And the Winner Is....

Well, I did it I'm officially a National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2008 Winner! I can't believe it, can someone pinch me? Last Friday, I think my word count was around 25,000 words, so I doubted I could win.

I wrote a novel back in 2003, edited and revised several times before locking it away in a drawer. Over the past year, I wrote short stories and recently a few poems thinking novel writing isn’t for me. NaNoWriMo gave me the opportunity to challenge myself to see if I had another novel brewing inside, and guess what, I did. I haven't finished my NaNoWriMo story, but the challenge is to write 50,000 words during the month of November and as of right now I have 50,177 (381 KB), a thriller titled Unveil.

I want to thank my mom, Kimmi and Jakie for their encouragement. It helps to have some people cheering in your corner, and I had a few greats cheering for me.

Congratulations to all the NaNoWriMo 2008 Winners!

Thinking of You

It’s funny how sometimes we get self-absorbed in our lives and forget about others. For me, I’ve been struggling with a cold, playing catch up with my NaNo Novel and trying to figure out when I’ll get the things for my Thanksgiving contribution. Today, I received an email from a friend, Jay L. Young, telling me he had trouble getting his creative juices flowing and thought about me. He decided to write a song for me and wondered what it would sound like. It sounds great and I gave Jay my interpretation of the guitar movements. You can listen to Train of Thought by Jay.

To inspire someone enough to think about you let alone write a song for you is truly flattering and heartwarming. It was completely unexpected, and I can’t say enough how wonderful it is to know that someone thought about me. I told Jay this was my first Christmas gift one I’ll treasure through life.

I wrote about Jay’s book Heroes of Old, so not only does he write, but as you can hear is a musician too. You can listen to Jay's music, my song is also posted and read about his musical escapades. He’s a very talented man and I wish him and his family a happy and healthy holiday season. Thank you, Jay.

Room With A View

This is a picture I took looking out from a window in Shakespeare's childhood home.

Hark! who looks out yonder window with woe

A lover’s quarrel of footprints in snow

‘Tis lost thy source which aches within thy heart

Though world has warned by calling thee a tart

Ignored thy ignorant words spit out of spite

Found thee defending that grew into a fight

Is thou love really a harlot in disguise,

Or how thee praised with acts of idolized?

How shall thee find the answer to thy prayers

To silence forever along with thy tears?

I wrote this for fun. I am sure... no I'm positive I misused 'thy' and 'thee,' and the more I searched for a definition each link wound up confusing me more. I'd love to hear your thoughts and *clears throat* corrections on my usage.

Have a great day and week! If I'm not back in time, you can start the Thanksgiving dinner without me. Happy Thanksgiving!

Blonde Baker?

I thought I’d lighten things up a bit and add a Friday Funny. Since Thanksgiving is next week, I figured this is the best time to reveal a few bad baking stories of mine. I’m not a real blonde, but we all have those moments. For all the blondes out there who might take offense, you know we love you.

Chop Suey Cake

At 22-years old, I still thought I knew everything and my mother just corrected to annoy me. A friend of mine was getting married and I decided to make a Chop Suey cake for her bridal shower. I put all the ingredients in the bowl and started mixing everything together. My mom happened to come home when I was mixing and asked what I was doing.

“Uh, mixing the ingredients.”

“With your hands?”

With a cocky attitude I responded, “The directions say ‘mix by hand.’”

Through clenched teeth, my mom said, “That means you don’t use a blender.”

I’m not quite sure what my mother thought, but based on the her look it was probably along the lines of “I gave birth to this one?”

Nestle Toll House Cookies

We had a package of Nestle Toll House cookies in the house and I was looking for something sweet to eat, so I started making them. I put the pan in the oven and checked about 10 minutes later. The mixture didn’t thicken leaving a brown liquid splashing around the pan. My mom came home and asked what I did wrong. I told her I followed the directions, so we went through them together. It asked for 2-1/4 cups of flour. My mom asked if I added it.

“Yes. I put two ¼ cups of flour.”

“What? You didn’t put two cups and a ¼ cup of flour?”

“No, it asked for two ¼ cups.”

Let me say, my Toll House cookies didn’t look anything like the picture even after adding in the correct amount of flour. For the record, my family doesn't ask me to bake for the holidays or anytime in between.

I wish you all a safe and fun weekend.