I still had the willpower to face the keyboard the next day.

2) I can make the time in my day to crank out 1,667 words.  In fact, using Write or Die, I managed to crank out an average of 1,800 words a day in 45 minutes.  I used the online program and set the settings to Normal Mode with a Strict Grace Period.  I did three word sprints each night at 600 word for 15 minutes each.  At the end of each 15 minute sprint I pasted my words into my Word document, saved, took a breath and reset Dr. Wicked for the next sprint.

3) These were not quality words, but they moved the story along.  And in the midst of the ramblings that will surely be cut in the second draft, some gems appeared. Whether it was a secondary storyline or a small scene that really worked.

4) Dialogue is my comfort zone.  If I'm taking all the time in the world to write, I can create some good descriptve passages, but when I'm sprinting through wordcount, dialogue is a natural place for me to settle.  My dialogue scenes help me work out character development.  How a person talks tells me a lot about their personality.  With each of the characters I've created - even the minor ones - I can hear a distinct voice.  The conversations also help me reveal backstory and move a scene along.  When I go back to edit, the dialogue passages will need to be significantly tighter, but for now it's a good tool to move the plot along.

5) The biggest obstacle for me is fear.  Every time I sat down at the keyboard, I had to recognize that I was scared.  Scared that I was wasting time on a pile of dreck, scared that was creating a document that would prove to the world that I'm incapable of writing fiction, scared that I was jumping into a great abyss not knowing where the story was going or how I would find my way out.  I had to acknowledge this fear and type in spite of it. And believe me, that's not an easy thing to do. 

6) But at the end of every night's session, I was energized.  I typed through the fear and somehow emerged at the other end. Things happened in the scenes that I could never have predicted, a character took on a personality that I hadn't imagined.  Standing on the other side of fear is much better than being too scared to give something a try.  I may not always feel talented or creative at the end of a writing session, but at least I feel brave.  And when it comes to greater life lessons, brave means a lot more to me than creative.

7) Although I didn't have very much interaction in the NaNoWriMo forums, something about knowing that other people were slogging along with me was spirit-boosting.  When I sat down last night to crank out my first set of words for SaNoWriMo (Sara's Novel Writing Month - i.e, December), I suddenly felt very alone. Sure there were a lot of writers out there still writing, but the cameraderie was gone.  It took every ounce of my new-found writer's bravery to continue putting words on the page.  But, I did it!

NaNoWriMo came to a triumphant, albeit quiet, close. And SaNoWriMo began with a new found tenacity and bravery that I didn't know I had.

NaNoWriMo :: Day 18

Word Count: 30,684
Morale: Off the charts

What a great writing night.  Everything just flowed. Some nights I worry so much about the structure of it all.  Worried that people are talking too much, worried that flashbacks are cliche, worried that this whole effort is nothing but a playful whim that won't be fit for human eyes at the end of it all.

Tonight, there was no worrying - just amazing writing. I learned lots of new things that I didn't plan for.  For example, Maggie's grandfather died of cirrhosis due to his alcoholism.  He was an alcoholic?  Didn't know that until tonight when I was writing.  And in Maggie's recollection of him from her childhood, I wrote what is possibly my favorite scene so far.  All of the writing advice out there talks about "show, don't tell."  That statement is always drumming in the back of my head while I'm writing (along with Fall Out Boy and Single File drumming in my head while I'm writing, too).  This seen tonight was the epitome of "show, don't tell" and I didn't even have to think about it while I was typing.

Maggie and her sister are now on a quest for a hidden pond on the family farm, and Maggie's had some huge discoveries about these voices that she's been hearing.  I could keep writing all night, but I'm afraid if I go too far tonight, it will be like pulling teeth to get the words out tomorrow. I'd prefer to stop while I'm in the groove and go watch "Glee."

Happy writing to all.  As I said before, the good golf shots are the ones that keep you coming back.  This shot tonight was a hole in one.  I'll definitely be coming back to the NaNo game tomorrow.

