I just made my end-of-the-year post on facebook, and I realized, it's long enough to be a blog post (you know me, Bloggiverse, I am not a short-winded person). So, here it is.
2011, what can I say? I realized tonight that I learned an incredibly important lesson this year, and I was taught it by someone who only just turned a year old. Munchkin the First taught me that it's not the times you're down that matter, it's what you do with the times you're not. I saw him have one major set-back after another and not once did he ever look like he felt it wasn't worth it. Right after the worst seizures of his life, he woke up, rolled over, and picked up his favorite toy. He found joy in precious, wonderful, very tiny things like having his grandma read him his favorite story, diving his hands into his birthday cake, or sucking on a lollipop like it was the most delicious food ever invented.
He showed me that it's not what you have, it's what you do with it that matters. He is someone very, very special.
This year has been hard but I think I'd rather see the positives. My mother died, but I had a chance to make my peace with her first--something I didn't even know I needed. My family and I lived through something that 181 other no-less-precioius souls didn't. That makes me both eternally grateful, and incredibly sad.
I watched my home town pummeled again and again, but I also saw that it was populated with a city full of people with the same spirit Munchkin the First has. That is something really special. I left my home country, but I found a new place to be that I am learning to love very much. I left friends behind, but I've made some new, very special ones.
I had to leave my son and my dog behind which is probably the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I did get to spend M1's first year with him and be here to welcome Munchkin the Second into the world. I am a very, very lucky girl, and I hope I never think otherwise.
For every negative (and there's been many), there have been even more positives and blessings. I'm grateful for all of it. However, 2012, if you could just go a little lighter on us this year, maybe even toss in a bit of good news, we sure would appreciate it.
Happy New Year, everyone :)
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I like to tell occasionally amusing stories about very odd things that could only happen to me -- but not in that really boring way. Honest.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The Power of Picture Books
Munchkin the First is off to hospital again today for who-knows-how-long in another bid to have him gain weight before Munchkin the Second overtakes him. So, babies and the funny things babies do are on my mind tonight. Must be time for a blog post! (Okay, way past time, I know, but hey, now I have time).
I thought I'd share a story with you about the power of picture books (although I think anyone who has ever read a story to little person knows this well enough).
I love reading stories to kids, so I started out with M1 when he was pretty young. He's always loved being read to. When he was in the NICU, his dad would read him anything he could find with words on it, including cola bottles and a particularly dry business article. M1 didn't care. He'd listen with big eyes and rapt attention.
That hasn't changed.
He and I have a favorite book. It's called "Which Witch's Wand Works?" by Poly Bernatene. It tells the story of a witch called Rattle, a witch called Ricket, and their cat called Rum. M1 and I are particular fans of Rum and M1 points to him on every page with a giggle. Plus, there's the page where Rattle's spell misfires and makes Ricket blow up like a balloon until she pops and hisses her way around the room (must be careful not to give away too much of this exciting tale! hehe). M1 LOVES it when I make the hissing sound all around his neck and now giggles and scrunches up his shoulders as soon as we reach that page. He knows what's coming :)
I have to read the story at least once per day, and I don't mind one little bit.
On Christmas night, Munchkin the Second was demanding attention in the bedroom so I played with M1 while his mother did the nappy duty, etc. He rolled around as he usually does and found his way across the room. I'll admit it, I was too lazy to get up and get him. In a last ditch attempt to convince him to come back over to the me and the toys, I held up "Which Witch's Wand Works" and said, "Hey, M1, look what I have!"
He looked over, saw the book, and his eyes lit up! He flung himself across the room in a series of rolls so quick and violent his eyeballs were spinning in his head by the time he reached me. Plus, he squealed the whole way yelling, "Up! Up! Up!" (he's just learned about that word and its power to make people pick him up off the floor).
I was so chuffed by his excitement and reaction that of course I read the book, with extra witchy voices and double the hissing, of course! When his mum emerged from the bedroom again, I waited until M1 had rolled back to investigate the door and showed her the reaction to the book. Again, squeals and frantic rolls back over to me :) Of course, I had to read it again.
Boy, it was the cutest thing I ever saw.
And that, boys and girls, is how to charm the adults in your life into reading you the same picture book over and over without any protest and with extra good witch voices and hissing :)
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and Happy New Year!
.
I thought I'd share a story with you about the power of picture books (although I think anyone who has ever read a story to little person knows this well enough).
