Favorite Characters

I love Beeker! He's absolutely my favorite Muppet character, closely followed by Animal. What's not to love about the following Carol of the Bells?

(Click here to see the video.)

Holiday Movies 2

Last night Paul and Kelsey came over and we went to see the new Disney movie Tangled. Love it. I want to see it again. Can I just say I love the horse? I mean, what's not to love about a horse that thinks he's a hound and fights with a sword in his mouth--and wins?

I've gotten in viewings of the following Christmas (or includes a Christmas scene) films:

Reflections on NaNoWriMo

With four days left, I'm at nearly 26,000 words. As I mentioned in earlier posts, I was also trying to do something new (such as outline the story before I began writing). And of course I HAD to read (listen to) the new Wheel of Time monster book that came out on November 2nd. So you can see I have plenty of excuses for not hitting the 50,000 mark by midnight on the 30th.

More importantly, I've realized a few things.

1. NaNo's not for me. Not officially anyway. I find my children who have oppositionally defiant attitudes must have come by them honestly--through me. I have hated the "I must write" aspect of NaNo. I write because I love it; it's fun. I thrill in learning new things and being part of the creative process. I found that much of the joy I usually feel when I write has been sucked out this month. That is definitely not what I'd hoped to get out the NaNo experience.

2. I may not be cut out to be a published author if I don't like being pinned down to deadlines. How's that for self destructive? As I've been reading published authors' blogs and they talk about editing deadlines for their publishers, I begin to have serious reservations. However, it's not like I'm doing this to make a bunch of money. That's absolutely not what I'm in it for. But if writing deadlines bring out the juvenile part of me, that's not encouraging.

It's also not exactly in character, since I don't have problems with deadlines at work. Heck, I'm my city's election official! I have a five-page-long checklist I have to follow to make sure I don't break the law while conducting the election. So it's not that I have inherent problems with deadlines. Perhaps I'm having trouble forcing creativity into a narrow time frame. Yet think how many published authors there are who work with deadlines all the time.

So much to learn ... even about myself.

3. I still like the idea of NaNo. I made my first attempt at writing a novel last January after hearing about it. I did it on my own just to see if I could actually complete a manuscript. I've been editing it off and on ever since, and I'm very close to completing it. I was able to write 80,000 words in 30 days.

So I'm looking forward to December 1st, the day of my liberation. =D

Reverse Progress

I've gone through 27 note cards from my outline (each representing a scene change) and written 23,866 (very rough) words.

'Nuff said.

ETA: as I go to bed for the night, I reached my goal of 25,000 words--plus 594 more for good measure.

Life's Not Easy

Tomorrow's going to be busy with family and cooking, so I wanted to share some of the things I'm grateful for as we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. It's a lot harder now, these holidays, compared to what they were like before. Now our family is scattered all over the world.

It makes my heart ache.

I'm grateful for:

* Wonderful parents and siblings, who gave me a delightful childhood. It wasn't without its pitfalls and willful child that I was I fell down many of them. But I always knew I was loved and watched over.

* A loving husband. For all his human frailties (and he certainly married a woman with plenty of human frailties), he's as kind and generous a man as you'll find.

* Enchanting children (Yes, you are! Admit it.). They changed my life forever, and I can never thank them enough for the lessons they taught me and continue to teach me. They enlarged my humanity and showed me how wide and encompassing a mother's love could be.

* Loving grandchildren. Dang! If I'd known grandchildren were this much fun I'd have started out with them!

* Faith. The world's a hard place, and not everything can be scientifically measured and proven. I'm grateful for my life's experiences that have taught me to look beyond the obvious.

* Service. I've had many opportunities to serve. Lots of it has been in my family. My job has given me the chance to serve my community. I'm also grateful for the privilege it was to serve my country. I'm grateful for the people who carry the banner now.

* Employment. I'm grateful that I have a day job that I enjoy, surrounded by great people. It's the kind of job that I don't find myself groaning when Monday morning comes. I'm grateful for the people who gave me opportunities that prepared me for the responsibility I have now.

* Friends. I don't have many, but it's quality not quantity that counts here.

I'd like to share part of a talk by Gordon B. Hinckley:

"Life is like that -- ups and downs, a bump on the head, and a crack on the shins. It was ever thus. Hamlet went about crying, 'To be or not to be,' but that didn't solve any of his problems. There is something of a tendency among us to think that everything must be lovely and rosy and beautiful without realizing that even adversity has some sweet uses. One of my favorite newspaper columnists is Jenkin Lloyd Jones. In a recent article published in the News, he commented:

"'There seems to be a superstition among many thousands of our young who hold hands and smooch in the drive-ins that marriage is a cottage surrounded by perpetual hollyhocks, to which a perpetually young and handsome husband comes home to a perpetually young and ravishing wife. When the hollyhocks wither and boredom and bills appear, the divorce courts are jammed.

"'Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just ordinary people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise....

"'Life is like an old-time rail journey -- delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.' (quoted from Jenkin Lloyd Jones.)"

So in closing, I thank the Lord for letting me have the ride.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Holiday Movies

Every year I have several movies that I like to watch during the Christmas season. They aren't necessarily "Christmas" movies but can just be set during the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year. I would begin with Miracle on 34th Street since it began on Thanksgiving and ended on Christmas and watch it while I did my baking the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Unfortunately the last couple years things just haven't played out well, and I have found (made) time to watch my holiday films. I decided to get an early start, and I've been watching several as I exercise and get ready for work. So far I've seen:





Now I have to decide what I'll watch on Monday ...