NaNoWriMo :: Day 10 (The Day of Dialogue)

Day 10 Wordcount : 17,055

Day 10 Morale: High

I'm still on track to meet my 50,000 word count by the end of the month.  The first week, I built up a word cushion, but was forced to take two days off over the weekend. Friday night we had a friend over for dinner.  I spent all day running around after the kids, cleaning and picking up toys.  And we spent all evening eating an amazing meal and getting caught up with an old friend. Since I've proven to myself - through my repeatedly failed efforts to get up at 5 a.m. - that I am not a morning person, if I don't write at night, I don't write.  

Then Monday night, I got caught up in website design for Kevin's high school reunion.  Let's be honest, had I wanted to write, I could have put aside the html and thrown myself into it, but I didn't.

Here's the great thing!  I'm one of those people who starts things full steam ahead - workout programs, diets, soundtrack contests.  Typically about a week into these things, if I have one stumble - one missed workout, one piece of chocolate cake thrown into the diet mix, etc., the enthusiasm goes right out the window. I was worried after my two days off that this might be the case with NaNoWriMo. But, surprisingly, it wasn't.

I sat down to write last night and I was frustrated.  My characters have been trapped in this incredibly long conversation on the front porch of their house.  There's a lot of pacing and talking, but very little else.  As I've been writing the words, my inner editor and my inner instant gratification junkie have been screaming at them to finish up already. I didn't want to finish the scene, I didn't want to hear them drone on about their past problems, I just wanted them to get on with it.  If I'm honest about it, on Monday I avoided writing because I couldn't figure out how to move them along and get on with the story.

Last night, after a great Mexican dinner, I took charge again.  I wrapped up the scene - albeit, abruptly - and got my characters headed on their merry way.  And this was just the change that I needed. Maggie returned to school and met up with her college roommate.  And I love the roommate.  She's funny and brash and has just the kind of energy that keeps a scene moving.  I whipped off 2,000 words in 45 minutes without even thinking about it.

After thinking about it this morning, I've discovered the difference.  Maggie doesn't have a long backstory with her roommate.  They've only known each other for six weeks, so they are writing the story together as they go.  They have adventures, they make discoveries without thinking about it. When she's with her family, there is all of this history and layers and loves gained and loves lost, blah, blah, blah.  I need to figure out how to wade through that (and deliver the right amount of information to the reader) without it becoming a wordy mess.

I'm wondering if maybe the roommate is going to play a greater role in all of this than I originally thought.  She and Maggie are fun together, and I like writing them.

NaNoWriMo :: Scene Soundtrack Contest (Part 2)

Tonight's scene is at a completely different locale.  We've gotten Maggie out of small town, USA and she's returning to college in the big city.  Her roommate convinces her to go out to a club.  I'll admit, it's been years since my years of hanging at at "Motor" in Detroit.

I need updated songs for inspiration.  I'm been hanging out a lot in the emo world as far as my recent musical tastes, so I'm at a loss for a good, bass pounding club song to inspire the writing of this scene.

Any suggestions? You can still enter the Part 1 of this week's contest here.

Rules are the same.  Submit a band or song that could inspire a Pandora radio station.  You can leave a comment on the blog, send me a tweet at @samill1 or send me a message on the NaNo forums (I'm Colorado Columnist). I'll compile the entries.  All entries must be in by midnight on Saturday.  I'll announce this week's winner on Monday, and send you a compilation CD inspired by the song that you suggested next week.

NaNoWriMo :: Day 5 Characterization

Day 5 Wordcount:  1,802 (total word count is at 11,479 - I broke 10K - woo, hoo)

Day 5 Morale:  Excited - plowed through two different scenes in an hour and finally got Maggie out of the small town hospital!

Day 5 Song of the Day:  Shooting Up in Vain from the "Go" Soundtrack

I introduced the antagonist tonight.  Once this chunk 'o words goes through a major first revision, I'm guessing that the antagonist will enter stage left a lot earlier.  But for now, he's arrived.  I still don't have my finger on this guy.  My other characters - Maggie, her friends, the ex-boyfriend, her sister, even the upcoming love interest (can't wait for him to enter the picture - he's so interesting!!) - I feel like I already know.  But this antagonist, I'm not so sure about yet.  I think it's because when I lay awake during October planning this book, Mr. Antagonist was Mr. Minor Character.  The story was more of a Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Himself type-thing.  And then I realized - that was boring me. 

