FINISHED

Sometimes you just have to power through and finish, and I have.  53,122 words later, I have reached my 50K word goal.  And very little of it was on one project.  I think I have 4 going at the moment, and that's just the best way for my brain to work.

Now I am going to take a power nap. 

Yay new ideas!

So it is the weekend, which means my brain is kind of in slumber mode.  The weekend is the only time my partner and I get to spend together without having to worry about work and cooking and working out and all the other things that we worry about during the week.  So I don't do a lot of writing or planning, normally.

This weekend however I have had a of brain mojo!  Outlining a new idea, spending time on an old idea, and even working on my current novel.  I haven't much touched the idea for NaNo this weekend, but I have touched just about everything else!  Despite writing so much, I have also been cleaning like crazy.  Got our guest room cleaned up and have one other room to work on.  Our bedroom also needs some work, but it's more just dusting and vacuuming in there than actually cleaning. 

I hope you have been having a great weekend.

Until Next Time!

Shaking things up a bit!

So, I am shaking things up a bit.  Basically I took pretty pictures of my stir fry the other night and decided I would put it on the blog!  Aren't you excited?  (Okay, yeah, no one is nearly as excited as I am about food.)  But these are, in my humble opinion, very pretty pictures.  I am not a professional photographer, nor do I play one on the Internet.  These are merely some joe-schmoe's supper pictures.  I think you can appreciate that!

So I made stir fry the other night.  It was delicious.  I'll give you a mark up of the recipe, but understand that I really don't measure, unless I'm baking.  So please taste everything and adjust as needed.  Also, we are attempting to be primal in our eating.  This is basically paleo light.  We have cut out most grains from our diet.  So everything we use is gluten free, but I'm pretty sure it'll work with everything.  We are not purists, this recipe has soy sauce in it (I can hear people gasping!) and you know what?  It was good.

Key:
T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon


Ingredients:
1.5 T  Tamari (gluten free soy sauce)
1.5 T  Rice wine vinegar
1 T  Hoisen Sauce
2 t  Mirin
2 t  Sweet red chili sauce
1 T  Honey
2 pound flank steak (or skirt steak, or whatever steak, or even chicken)
a couple heads of broccoli
2 Carrots matchsticked
half a green pepper, matchsticked
half an orange pepper, matchsticked
half a yellow pepper, matchsticked
any other veggies you want to throw in (seriously, snap pears would probably be delicious!  We've also added water chestnuts as well for crunch!)

Isn't that broccoli pretty?

Recipe:
Mix all the sauces together.  Take 1/3 of the sauce and reserve it for later use. 
Cut the flank steak into strips, thinner is better than thicker. 
Place the cut up steak into the 2/3 remaining sauce, allow to marinate in the fridge for an hour (or less, or more, up to about 8 hours I would think.  The longer you can marinate the yummier it is!)
Heat a wok or large pan on the stove to a nice medium high.
Please a couple tablespoons oil of choice into the wok
Put meat into the wok and brown on all sides.
Remove meat and put in a bit more oil and the veggies
Once veggies are cooked to your liking (we like a little snap, but not much), put the meat back in and pour over the reserved sauce.
Heat till everything is warm.
Serve

The pretty stir fry.. and the picture that started this whole post!

Until Next Time

First glimpse at NaNo 2014

So this year I am doing something different with NaNo and putting it all here for all to see!  This is the first glimpse into the NaNo this year.  This is unedited, straight from my head.  Don't judge too harshly! 

Word count: 2027
Enjoy!!

Start:

William looked around and got excited. Today was the first day of the school year and he knew this was going to be an excellent year. The performing arts school finally accepted him into the ranks and he was going to make it big. Oh to walk the hallowed halls that the greats have walked. The world is my oyster today he thought to himself. Stepping off the train, he slowly made his way uptown. Standing in front of the building that the man himself had studied at filled him with trepidation as well as an overwhelming feeling of completion.

For the last two years he had been trying to make it in this school. His dream of standing on stage, singing his heart out, performing, allowed him to do nothing less. He was going to make it, he had no other option. Broadway was his dream. Cabaret, Phantom of the Opera, Newsies, he didn't care. The goal was to be on that stage and this school was his first step.

With his schedule clutched in his hand, William took his first steps inside of the building as a student. His first class was rather mundane, English. He knew it was important to be well spoken, but he also knew that English was not his major. Classroom 113, west side of the school. Looking down at his map, he figured out where he was and then slowly made his way towards the classroom. Stepping into the classroom, he looked around. There was a vast diversity to the students standing around the room, some new some returning students. At 15, William was one of the older kids who stepped foot into the classroom for the first time. He knew this and became determined to make new friends. He would make friends.

Aisha took a deep breath. The first day of school in a new country. Slowly getting up from bed, she knew today would be the first day of the rest of her life, and she hated it. “Aisha, downstairs, breakfast” her mother barked at her. Slowly moving, Aisha put her bathrobe over her pajamas and made her way downstairs.

“What's for breakfast?” She asked, looking across the table at her family.

“Big breakfast for the first day of school!” Her little brother, Zahid, answered her, obviously full of excitement. He is always way too cheery to go back to school Aisha thought to herself as she sat down to the table.

“Are you excited for the performing school?” Her mother asked her, passing a plate of eggs towards her.

“Yes, mama, I am excited. I guess.”

Aisha hated school, she always had. She knew she was lucky to be educated, so many girls weren't, but school was not something she enjoyed. This year, while she had gotten into the performing arts school, she found herself even less excited. It was hard to move across the world. It was hard to leave all her friends, and now she had to deal with a new country and trying to make new friends.

