Yesterday I successfully completed day 1 of National Novel Writing Month. Here is what I posted at the NaNo forums:
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If I tried to write this as fiction, it would sound contrived. First, I've been cramming to wrap up a previous cookbook project by Halloween. I had to eat into time I had left aside as overflow time, but that's what the overflow time was for, and it looked like I was just barely going to make it.
I'm a stay-at-home mother of two. My writing time is at night, after the kids go to bed. Sustainably I can manage an hour; on a good night, two.
A couple of weeks to go and my husband brings home news of having to work late one month out of three for the foreseeable future, starting the last week of October. Great.
Three days before Halloween, my three-year-old has an epic round of diarrhea, necessitating that we put him back in diapers. Great.
Two days to Halloween, it snows. It's the worst October storm on record here in Massachusetts. The leaves are still on the trees, and the snow is sticky, so down go the trees. A third of my town loses power, including us. Okay. My husband chops wood. So we have a little camp-out in the basement by a roaring fire. I do some of my final cookbook work on battery power by firelight. It's cold and the floor is hard, but it's managable.
Then my son wakes up with another poop attack. My husband takes him upstairs into the cold house to clean him up; ten minutes later I go to see what all the screaming is about and find a scene that looks like the Blair Witch Project. Thank the FSM we still have hot water.
The next morning we find a coffee shop that still has power. After minor ordering mishaps, we all eat, and feel better, until my son has to make repeated restroom trips and has a meltdown over something inconsequential. No big deal. At least he was able to make it to the toilet. But when we get home, he starts to vomit. Thank goodness he waited until we got home!
Now it's Halloween. With the house warmed by the sun, and enough time to clean up and prepare for another night of cold, we were surprised and delighted when power was restored. Trick-or-treating wasn't even an option, because the town cancelled it. What a relief. We spent a delightful, warm night in our own soft beds. I got my cookbook wrapped up, and got a few hours of sleep before having to clean up the next vomit storm. Thank the FSM for electricity!
Anyway, NaNoWriMo Day arrived, my husband was hit with the tummy bug, and my son continued to erupt periodically. I hit my first night's quota of words. Took care of the sick kid in the middle of the night again. Almost failed my saving throw against actual caffeinated coffee this morning, which I reserve for emergencies. Going to call the doctor as soon as their office opens. . .
This is all just a speed-bump, right? I'm ready to get back to normal.
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Someone liked my post style, so I thought I would save it here for later amusement. Anyway, Gabe and Chris are on the mend. The cookbook only needs a teeny bit more index work before I get it to the publisher. And I am waiting for Kaylee to get tired so that I can have my NaNo writing time. Pleas, baby, get sleepy now. This is getting silly.
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