I’ve putzed around and adopted a new theme for myself that I can relatively tolerate for now. It’s what stinks about being something of a former designer: you’re never 100% satisfied with an artistic decision. Or maybe that’s just me.
Anyway, keeping this blog formal is a struggle, but I digress.
I haven’t updated in a very long time, and I apologize for that. I have no excuses, but I’ll go into them anyway: personal issues, and nanowrimo, which fortunately I won. Unfortunately, I’ve been in limbo at the last chapter (or second to last chapter, depending on how much my character decides to elude to) since Thanksgiving. I was surprised and delighted that my character, Charlie, gave me 50k words of her time so easily. Nanowrimo has typically been a struggle since ’09, but this year, it wasn’t as excruciating. For this, I am grateful.
For not wrapping everything up by the end of November, I am ungrateful.
But I only have myself to blame.
And now, it’s already Christmastime. My daughter just turned ten, and it was an emotional moment for me. How quickly it all goes by, and yet the memories are like they were only yesterday. I was listening to a soundtrack on my 40 minute drive home from work today, the soundtrack from the movie she watched day in and day out in her youth (Totoro, if you’re curious). And predictably, the tears were streaming down my face for the entire 40 minute drive. The driver of the pickup I was behind for 20 minutes must’ve thought I had a lot of issues.
But in reality, I did my best to keep my emotions at bay. Thank goodness I keep tissues and paper towels in the car. Children are a stark reminder of how life can pass you by and besides making you feel old, make time feel all too precious and wasted. My Angel Face grows too fast. It’s a happy feeling, and it cuts right to the heart.
I’m planning on a year in review before New Years Eve, and in the meantime, I want to know what’s on your Christmas wish list! I bought and wrapped my own material gift this year, a red B5 Leuchtturm 1917, which I am waiting oh-so-patiently for.
So what’s on your list?
I’ll leave you with a gif of me at Christmas dinner — er, one of my favorite Christmas movies.
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ellDimensional 
Awwww. Please don’t feel too bad about things. It’s hard to maintain a balance between writing, other real-life things, and online life. (I’ve let social media slip lately myself.) But I’m glad that NaNoWriMo went well for you this year – and happy belated birthday to your daughter! I don’t have any children, but I get a similar feeling when I think about my cousins’ kids… how I still remember them when they were babies, and now when I buy them clothes for Christmas, it stuns me that they’ve grown so much.
What’s on my Christmas list? A lot of books, new bathroom towels (dark gray), gift cards, a couple movies… I know there’s more, but it’s been over a month since I last looked at that list, and so much has happened between then and now that I hardly remember what else there might’ve been. :S And no gifts for myself this year. The trip to Iceland next year is big enough!
Hope you have a Merry Christmas, Jessica. 🙂
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It’s funny how when we were kids, being an adult seemed sooo far away! But the older we get, the faster the years seem to go by… and childhood is just much too short. My daughter is wearing my shirts (I got chunkier of course) and my pants already!! It’s just not right! Granted, I stopped growing at twelve years old, so that’s not saying much for my height. Children are a blessing… but I’ll be damned if they don’t make you feel old.
Of course there are books on your list! You read so much!! I like that you kinda sorta forgot what you put on your list — they make for good surprises. The trip to Iceland sounds like it’s going to be amazing! Apologies for not commenting on all your posts but just know that I /am/ stalking silently 😉 Christmas has come much too quickly, and I’m still scrambling for gift ideas. But it always works out in the end, right?
If I fail to update before then, I wish you a Merry Christmas as well! ❤
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No worries about the comments. I understand why. 😉
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The site looks good! Happy Birthday to your little and congratulations on winning NaNo! I’m getting frustrated myself about not being able to finish. Hope it comes to you soon. Enjoy your holidays!
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Thank you! The design is never 100% perfect, but what ever is anyway?
Don’t get frustrated ❤ It's definitely a tough feat. I mean, a really really tough feat. Imho, Nano is a matter of scheduling in that writing time, and being motivated by the story (or whatever it is that motivates… new stationery, guilt-free tv binging, etc.). Or, if motivation doesn't work, outlines and sticking with it no matter how horrible and wrong it feels…!
But as a friend, just keep at it. You will achieve it all eventually. Writing that "The End tyvm" is so worth it, no matter how crappy you may have felt about the story. Right now, we're probably feeling pretty burnt from putting our writing muse into overdrive like we did. I believe in being nice to ourselves — too often, I think we're way too harsh on ourselves and give ourselves ridiculously high standards. So don't stress too much! It all gets done one way or another!
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