And, December
It has been some time since I last blogged, and once again NaNoWriMo (i.e., National Novel Writing Month) is to blame, mostly. NaNo is where you masochistically vow to write 50,000 words of a novel within a single month--November. And all creative energy and effort and time must go toward it, rather than blogging or reading or . . . sleeping.
This year I pulled it off, barely. Like with 5 hours to go on November 30th, doing a surge on a flight to Orlando for work and finishing up in my hotel room.
It is such a difficult undertaking, and frankly, I don't have a ton of bandwidth for stuff like this. I have young children. I work full-time. I have a household to run. There are always so, so many obligations. And frankly, sometimes NaNo really only matters to me. But I did it! And better yet, I'm DONE with NaNo! I'm excited to read again, watch TV (without guilt) again, go to bed before midnight, enjoy the Christmas season . . . without NaNo hanging over me.
And yes, I realize it's completely self-imposed. But as other writers will tell you, external goading can be very effective in making you PRODUCE.
Thanksgiving came--it was all a bit excessive, but I guess that's the point. We only had 5 people and the amount of work and fuss and clean-up was tremendous (and put me in a less-than-thankful mood), but everything was tasty and the leftovers kept me fueled through all the girls' ballet show hoopla.
The house is decorated (we got 2 Christmas trees at the tree farm--which I'm glad about now, but I resisted at first). The girls finished a spectacular production of their Christmas ballet show, A Christmas Carol. Lorelei was a Gingerbread Cookie (finally!) and Charlotte a Holly Berry (oh, she was just gorgeous). They also had their first professional ballet experience AND trip to the Kennedy Center to see The Nutcracker with their Omi, which they really loved--it was all I could to keep Lorelei from dancing in the aisle.
I'm finishing up a work trip (waiting for my flight home tonight as I type) and I'm (probably naively) optimistic that things can simplify for the final weeks before Christmas. I do want to enjoy the season, though of course there are a trillion activities and celebrations. I'm hoping things at home can remain simple so that we can enjoy parties and whatnot.
But the hard stuff has been pushed through, right? Now for fun! The Nordstrom holiday party (don't judge, I heart it), Advent at church, the girls' Sunday School pageant, Love Actually night with Chris, a smattering of Christmas parties, my folks coming to town, my brother and his family coming too. WRAPPING PRESENTS.
It has been a stressful autumn--a new school year, stuff at work, Chris's back problems. Nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose. Just too much on our schedule. I'm looking for ways to make adjustments this spring. We may cut soccer. Possibly gymnastics, temporarily.
But stop, Ashley! Don't look so far forward. Just finish 2017 strong.
And until then, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. (Christmas!)
This year I pulled it off, barely. Like with 5 hours to go on November 30th, doing a surge on a flight to Orlando for work and finishing up in my hotel room.
It is such a difficult undertaking, and frankly, I don't have a ton of bandwidth for stuff like this. I have young children. I work full-time. I have a household to run. There are always so, so many obligations. And frankly, sometimes NaNo really only matters to me. But I did it! And better yet, I'm DONE with NaNo! I'm excited to read again, watch TV (without guilt) again, go to bed before midnight, enjoy the Christmas season . . . without NaNo hanging over me.
And yes, I realize it's completely self-imposed. But as other writers will tell you, external goading can be very effective in making you PRODUCE.
Thanksgiving came--it was all a bit excessive, but I guess that's the point. We only had 5 people and the amount of work and fuss and clean-up was tremendous (and put me in a less-than-thankful mood), but everything was tasty and the leftovers kept me fueled through all the girls' ballet show hoopla.
The house is decorated (we got 2 Christmas trees at the tree farm--which I'm glad about now, but I resisted at first). The girls finished a spectacular production of their Christmas ballet show, A Christmas Carol. Lorelei was a Gingerbread Cookie (finally!) and Charlotte a Holly Berry (oh, she was just gorgeous). They also had their first professional ballet experience AND trip to the Kennedy Center to see The Nutcracker with their Omi, which they really loved--it was all I could to keep Lorelei from dancing in the aisle.
I'm finishing up a work trip (waiting for my flight home tonight as I type) and I'm (probably naively) optimistic that things can simplify for the final weeks before Christmas. I do want to enjoy the season, though of course there are a trillion activities and celebrations. I'm hoping things at home can remain simple so that we can enjoy parties and whatnot.
But the hard stuff has been pushed through, right? Now for fun! The Nordstrom holiday party (don't judge, I heart it), Advent at church, the girls' Sunday School pageant, Love Actually night with Chris, a smattering of Christmas parties, my folks coming to town, my brother and his family coming too. WRAPPING PRESENTS.
It has been a stressful autumn--a new school year, stuff at work, Chris's back problems. Nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose. Just too much on our schedule. I'm looking for ways to make adjustments this spring. We may cut soccer. Possibly gymnastics, temporarily.
But stop, Ashley! Don't look so far forward. Just finish 2017 strong.
And until then, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. (Christmas!)
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