The NANoWriMo challenge.
As a crazy busy mom, I rarely have time to do things for myself. However in the last couple of months I’ve joined a writing collaborative and have started editing my book that I've been trying to get ready to publish for the last eight years. November is National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. It's a challenge for writers – writ 50,000 words in 30 days. When the Collaborative talked about it, I was intrigued. Somehow it became a full blown commitment. I had no idea how I was going to pull this off. The website suggested 1,600 words a day. I wondered how I was going to string two sentences together. Time didn't allow for my first, usual written draft, so I sat in front of a blank screen for a couple of minutes waiting for inspiration to strike. And it did – I found myself writing 2,000-3,000 words a day. Although the website suggested writing more on the weekend, I could not double my count as others could because, well, crazy busy. But I stayed committed and I managed to write over 51,300 in 20 days.
Committing to something so time-consuming meant something had to be put on the back burner. The casualty was, unfortunately, my blog. I kept thinking that I needed to do that t and so many topics have come and gone, but there just was no time. And the time that I had, I was still trying to recharge.
The Holidays and the Elves on the Shelf.
Immediately after winning the NaNoWriMo challenge, my family had to deal with Thanksgiving and my most favorite Black Friday! My husband takes complete charge over the Thanksgiving meal – soup to nuts if you will – and he does an amazing job. The turkey was cooked to perfection and all the sides were done on time to accompany the meal. My job is to set the table, put the leftovers away and help with the dishes.
After the meal, my mother and I plan our strategy for Black Friday. In Massachusetts, stores are not allowed to open until Midnight Friday night. My mother and I cut a piece of pie and go over all the circulars that come in the newspaper (yes, I still get the weekend editions). We circle the things we want, put the circulars in order of the planned visit based on what time the stores open and tally up the estimated cost. Once that’s done, we head to bed to get some rest before we go out for the Midnight sales. You can get many of the same deals online nowadays, but to be honest, I like the adventure. I like being out with other like-minded crazies such as myself and I enjoy reveling in the great deals the I get. I like to touch things and see them before I buy. It's something that my mother and I look forward to all year. This year we shopped for 10 straight hours. In that time I got most of the items on my list and a decent amount of my Christmas shopping done. All in all, another great success!
In my house, Black Friday also brings an event that my children look forward to all year – the Elves on the Shelf. This year our elf Max brought his sister Emily for my daughter, who wished for her own this year. I have to admit, after coming off the creative drain of NaNoWriMo, it was very difficult to find new and creative things for the elves to do this year. They were definitely not as mischievous as they had been in past years, but the job got done. When they finally leave (mine are here until New Year’s Eve), they leave the kids photo albums of their adventures over the past month. There is much debate and controversy about the elves. Some parents hate them, others believe that they bring a little extra Christmas magic into the house. I am one of the latter, although I do respect other parents’ decision to not do it. What makes me mad is when people judge or criticize those parents that do. As I have said before, children do not come with owner’s manuals and we are all doing the best we can.
The holidays pose a challenge for crazy busy parents such as myself. When you’re running around with the kids every night after working all day, when is there time to shop? I had to get creative. I had to look at the sales circulars in advance and plot short shopping trips in between the commute home and picking up the kids from extended day. It wasn't easy and I was shopping right up until the day before Christmas Eve, but I got it done. And we managed to squeeze in a 75th birthday party for my father, two ice skating competitions and two performances of a middle school musical for my daughter.
Losses at during the holidays.
Losing people any time of the year is tough. It is especially difficult during the holidays. I lost a friend who died of her injuries from a car accident on December 12. In addition, my aunt had a medical emergency and is currently on life support with a grim outlook. It is very hard not to crawl into bed and stay there for a few days. But crazy busy parents typically don't get that luxury. We try to put on a happy face for the kids, even though our hearts are breaking, and try to get through the grief as best we can. Sometimes when I need to cry, I'll lock myself in the bathroom for a couple of minutes so I can get it together. I think it's important to grieve, so I give myself that couple of minutes out of sight of the kids.
New Year’s Resolutions.
Every year I make resolutions and every year I fail at achieving them. This year I resolved to:
Lose weight.
Pay debt.
Read more.
Write more.
Get healthy.
Do more with the new publishing company
Get at least one story copywritten this year.
Clean my office
I didn't lose weight, but I joined a karate class and see a nutritionist. I made payments to my credit card, but did not pay it off. I did not read more. I definitely wrote more. I didn't do as much with my new publishing company, but I have been going to entrepreneurs’ meetings, set up my own website and linked to this blog. I did not get any of my stories copy written this year. I did clean my office, but messed it up again. So, overall not a success, but not a complete failure either. I am going to keep the same goals and try again.
I wish my readers the very happiest of holidays and a Happy New Year!