The next day, while creating some timelines, I realized that Mr. Minor Character was the perfect antagonist.  He was in the right place at the right time, and he has strong motive for foiling Maggie's plans. No, he's not a superhero villain (don't know why the word "foiling" just came out of my fingers - must be all this NaNoWriMo stream-of-consciousness), but he's the perfect antagonist. 

However, there are still some cloudy areas in his backstory.  I think I'll spend a little time this weekend in Mr. Antagonist's world to find out what makes him tick.  Tune in to the next post for Part 2 of the soundtrack contest.

NaNoWriMo :: The Muse is a Frazzled Hausfrau

Day 4 Wordcount: 1,877 which brings my total to 9,677

Day 4 Song of the Day:  I spent a lot of the afternoon listening to the Pandora stations created via yesterday's soundtrack contest.  Many thanks to punkgrrlshim, Phoenix_Maat and Aikanaro (via blogger); shannonwritesright and procrastella (via NaNo forums); and @kazoochica and @niassa (via Twitter) for the great suggestions.

The funny thing, is that after all that listening, I didn't listen to any music while I was writing last night.  And that was a bad idea. Lesson #864 learned from NaNoWriMo, I'm a much better fiction writer when my headphones are in and the iPod is cranked up. I can lose myself in a scene much more easily when I'm not hearing the neighbors drive by, the dog barking at a fox outside or Alex kicking the rail on his bed in the next room.

Please be assured that I'll be actively listening to all of your suggestions from now on, because writing without music seems to leave my creative well a bit parched.

Which brings me to the point of today's post.  The creative well and how it works with fiction.

By profession, I'm a non-fiction writer. I write reviews of the performing and visual arts, I write scientific articles, I write brochure and website copy.  And you know what, I'm a very creative and sensuous non-fiction writer.  No, not "sensual" - there's not too much hot and bothered about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Doberman Pinschers.  Sensuous: taking delight in beauty; of, relating to, or derived from the senses. I've always been that way. 

I experience the world very deeply with my five senses.  I see subtlety in colors that others can't quite detect.  I notice the textures that others don't take the time to experience.  My brother can tell you a great story about how I rubbed Sara Lee pound cake on my cheeks when I was young because I loved that cool, smooth top that it has. And don't even get me started on the crisp edge of a freshly washed pillow case or the gag reflex induced by things that dollop.  And most importantly, as a writer, I've always been able to concoct a great phrase to capture the quirkiness or subtleties of these sensuous experiences that bring our world, and consequently, our writing alive.

But, my muse is a bit frazzled and can't seem to get out of her bathrobe with NaNoWriMo and the unsurety of fiction writing facing her.  There are times that I feel like I'm trying to dig a hole in the sand.  I'm chipping away at layer after layer (plot, character, dialogue, imagery, tone, etc.)  Every time I make some headway, the sand slides right back down the sides.

For now, my brain is focused on plot and what happens next.  This is new to me, because in non-fiction, it is what it is.  The dog is born, the dog has a faulty heart valve, the scientists find a causative gene, the end! But, there's no roadmap in fiction. It's up to me to decide what happens next, and I'm having an incredibly fun adventure discovering these things.

However, the things that are happening aren't pretty or moving or subtly grating so as to make your skin crawl - they're just happening.  For example, last night the ceiling was "yellow and cracked" in Maggie's hospital room.  How cliche is that? Some great stuff happened in that hospital room, and some pivotal conversations took place. But they took place in a "yellow, cracked room" with a "creaky bed" that smelled like "Comet and old ladies perfume."  Pretty sad, huh?  Description for me, right now, is nothing more than a cliche adjective dump. Imagery, and the quiet nudges that make our world so much more intriguing, escape me when I'm writing this first draft.

This has been a hard pill to swallow - but also a huge lesson learned.  You sometimes have to sacrifice quality to let the story tell itself.  Then you can go back and wrap it in the transparent, papery layers that let out the savoriness one peel at a time.

