Monthly Archives: October 2011

October 28, 2011 · 1:13 pm

NaNoWriMo 2011

Yup. It’s that time of year again. The month when I hole up in the house, wear the same sweats for weeks, neglect my child, nurture my coffee habit and grow a beard.

What? You say that’s NO DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER MONTH? Here’s where it’s different: I’ll be writing 50,000 words towards the completion of my next novel.

50,000 words. 250 pages. 1,667 words per day. Pure insanity.

Last year I was able to reach my goal without too much bloodshed. Tears, yes. But no blood. I have managed to make it another year without acting on my homicidal tendencies. Who knew?

November is National Novel Writing Month.  Over 200,000 professional and amateur writers participate around the globe and less than 25% complete the task. I don’t know if you guys know this about me, but I’m a tad stubborn. I. Will. Complete. The. Task.

How do I plan to accomplish the task? Well, aside from donkey-like stubbornness, I’m also ANNOUNCING TO THE WORLD that I’m joining the insanity again.

Check that out. You = The World. Hey-oh!

My prep work includes frantically reading Larry Brooks’ book Story Engineering (Writers, buy it NOW) and his daily blog StoryFix in which he has kindly dedicated the month of October to helping all the NaNoWriMo-ers figure out how to plan their novel.

He might save me yet.

Also, I am capitalizing on my fine-tuned guilt complex by doing a little fundraising for The Office of Letters and Light, the nonprofit that runs NaNoWriMo, Young Writers programs, and all sorts of other inspiring, writerly endeavors. As you know, I’m all about GETTING THE KIDS TO WRITE. Just ask Roper, he already has to write his own thank you cards.

*Puts another $100 in the kid’s counseling fund*

If you’re feeling phenomenally altruistic and are interested in sponsoring my NaNoWriMo adventure, please visit my fundraising page. You see, if I don’t complete an event that people have donated money towards, the guilt will disintegrate me into a puddle of primordial ooze.

It’s in my best interest not to let that happen.

But I’m equally motivated by virtual high-fives or even a slight nod of acknowledgement in my direction. And wine. Wine is The Great Motivator. Now please excuse me, but I must get back to story planning. Where I am the puppeteer of everyone’s life and the world they live in. Bwahahahaaaaa!!

P.S. If you’re wondering what happened to the Young Adult manuscript I finished last year during NaNoWriMo, it FINALLY came out of hiding last month. It took ten solid months before I could bear to look at it again, but it’s now officially in the editing process. Which…um…has been put on hold for the next month.

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October 13, 2011 · 1:21 pm

New Protocol

I’ve decided that the word “protocol” in the medical field is synonymous to “outrageously expensive” and “more difficult than running a marathon upon implementation”.  I’m going to start using the term as such.

Woah, Eloise! That new hip is totally PROTOCOL!

So, a little over a week ago I started a new protocol for fibromyalgia. For those of you unfamiliar with this blog, I have ridiculously poor health for an active and, ahem, YOUNG person. I am on a mission to improve it.

This new plan involves a super-strict elimination diet, buckets of supplements, new meds and physical therapy. Oh, and a few lifestyle changes. As in…quit trying to work ridiculous hours while caring for a maniacal two-year-old, writing a novel, building a house and fighting debilitating health issues, YOU MORON.

So I cut the dairy, beef, wheat, oats, rye, barley, sugars, majority of fruits, artificial sweeteners and alcohol.  I reduced my chicken and egg intake. They let me keep the caffeine for now (you lucky bastards). Someone must have known that they’d be held accountable for a homicide if they took that away immediately. WE HAVE GUNS IN OUR HOUSE, PEOPLE.

I take so many supplements in the morning, I think half of my daily caloric intake is in pill form. Please note, pills are not nearly as delicious as a doughnut. Plus, I’m taking the new meds and doing my exercises and basically being a Very Good Girl. Even with ice cream, pizza and wine in the house. Ice cream! Pizza! Wine!

Where the hell is my trophy?!

You guys, Tuesday was my trophy. Although I wasn’t farting sparkles and dancing in glee – I felt better. I didn’t use any anti-inflammatories, pain killers or muscle relaxants. I didn’t even realize it until the next day, but then the awesomeness hit me.

So THAT’S what it’s like to be normal!

But then…I went to physical therapy, aka Camp Awkward & Painful, where they tortured me and promised future pain. Leaving, I could tell my neck and shoulders were about to knot up. My shoulder was creeping up above my right ear and completely reducing the need for me to wear a Halloween outfit because I was shape shifting into a super awesome zombie. Hey y’all, FREE COSTUME!

I immediately had to eat a banana (GASP! The sugars!), and take ibuprofen and muscle relaxants.

But Tuesday – Tuesday was progress. And although it didn’t have quite the same comforting effect as a diet Coke, it’s something. I’ll hang on to that. In the meantime, can someone PLEASE eat a bag of candy corn for me while I eat this bowl of spinach?

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October 5, 2011 · 3:57 pm

25 and Live!

Dear Roper,

You are now 25 months old. In the real world (that strange place outside of this blog) I no longer have to refer to your age in months. I think that two years is the universal age when you can stop the “he’stwentymonthstwoweeksandthreedays” insanity.  We’ve graduated to half years now.  However, in this blog world, you will be 192 months old when you get your driver’s license.

Speaking of stats….you sir, are 31 pounds of Pure Awesomeness.

You get your concentration and good-natured attitude from your dad. But your personality, whooooo boy! Little Bear, you have my personality MULTIPLIED BY SEVENTEEN. And I hope you never learn to dampen that personality and enthusiasm just to fit in.

Your current exuberance is like me when I’m over-caffeinated, energized about a project and walking into Caffe Mela to get even more coffee. No filter, and everything is REALLY EXCITING. The people who run in to me then get the true Molly. I hope you remain unfiltered and true. You have an amazing spirit, a contagious grin and just being yourself is the way to go because you’re the best at being YOU.

Together, we’ll probably embarrass your dad a lot in the years to come. And it’s going to be AWESOME!

After much discussion and deliberation, we have decided that your personality – your MOJO if you will – may indeed be housed in your hair. So your dad and I have decided to hold off on cutting it. Yes, I put it in a ponytail and you looked like a darling little girl, but I didn’t care. Your dad didn’t even mind. Well, he cringed a bit but he didn’t go running for the scissors.

Your mojo is too important to just chop off. It lights up people’s live and I just can’t take that away from your fans. It’s like taking away Steven Tyler’s microphone scarves, Angus Young’s short pants, or Eddie Vedder’s red, black and white guitar.  NOT OK.

This past month you’ve spent a lot of time up at the property. You’re actually very helpful and have joined in the traditional family pastime of picking up rocks. Congratulations, you’re officially a Steere. You had a cool birthday party, played with friends, went to the fair and watched a Wenatchee Wild hockey game. You also can count to ten and freak me out by blurting out 7- to 8-word sentences.

When I drop you off at daycare on Mondays and Wednesdays, you march up the path ahead of me giving business-like waves to the other parents, as if you’re their boss and you’re heading in to check on their work. It makes me laugh every time.

Little Bear, you keep us laughing (and sometimes yelling) on a daily basis. We love you so much. It’s a blessing to watch you grow up and grow into that ginormous personality of yours. Each day is an incredible gift. Thank you.

Love,

Your Mama

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