I love reading stories to kids, so I started out with M1 when he was pretty young. He's always loved being read to. When he was in the NICU, his dad would read him anything he could find with words on it, including cola bottles and a particularly dry business article. M1 didn't care. He'd listen with big eyes and rapt attention.
That hasn't changed.
He and I have a favorite book. It's called "Which Witch's Wand Works?" by Poly Bernatene. It tells the story of a witch called Rattle, a witch called Ricket, and their cat called Rum. M1 and I are particular fans of Rum and M1 points to him on every page with a giggle. Plus, there's the page where Rattle's spell misfires and makes Ricket blow up like a balloon until she pops and hisses her way around the room (must be careful not to give away too much of this exciting tale! hehe). M1 LOVES it when I make the hissing sound all around his neck and now giggles and scrunches up his shoulders as soon as we reach that page. He knows what's coming :)
I have to read the story at least once per day, and I don't mind one little bit.
On Christmas night, Munchkin the Second was demanding attention in the bedroom so I played with M1 while his mother did the nappy duty, etc. He rolled around as he usually does and found his way across the room. I'll admit it, I was too lazy to get up and get him. In a last ditch attempt to convince him to come back over to the me and the toys, I held up "Which Witch's Wand Works" and said, "Hey, M1, look what I have!"
He looked over, saw the book, and his eyes lit up! He flung himself across the room in a series of rolls so quick and violent his eyeballs were spinning in his head by the time he reached me. Plus, he squealed the whole way yelling, "Up! Up! Up!" (he's just learned about that word and its power to make people pick him up off the floor).
I was so chuffed by his excitement and reaction that of course I read the book, with extra witchy voices and double the hissing, of course! When his mum emerged from the bedroom again, I waited until M1 had rolled back to investigate the door and showed her the reaction to the book. Again, squeals and frantic rolls back over to me :) Of course, I had to read it again.
Boy, it was the cutest thing I ever saw.
And that, boys and girls, is how to charm the adults in your life into reading you the same picture book over and over without any protest and with extra good witch voices and hissing :)
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and Happy New Year!
.
Friday, December 23, 2011
A Post About Quakes
I'm still having a bit of a blogging hiatus due to Munchkin 1's continued difficulties (he's going back to hospital after Christmas after almost a week at home, the fix didn't stick, unfortunately), and Christmas itself. But I wanted to make a quick post about yesterday's quakes.
As you may have heard, Christchurch got hit again yesterday, right in the middle of the busiest Christmas shopping day. The retailers lost Boxing Day last year, and now this. It's not a great thing for the Christchurch economy or the rebuild. Although, I heard a partially demolished building finished demolishing itself, so I guess that's a plus for the demolition side of things.
That's not the most important thing, of course, the people are. Apparently St. John's ambulance reported 50-60 injuries this time, all minor--thank goodness. Malls had to be evacuated, etc.
I'm so grateful to report my entire family and circle of friends are all safe. My son was at work, he'd car-pooled, and my lovely brother-in-law went to collect him and take him home. My younger sister went to our house to check on Ryder, who was fine and happy to see my nephew who played ball with him for a while.
Much like June, there were two major quakes around an hour apart. First, a 5.8, then a smaller 5.3, and then about an hour later, a 6.0. These were all very shallow, and the 6.0 was centered on South Shore (near where I used to live on the beach). There was more liquefaction in the worst affected areas and basically the whole horrible mess starts over again for those on the east side of town.
Since those initial quakes, there have been the usual round of renewed aftershocks--many of them over 4, and several over 5.
I'm so sad for everyone there. The devastation may not have been as bad as in February, but I think the affect on everyone will be huge. So far the worst aftershocks have all come around six months apart, which seems to be just the right amount of time for everyone to relax and begin to trust enough to go back into malls and get on with things without so much fear. You can't underestimate how having the trust broken over and over affects people. And all the little kids who were forgetting quakes in the excitement of Christmas have had their attention firmly dragged back.
For my part, I'm discovering that being away from it all might save me the terror of the actual events, but I still spent my day anxiously trying to contact everyone and make sure they're all okay. One thing was harder, because even though I know my son is safe, I won't get the chance to hold him and be sure of that for myself. That is by far the worst part.
But, thank God I am also lucky enough to have the sort of boy whose first thought after making sure everything was safe was to send me an email saying "big shake here, I'm fine, going to try to get home to check Ryder." Luckily, he'd bought himself a new iphone for Christmas and was able to email me from it on and off all day long. That is a vast improvement on the nightmare of past quakes where I couldn't get hold of him for hours.