NaNoWriMo :: Scene Soundtrack Contest

I'm stuck...not with the book.  But with the music that I listen to while I write.  This is isn't entirely true, we own so much music, it's a little ridiculous actually.  I'm not stuck, just uninspired by the music that I have at my fingertips.

So, we're starting a new daily contest at Lunacy.  Find me a song to inspire a Pandora radio station.  I will give you a run down of the scene that I'm writing, you reply in the comments with any song ideas you might have that fit.  The lyrics don't have to fit, but if they do, that's great too.  Don't spend a ton of time analyzing the challenge.  Sometimes the best musical inspiration is just a feeling that you have.

Kevin and I play this game quite a bit.  He often wakes up with certain songs stuck in his head or will start whistling a tune for an unknown reason.  It usually takes a few minutes to figure out what inspired the synapses of his incredibly deep brain to shoot that song into his conscious mind.  But, it's always fun to figure out why.

So, back to our task.  Day 4: Writing a scene in a small town hospital, characters include a drunk, jilted teenage boy; a shifty shrink and a protagonist who think she might be going crazy.

Send your thoughts my way in the comments section. You can also send me a tweet is it's easier.  You can find me here http://www.twitter.com/samill1  I'll let you know if your song inspires a great new station.  Gotta love Pandora!

P.S. I'll choose a winner every Saturday during NaNoWriMo.  The person whose song inspired the best Pandora station for me will get a "mix-tape" CD sent to them - created and paid for by me! A great way to discover some new music. An even better way to get back to our glory days of the "mix tape." If you're too young to know about "mix tapes" they were the classic courting method or break-up healing technique used back in my high school dating days.

NaNoWriMo :: Day 3 (Another a-ha moment!)

Day 2 Wordcount: 4,190 (That puts my total at 7,800)

Day 2 Theme Song: Appreciation and the Bomb by The Spill Canvas

Nothing fancy about the song lyrics tonight.  In fact, when I googled the lyrics, they seemed like a veiled attempt at a cliche song about suicide.  Tonight's scene definitely had nothing to do with that. The tune just happened to pop up on the Genius playlist that my iPhone created at the exact moment that I was writing the face-to-face break up between Maggie (MC) and Marcus (already her ex-boyfriend, but he wouldn't take no for an answer over the phone. He forces her to do it in person while they are at the festival.)  The song had the perfect sad strains of guitar that fit with the scene.

Morale is good today.  I had a huge jump in word count because I rewrote the Prologue (hate to call it a "prologue" because I know those are fairly taboo in publishing right now. But that's pretty much what it is.), and I got the opening scene betwee Maggie and her grandmother nailed down.

The final scene of tonight was tough.  I'd been looking forward to writing it.  It's the climax to Chapter 1 and tied together a lot of the elements that have been put into play over the last 5,500 words. It was really hard to write, though.  Even though I've been running it over and over in my head for a week, I couldn't seem to get just the right words and intensity for what I needed.  I mentally highlighted this section as one that will need to be COMPLETELY reworked in the next draft.

But, once again, I made some big discoveries.  In the midst of my excitement, I had also been terrified to write the final scene because I couldn't figure out exactly how to make it work so that it would tie in to some discoveries that Maggie will make in subsequent chapters.  But, once again, it just came to me while I was writing.  I breathed a sigh of relief, shook my head in amazement at this muse of mine who likes to hide until the very last minute that I need her and dove back into writing so as not to lose the creative flow.

More to come tomorrow. I'm excited to start the next section.  I'll be getting them out of the festival and on to the next locale.

NaNoWriMo :: Day 2 (Why Do I Think This is Crap?)

Day 2 Wordcount: 1,829 (That puts my total at 3,610)

Day 2 Theme Song: September Skyline by Single File
"Let's drive tonight and race the autumn skyline. And should I fall tonight, we'll know just what it takes to feel alive..."


The book opens with MC and her friends driving through the cornfields of her podunk farm town.  It's October, and they're heading to the town's Pumpkin Festival.  And the pivotal scene that I wrote tonight involves a fall - both literal and figurative.  Go figure.  I'm definitely reading way too much into this because I don't actually listen to any of the lyrics while I'm writing, but something must be seeping in because the comparative literature major in me is finding all sorts of meaningful, albeit slightly contrived, connections with these songs.
 
Day 2 Morale:  Comme ci, comme ca...  I'm having no trouble whipping off the words.  Took me just over an hour to get those 1,800 down on the page, but I feel scattered.  There is a ton of backstory with these characters that needs to be explained, but I feel like I'm having a verbal diarrhea dump - trying to get it all out RIGHT NOW.  I don't think I've mastered the skill of weaving in bits and pieces of the backstory.

HOWEVER, and this is a big however, (Thus the capital letters!)

I made some HUGE discoveries today.  Once again I had a plan for where the characters needed to end up in today's work.  Plan was terribly thwarted and I didn't reach the destination, because things just started jumping out of my brain.  In the midst of this steaming pile of verbosity, I created some new connections and some major plot points. 

When I say major, I mean that at one point, my eyes actually teared up and I got shivers realizing that the words I had just written were going to be yet another connection that is vital to this story of lost souls.  Once again, that's what will keep me coming back.  I'm already anticipating a whole bunch dribble is going to get cut in the first edit, but I'm also convinced that I need to work my way through my own wordiness to find these discoveries that are trapped in my subconscious. 

Crazy how this writing thing works! Now I understand why it's so addictive. It's like guilty playtime.  I've never had a hobby that makes me feel guilty for having this much fun.  And now I do.

NaNoWriMo :: Desktop Background Calendar

Many of you know that I signed up for the National Novel Writing Month a few days ago. While reading the forums over at NaNoWriMo headquarters, I discovered a great idea to stay motivated and keep track of word count.  Writers create desktop backgrounds for their computers.  This way, every time they boot up the ole' word processor, they'll be reminded of the goal for the month.  I say "word processor" because I'm discovering that most writers (most people, for that matter) have the same problems that I do.  Having the internet enabled while writing leads to lots of "research" and very little writing.  Case in point, my hour spent over at NaNoWriMo reading instead of getting the work finished that needs to be completed in order for me to take on this monstrous writing task.  At least I know I'm not alone.

Here's a link to the desktop calendar that I designed.  It is set to 1280x800 to accommodate my laptop dimensions.  It has just enough room to the left of the calendar that I can still have three rows of icons that don't block the calendar.

Feel free to download for your use if you like it. Click on the image below to open it larger in a new window.  Then right click on the image and select "Save as Background".

By the way, I'm not sure what's up with the pink.  I've never been a pink kind of gal, but recently it seems that I've been tapping into my inner (and heavily-buried) girly-girl.  New blog design - pink.  Desktop calendar - pink.  Next thing you know, I'll be buying pink to wear, and I've agreed to write a novel in a month.  What is happening to the world?

NaNoWriMo Countdown Begins

25 days to NaNoWriMo.

Work by the numbers between today and November 1:

• 5 interviews for columns
• 4 weekly columns
• 2 web design completions
• 2 conference calls
• 1 blog template redesign
• 1 business card design process
• 1 business papers design (letterhead, b-cards, etc.)
• 1 board meeting
• 1 newsletter design
• 1 newsletter edit/design
• 1 scientific article with 4 interviews
• 1 PowerPoint template design

Think that's it! Not even going to make a list of all of the personal things I need to accomplish - since that's supposed to be my full-time job.  Stay-at-home mom has a whole new definition in the 21st century!

NaNoWriMo :: Taking the Plunge

I'm diving in with both feet.  I've had several novel ideas (and ideas for novels) swarming around in my head for quite some time.  It's always easy to find other things to do, though.  Work, internet, mothering, television...not necessarily in that order.

I figure that I'm giving myself one month to put my nose to the grindstone and crank one of these suckers out.  The sucker might, in fact, suck.  It probably will.  But at least it will be words on a page and a starting point for something better.  Mostly, it will get these persistent stories out of my brain.  I'm tired of lying awake at night because the characters are creeping around in my head.

Wish me luck and make sure you hold me to task.  50,000 words by November 30th.  Signing up today gives me just over a month to finish up some freelance articles and get my outlines in order.  November 1st is the start date. Please check up on me to make sure I don't wimp out.