I am extremely lucky and grateful to have been where I was, sitting in my (extremely freaking hot) living room in Australia with Christmas shows on the TV instead of cut-in newsbreaks, with my daughter and her babies sound asleep in their room. With Munchkin 1 about to go back into hospital, I keep thinking how much worse it would be having to do that in Christchurch with all the new aftershocks right now. Believe me, I know I'm lucky.
I just wish all these simple luxuries could be true for everyone back in Christchurch. For Christmas, I think that's what I wish for them, a chance for the most average, ordinary, and boring Christmas possible--the variety that comes with as little adrenaline as possible.
As you may have heard, Christchurch got hit again yesterday, right in the middle of the busiest Christmas shopping day. The retailers lost Boxing Day last year, and now this. It's not a great thing for the Christchurch economy or the rebuild. Although, I heard a partially demolished building finished demolishing itself, so I guess that's a plus for the demolition side of things.
That's not the most important thing, of course, the people are. Apparently St. John's ambulance reported 50-60 injuries this time, all minor--thank goodness. Malls had to be evacuated, etc.
I'm so grateful to report my entire family and circle of friends are all safe. My son was at work, he'd car-pooled, and my lovely brother-in-law went to collect him and take him home. My younger sister went to our house to check on Ryder, who was fine and happy to see my nephew who played ball with him for a while.
Much like June, there were two major quakes around an hour apart. First, a 5.8, then a smaller 5.3, and then about an hour later, a 6.0. These were all very shallow, and the 6.0 was centered on South Shore (near where I used to live on the beach). There was more liquefaction in the worst affected areas and basically the whole horrible mess starts over again for those on the east side of town.
Since those initial quakes, there have been the usual round of renewed aftershocks--many of them over 4, and several over 5.
I'm so sad for everyone there. The devastation may not have been as bad as in February, but I think the affect on everyone will be huge. So far the worst aftershocks have all come around six months apart, which seems to be just the right amount of time for everyone to relax and begin to trust enough to go back into malls and get on with things without so much fear. You can't underestimate how having the trust broken over and over affects people. And all the little kids who were forgetting quakes in the excitement of Christmas have had their attention firmly dragged back.
For my part, I'm discovering that being away from it all might save me the terror of the actual events, but I still spent my day anxiously trying to contact everyone and make sure they're all okay. One thing was harder, because even though I know my son is safe, I won't get the chance to hold him and be sure of that for myself. That is by far the worst part.
But, thank God I am also lucky enough to have the sort of boy whose first thought after making sure everything was safe was to send me an email saying "big shake here, I'm fine, going to try to get home to check Ryder." Luckily, he'd bought himself a new iphone for Christmas and was able to email me from it on and off all day long. That is a vast improvement on the nightmare of past quakes where I couldn't get hold of him for hours.
I am extremely lucky and grateful to have been where I was, sitting in my (extremely freaking hot) living room in Australia with Christmas shows on the TV instead of cut-in newsbreaks, with my daughter and her babies sound asleep in their room. With Munchkin 1 about to go back into hospital, I keep thinking how much worse it would be having to do that in Christchurch with all the new aftershocks right now. Believe me, I know I'm lucky.
I just wish all these simple luxuries could be true for everyone back in Christchurch. For Christmas, I think that's what I wish for them, a chance for the most average, ordinary, and boring Christmas possible--the variety that comes with as little adrenaline as possible.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Sorry for the Absense
I know, I know, I've been about the worst blogger ever in recent times. I apologize profusely for that.
While Munchkin 2 has been doing much better than average, Munchkin 1 has not. He suddenly started to lose a lot of weight over the course of a week, to the point he ended up weighing about what he did when we moved here--and that was underweight then. He went into hospital and while he was in the process of being admitted, he had two big seizures.
Long story short, this hospital visit has been very different to the others. At least part of his problems have been identified (malabsorption) and they've tried a new formula that seems to be working, fingers crossed. He's put on nearly 500grams (a pound) since he's been in there (6 days), which is huge. It's taken him the past six months to put on that much. So we're really pleased and relieved. He's going to be in hospital for a while yet, maybe until after Christmas, but if he keeps going this well, then hopefully not that long.