DIY Wall-Sized Dry Erase Board

A couple of months ago, I was shopping at one of my favorite craft stores. On the wall behind the register was this:A magnetic, dry erase calendar!! WALL SIZED!!

As a freelance writer and marketing consultant, I am constantly juggling deadlines. Combine that with my personal assistant status to two toddlers, and my brain can't keep track of all the dates and times. It is an understatement to say that I was coveting the Pottery Barn calendar that you see above. After doing a little research, I discovered that this thing would cost me $160 (if I could find it on sale) and it was made of two pieces of metal that I needed to butt up against one another. (You can see the seam running right through the middle of Thursday.)
I knew there must be a better and cheaper way.

Here's the result of a little creative brainstorming and elbow grease:
Behold, my own "Pottery Barn" Knock-off.

Supplies:

• 2 white panel-board panels from Home Depot (these are 3/8" thick and finished with a smooth white surface) = 2 @ $12.98 = $25.96
  
• 1 roll of blue electrical tape from Home Depot (to make the calendar grid) = $3.97
• 2 sheets of green foam (9"x12") from Walmart (to make the backing for the calendar numbers) = 2 @ $0.97 = $1.94
• 1 package of Heavy Duty velcro strips = $2.29
• 2 hours of work = Priceless
• TOTAL COST: $34.16
  

My husband hung the panel boards for me on an empty wall in my office. The panels are 4'x8'. He trimmed mine to 6' tall. I pieced two together but you can't tell because I planned the grid so that the electrical tape would cover the seam. The total size is about 5.5'x6'.

I measured out my monthly grid, and designed my calendar number templates in Illustrator. I made a 5x7 square grid. (5 weeks, 7 days) Each square is 10" wide by 12" high.

Here's a close-up of the numbers. Click here to download a 2-page PDF of all the calendar numbers. I printed the numbers on full sheet labels and cut them out. Then adhered them to circles that I had cut out of the foam sheets. Finally I attached small squares of velcro to each circle. This way, I can change out the numbers every month.

I'm a little bit anal when it comes to aesthetics, so I didn't want blank sqaures of ugly black velcro hanging out at the beginning and end of each month. So, I made some blank circles with only the design on them to cover up the extra squares left when the 1st of the month starts on a different day.

I originally started out with the idea of melamine panels. I had heard that the Melamine surface mimics that of a dry erase board. But the woman at Home Depot directed me to the panel boards because they are a lot thinner, and consequently, there is a lot less weight to hang on the wall. The white panel boards are also 1/3 the cost of the Melamine. She even found some dry erase markers at Home Depot and let my sons color all over the panel before I bought it. The ensured that we would be able to wipe off the marker each month.
Now that I have it up, I'm in love. The marker comes right off with a clean rag. Red, blue and green markers work the best. The black marker leaves some shadowing and residue, but even that comes off with a little bit of rubbing alcohol. The white board doesn't have the magentic attributes that the Pottery Barn calendar had, but that's what post it notes were invented for. My office is lined with bulletin boards for tacking things up, so anything that needs sticking to the calendar board, I'll write on a Post-It.
The best part is that I ended up with a space about 18" high by 70" wide at the bottom of the panels. This is the perfect area for my sons to color. They have their own coloring board, and I don't have scribbles all over my calendar.

I can bring home the bacon...but shouldn't I just fry it up in the pan?

When Kevin and I made the long awaited decision to have kids, we agreed that we both wanted me to be a stay-at-home mom. I was raised by a mom who stayed home with us, and I loved the feelings of closeness and security that came with knowing my mom would always be around to dance with me or paint with me or just cart me around from activity to activity. I wanted that for my kids. I wanted that for myself. Or did I?

After being home with our first born, Alex, for a few months, I started to get antsy. Not antsy to get away from the house. Not antsy to get away from Alex. Simply antsy to explore other venues of myself while being a mom. Slowly but surely I started picking up writing gigs, volunteering opportunities, consulting jobs. Suddenly my noodle in the acronym soup had changed. I was no longer a SAHM. I had become a WAHM without even knowing it.