Other than that, I've been doing those other things I do, you know, writing and drawing. Both of which are going very well. I'm designing a tattoo for a client I've known for a long time now, and it's going to be spectacular (if I do say so myself). Also, ginormous. And writing has been going better than it ever has. I finished NaNo with 3 days to spare after starting it 9 days late, and by the time NaNo ended, I'd finished the entire first draft all the way to The End, which was another 15 thousand words.
So, it's been a mixed bag of madness around here. I'm really hoping for some free moments to get some blog posts written because, boy, do I have a story or two to tell. They've been building up for weeks!
While Munchkin 2 has been doing much better than average, Munchkin 1 has not. He suddenly started to lose a lot of weight over the course of a week, to the point he ended up weighing about what he did when we moved here--and that was underweight then. He went into hospital and while he was in the process of being admitted, he had two big seizures.
Long story short, this hospital visit has been very different to the others. At least part of his problems have been identified (malabsorption) and they've tried a new formula that seems to be working, fingers crossed. He's put on nearly 500grams (a pound) since he's been in there (6 days), which is huge. It's taken him the past six months to put on that much. So we're really pleased and relieved. He's going to be in hospital for a while yet, maybe until after Christmas, but if he keeps going this well, then hopefully not that long.
Other than that, I've been doing those other things I do, you know, writing and drawing. Both of which are going very well. I'm designing a tattoo for a client I've known for a long time now, and it's going to be spectacular (if I do say so myself). Also, ginormous. And writing has been going better than it ever has. I finished NaNo with 3 days to spare after starting it 9 days late, and by the time NaNo ended, I'd finished the entire first draft all the way to The End, which was another 15 thousand words.
So, it's been a mixed bag of madness around here. I'm really hoping for some free moments to get some blog posts written because, boy, do I have a story or two to tell. They've been building up for weeks!
Friday, November 25, 2011
News, I Has It!
In fact, I have two pieces of it (news, that is).
News Item One:
I am officially 5k away from winning NaNo. I would have finished a day-and-a-half ago except the News Item Two happened, and I've been extremely busy. Will catch up in the next day or two, though!
News Item Two:
I've kept this one under my hat for a few months now (which anyone will tell you is like some sort of minor miracle for the girl who never EVER gives anyone a present they didn't already know they were getting weeks earlier). We actually only found out this bit of news ourselves about a month before we moved over here to Australia. It's part of the reason that we finally made the decision to leave.
We'd found out that my daughter, DJ, was pregnant. It was a total surprise. She was already five months along and none of us had any idea about it. We found out all of that at the first scan, and that the baby was another little boy. We were worried sick after all that had gone wrong with his brother, but that scan showed none of the early warning signs his brother had. The Munchkin had been such a difficult pregnancy with so much morning sickness and general difficulties we'd have never thought she could be pregnant and us not notice.
So, we'd only just found out about our happy little accident a few weeks before the big June quakes. We knew DJ would very soon be too pregnant to fly and we didn't know how much worse things could still get in Christchurch. Then with everything that happened with The Munchkin as well, the decision was a pretty easy one to make by then.
DJ and SnL were nervous about sharing the news with anyone and only told those who were very close to us--particularly those likely to see her and know just by looking. It's been a pretty well kept secret, which my mostly shocked facebook friends will tell you :) The pregnancy went brilliantly, no problems, nothing. He did run overdue by a week-and-a-half--which is just one other thing he did differently than his big brother! Then, on Wednesday he arrived via emergency c-section after he showed a bit of distress and DJ didn't want to take any risks.
So there you have it! The big news! He was 7lb 4oz, has a head full of long, brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a cute button nose like his mum. He looks quite a lot like his big brother, but more like his dad with his dad's beautiful Vietnamese skin coloring. He's absolutely gorgeous and has the most ridiculously cute cry. At first we thought it sounded like a squealing piglet, but now we reckon it sounds like a slow boiling whistling kettle. Very high pitched and totally panicked. He's in a perpetual state of astonishment and has the cutest little dimples in his cheeks.
Best of all, he eats like a champion, has normal sized everything, and is completely, perfectly average in every way! He fed for three hours straight for his first feed and hasn't really stopped since. He's barely lost any of his birth weight as most babies do, and eats like crazy. It's like a miracle. It really is.
Do not ever underestimate the beauty of being average.
He's been cleared of all the conditions his big brother has had, although epilepsy could still turn up later, but we don't believe it will. None of us have ever been so happy to see a poopy diaper (although I have to say I am now officially less excited than I once was. The farts still impress me, though).
The Munchkin and I got to spend more time together in the past few days than we have at any other time. We already had a very special relationship, but it grew. I feel really privileged to have the time with these boys that I get to have.
The Munchkin is a bit bewildered by all this and not entirely sure he likes being out-cried by a little tiny astonished piglet. The Munchkin had this condition that made his voice almost inaudible until he was about six months old and even now he's much much quieter than average. He has been a bit impressed by the noise coming out of his new sibling and has decided that now he will squeal like a kettle too.
Ah, the joys :)
Best of all, after only two nights in hospital, they were discharged tonight! That's what happens when you're totally normal, completely average, and super healthy! See, I told you not to underestimate average! We are very lucky, very blessed, extremely happy, and I am one proud grandma for the second time around.
Even better best of all -- I had no less than eight people tell me I looked far too young to be a grandma, and then I got chatted up by a hot 28 year-old taxi driver. Yep. Grandma's still got it.
I would absolutely love to share photos here. I really wish I could. But, due to the problems I've had in the past I can't, and I can't share his name either (which is awesome). Please, if you'd like to see photos or hear more, either friend me on facebook--just search for my name, you'll find me-- or email me at wen (dot) baragrey (at) gmail (dot) com. So long as I know or can verify who you are, I'm happy to brag!
.
News Item One:
I am officially 5k away from winning NaNo. I would have finished a day-and-a-half ago except the News Item Two happened, and I've been extremely busy. Will catch up in the next day or two, though!
News Item Two:
I've kept this one under my hat for a few months now (which anyone will tell you is like some sort of minor miracle for the girl who never EVER gives anyone a present they didn't already know they were getting weeks earlier). We actually only found out this bit of news ourselves about a month before we moved over here to Australia. It's part of the reason that we finally made the decision to leave.
We'd found out that my daughter, DJ, was pregnant. It was a total surprise. She was already five months along and none of us had any idea about it. We found out all of that at the first scan, and that the baby was another little boy. We were worried sick after all that had gone wrong with his brother, but that scan showed none of the early warning signs his brother had. The Munchkin had been such a difficult pregnancy with so much morning sickness and general difficulties we'd have never thought she could be pregnant and us not notice.
So, we'd only just found out about our happy little accident a few weeks before the big June quakes. We knew DJ would very soon be too pregnant to fly and we didn't know how much worse things could still get in Christchurch. Then with everything that happened with The Munchkin as well, the decision was a pretty easy one to make by then.
DJ and SnL were nervous about sharing the news with anyone and only told those who were very close to us--particularly those likely to see her and know just by looking. It's been a pretty well kept secret, which my mostly shocked facebook friends will tell you :) The pregnancy went brilliantly, no problems, nothing. He did run overdue by a week-and-a-half--which is just one other thing he did differently than his big brother! Then, on Wednesday he arrived via emergency c-section after he showed a bit of distress and DJ didn't want to take any risks.
So there you have it! The big news! He was 7lb 4oz, has a head full of long, brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a cute button nose like his mum. He looks quite a lot like his big brother, but more like his dad with his dad's beautiful Vietnamese skin coloring. He's absolutely gorgeous and has the most ridiculously cute cry. At first we thought it sounded like a squealing piglet, but now we reckon it sounds like a slow boiling whistling kettle. Very high pitched and totally panicked. He's in a perpetual state of astonishment and has the cutest little dimples in his cheeks.
Best of all, he eats like a champion, has normal sized everything, and is completely, perfectly average in every way! He fed for three hours straight for his first feed and hasn't really stopped since. He's barely lost any of his birth weight as most babies do, and eats like crazy. It's like a miracle. It really is.
Do not ever underestimate the beauty of being average.
He's been cleared of all the conditions his big brother has had, although epilepsy could still turn up later, but we don't believe it will. None of us have ever been so happy to see a poopy diaper (although I have to say I am now officially less excited than I once was. The farts still impress me, though).
The Munchkin and I got to spend more time together in the past few days than we have at any other time. We already had a very special relationship, but it grew. I feel really privileged to have the time with these boys that I get to have.
The Munchkin is a bit bewildered by all this and not entirely sure he likes being out-cried by a little tiny astonished piglet. The Munchkin had this condition that made his voice almost inaudible until he was about six months old and even now he's much much quieter than average. He has been a bit impressed by the noise coming out of his new sibling and has decided that now he will squeal like a kettle too.