Part of this transition was simply that I like being busy. I like feeling as though I'm being intellectually challenged and that I'm doing something to better the world. Deep down, I think my greater fear was becoming obsolete as a person. I would soon be able to define myself as a mother, but would shortly not be able to define myself as anything else. This really scared me.

Something about writing "stay-at-home mom" or "homemaker" on my tax returns made me cringe a little bit. If I'm honest with myself, I'll admit that something about those phrases didn't feel good enough to me. In spite of the fact that SAHM was the title I had dreamed of my entire life and a title that I truly believe is the most important one of all in this world.

Here's what I've learned. I have loved being a Work at Home Mom - a lot! I love spending time with my kids and helping them to become better people. I love the picking and choosing that comes with having my writing career and my consulting job be secondary to my primary responsiblity as a mother. Don't like the option that's being presented at work? Don't want to seek out a new gig? Don't want to go to work today? No big deal. My "real" job is being a mom. I can say no to all of those things that I don't want to do in my freelance life.

BUT...and this is a big BUT. I'm not very good at being a WAHM. In trying to combine my two careers - that of a money-earning part of the working world and that of a child-adoration-earning part of the home world - the career that suffers is the one involving my family. There are many times when I find myself saying "One more minute" (which is really 30 more minutes) while I finish up an article or a newsletter layout or a strategic planning agenda. Meanwhile, the dishes sit unfinished, the laundry sits unfolded and the kids sit waiting for mommy's much needed attention.

What I've noticed is on the days that I am fully committed to my SAHM job, my entire family (including myself) is much happier. Things are clean. Things are organized. Mommy has more patience. And life is a lot more fun. So, I'm trying to find a balance. Selfishly, I don't want to give up my WAHM career. But honestly, I want to a more focused mother, a more focused homemaker and a more focused partner. I'm working on ways to divide my time more evenly so that I don't have to stop writing or mothering, but can do each one just a little bit better.

There's no right or wrong answer. And I know there's no panacea in the "Mommy Wars." But I feel like I'm having my Mommy War as a civil war within myself. Any suggestions?

New Look, New Feel, New Me??

If you're a longtime reader, you've noticed that I've changed the look of the blog. I've been playing around with some new features. So today's post isn't showing up on the main page. You can visit here to see the new 100 Things About Me page. You'll learn some new things that you might not know. Click here to read it!

Back to regular posting on the main page tomorrow.

Setting Some Me Priorities

With little time to myself these days, I'm needing to establish some priorities and set some goals in order to make sure I don't waste that precious alone time that I do have. Below is a short list of things that I've been thinking about.

Getting in Shape:

After being pregnant or nursing for four years straight (roughly), it's time to whip this body back into shape. Amazing how before kids, even at my laziest, I would hover around 130ish. Now, post-babies, at my laziest, my body has settled into being comfortable at 140. NOT acceptable for my size and shape. So, I was reading a facebook survey the other day (25 random things) written by a friend of mine. She is currently attempting this workout program called P90X. Then, the very next day, I was watching t.v. and saw an infomercial for the program. I ordered it on the spot, figuring it was some sort of a sign. In fact, it's probably just blast marketing on the part of the P90x people. Either way, it's on its way to my house, and I'll post updates as to how it's going. I think it's going to kick my a$$. My goal is to simply do my best and stick with it for 90 days. At this point, even if I'm not ripped and shredded (not the goal here!) by the end, at least 90 days of activity vs. 90 days of sedentary existence is good.


Bettering the world:

I've registered to walk the 3-Day walk for Breast Cancer in August. My training for that will begin in March. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to pull off the P90x program and train to walk 60 miles in three days at the same time. But hey, you have to have big goals, right? In the meantime, I'm excited to kick off the quest to raise $2,500 for something in which I believe. Want to sponsor me?

Writing:

The musical is in full swing (in my head). It's time to get some more of it down on paper. I'm setting a goal to have the book (script) completed by May 15. Songs have lots of notes right now, but no lyrics in process. If I get the script finished by May(ish), I'm hoping to have the songs completed by June. Possible? Yes! Probable? We'll see.

Oh, and in the midst of this, I've committed to helping plan my husband's high school reunion which will take place next summer!

Whew! I'm tired. Taking a breath and then off to get this stuff started!