Ah, the joys :)
Best of all, after only two nights in hospital, they were discharged tonight! That's what happens when you're totally normal, completely average, and super healthy! See, I told you not to underestimate average! We are very lucky, very blessed, extremely happy, and I am one proud grandma for the second time around.
Even better best of all -- I had no less than eight people tell me I looked far too young to be a grandma, and then I got chatted up by a hot 28 year-old taxi driver. Yep. Grandma's still got it.
I would absolutely love to share photos here. I really wish I could. But, due to the problems I've had in the past I can't, and I can't share his name either (which is awesome). Please, if you'd like to see photos or hear more, either friend me on facebook--just search for my name, you'll find me-- or email me at wen (dot) baragrey (at) gmail (dot) com. So long as I know or can verify who you are, I'm happy to brag!
.
Friday, November 11, 2011
I am in NaNoLand
Hi Bloggiverse,
I'm just popping in to say I'm not really popping in. It's NaNo time and I am NaNoing up a storm. As usual, my best-laid plans went wonky and turned everything upside-down.
I'd planned out the novel I wanted to do for NaNo, had everything set and for once, when November 1st rolled around, I was ready to go. I got started, and by day three, I had over six thousand words done and was on track.
Then, something exciting happened. I was procrastinating on the web, when I misread a word. The word I thought it was, was this clever word play. I saw it and thought, "aw man, I wish I'd thought of that! It would make a great title!" Then I read it again, realized that the word written was not the word I thought I'd read, and when I googled the word I thought it was--no one had used it for a title or for anything else much (except a song by a metal band!).
That word made such a great title, that five minutes after I'd thought of it, I'd written my one line hook, my two paragraph summary, and had a very good idea of where I wanted the whole book to go. In less than an hour, I'd managed to get as much info on this story as I had on the one I'd already planned.
I still love the original story I wanted to do, but this new one is the one I'm fascinated by. So, I zeroed my NaNo word count and then spent the next several days trying to work out all the details I needed for my story--characters, plot details, research, etc.
By the time I was ready to go, it was already day nine of NaNo.
But, I got started anyway. Now I'm almost 10k words in already and boy, I think this might be the best idea I've ever had. I am loving this story, so, so much.
This is why I love NaNo. Something about the pressure of it all brings out something fabulous in my writing every time. It's my third year, and who knows, maybe it will be third year lucky!
Anyway, I will probably continue to be a bit absent for most of November, but I do have exciting news to share in the next week or so and some awesome stories to tell. We've had an interesting few weeks :) So, I'll try and pop in when I can!
Meanwhile, Bloggiverse and fellow NaNoers, see you all soon!
I'm just popping in to say I'm not really popping in. It's NaNo time and I am NaNoing up a storm. As usual, my best-laid plans went wonky and turned everything upside-down.
I'd planned out the novel I wanted to do for NaNo, had everything set and for once, when November 1st rolled around, I was ready to go. I got started, and by day three, I had over six thousand words done and was on track.
Then, something exciting happened. I was procrastinating on the web, when I misread a word. The word I thought it was, was this clever word play. I saw it and thought, "aw man, I wish I'd thought of that! It would make a great title!" Then I read it again, realized that the word written was not the word I thought I'd read, and when I googled the word I thought it was--no one had used it for a title or for anything else much (except a song by a metal band!).
That word made such a great title, that five minutes after I'd thought of it, I'd written my one line hook, my two paragraph summary, and had a very good idea of where I wanted the whole book to go. In less than an hour, I'd managed to get as much info on this story as I had on the one I'd already planned.
I still love the original story I wanted to do, but this new one is the one I'm fascinated by. So, I zeroed my NaNo word count and then spent the next several days trying to work out all the details I needed for my story--characters, plot details, research, etc.
By the time I was ready to go, it was already day nine of NaNo.
But, I got started anyway. Now I'm almost 10k words in already and boy, I think this might be the best idea I've ever had. I am loving this story, so, so much.
This is why I love NaNo. Something about the pressure of it all brings out something fabulous in my writing every time. It's my third year, and who knows, maybe it will be third year lucky!
Anyway, I will probably continue to be a bit absent for most of November, but I do have exciting news to share in the next week or so and some awesome stories to tell. We've had an interesting few weeks :) So, I'll try and pop in when I can!
Meanwhile, Bloggiverse and fellow NaNoers, see you all soon!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Water for Elephants for Free!
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