Stepping off the train, Aisha looked up at the school building before her. She was excited to learn more about the performing arts. Being an actress was her dream, though her father was not too keen on the idea. He always wanted her to go on and become something important, like a doctor or a lawyer, but that was way too much school for Aisha. She had her own dreams. Getting a script from her agent, memorizing her lines, stepping into hair and makeup, finally looking at the camera, knowing she was going to perform and that camera was going to broadcast it across the world. Famous. Famous.

Looking down at her schedule, Aisha saw her first class was English, room 113. She knew where that room was, having walked her schedule just a couple days before with her father and brother. Looking around to get her bearings, she quickly made her way to the classroom. The room 113, with it's number illuminated against the darker hallway, loomed in front of her. Adjusting the scarf on her head, she walked into the room. There weren't many people in the room just yet and Aisha spotted a desk in the back corner. Moving towards the desk, Aisha smiled at the students staring at her. This was going to be a long class.

Grace moved towards the train with the confidence only a 15 year old young woman can possess. She was moving towards her element, her school. Stepping down into the subway, she found the whole place disgusting. I can't believe people enjoy taking the subway she thought to herself. This whole place is so dirty and dingy. And this light does nothing for me. Scanning her metro pass, Grace stepped through the turnstyle, trying to touch as little as possible. She would not let the dirty wheel ruin her outfit.

Putting her bag on the floor in front of her seat, Grace looked down at her book. No, she wasn't going to actually read, but she had heard that people left you alone if you pretended to be busy on the subway. This was important, because the last thing she wanted to do was talk to these people.

Life here sure was different from where she came from, and Grace loved it so much. There weren't people here who thought wrestling a pig was a fun activity. Any time she had mentioned her hometown to people before, she always felt like she was being judged by their country ways. No one took her seriously because they all thought she knew how to rope a cow or ride a horse. Sure, she did know how to do those things, but only because her father had made her learn so she could help on the farm. She hated every minute of it, and she was sure to let people know.

Looking up momentarily from her book, Grace caught site of what she thought was a homeless boy sitting across from her. She felt sad for him for a second, but then he took out an apple from his bag and began eating it. Gross, she thought, who would eat on this train? Loser. Grace had very little tolerance for people like him. It wasn't hard to better yourself and she just couldn't understand why this boy wasn't trying to be better.

Stepping up to the school, Grace felt at home. She was home. Today was the first day of her third year at the performing arts school and this would be her year. She was sure to be voted best in her class, and this was also the year that she would start focusing more on her craft, rather than the pesky school stuff of the last two years. She was bound to become the queen of the choir and ready to take her place in the schools hierarchy that gave students a chance to be on stage in real productions. She was going to be a star this year.

Looking down at her schedule, Grace groaned at her first period. English with Mr. Hasher. She had heard such horrible things about him as a teacher. She didn't understand why she had to continue taking stupid English, she'd been speaking it her whole life. Not only that, she didn't understand why a man like Mr. Haser was still teaching. He hadn't been in a production in ages, and he was a freaking dinosaur in the business. Slowly Grace made her way towards room 113.

Moving in the hallway was exciting. People remembered her, of course, and greeted her. She knew if she kept talking to everyone she would be late, but she also knew that it was more important to make friends of future stars than it was to sit in English class. As the first tones began to ring out in the school house she slid into Mr. Hashers class. He greeted her with a contempt in his eyes, but she had made it, so there was nothing he could do to her anyway. Sitting in the middle row, Grace took out her notebook and began to doodle. This was going to be a long first period.

Gregory rolled out of bed before the sun was up. Blinking at the small alarm clock, he quickly turned to wake his little brother so he could make up the bed. “Jason, come on. First day of school.” Nudging his brother, moving on towards the shower and hoping his brother would be up when he got out.

“Gregory,” his mother called from the other room, “the hot water is out again. I have to go in for a double shift. Can you make sure Lilly and Jason get to school? And that Alan and Daisy get to daycare? I'll take Peter with me.” Leaving no room for him to decent, his mother was out the door before Gregory even processed what she was saying.

Great, another cold shower and I have to get everyone to school? Gregory silently cursed under his breath as he turned the water all way over to hot, praying his mother was wrong. She wasn't. The cold shower left him little time to think about anything but washing up. Today was the first day of school. He couldn't be late.

Moving to the kitchen, Gregory saw that his little sister was already cooking breakfast. “Good morning” he greeted her, hoping his voice was happier than his cold shower mood.

Lilly just threw a hand over her shoulder and continued to scramble some eggs. “Dad didn't send any money this week. The gas was turned off.” Lilly didn't hide her contempt for this fact. Gregory nodded at the back of her head. “Everyone is up, will you get them in here?”

Gregory rounded everyone up into the kitchen as Lilly doled out the eggs. There weren't enough, there never was, so Gregory quickly split his eggs among the younger kids. He tucked a couple apples into his bag, they would just have to do. “Come on everyone, we have to get moving.”

Settling down on the train after dropping off the youngest kids to daycare, Gregory realized how hungry he was. Taking an apple from his bag, he began to think about his day. He was in his third year at the performing arts school, despite being a year younger than most people in his class, and he was excited. Yeah, he knew he wasn't going to get fame this year, but maybe he would get on the chorus line of a musical. That was his goal. Biting into his apple he noticed Grace sitting down the car from him. He knew who she was, but only because she was the biggest diva in the school.

Getting off the train at school meant he was home. This was one place where he wasn't all that different from everyone else, maybe even a little better than them. His mom worked hard to make sure he could go here and he wasn't going to blow it for anything. As he stepped into the building he made his way towards the front office. Caroline, the office attendant, often had some baked goodies on the first day and he was hoping to score a muffin or biscuit.

“Good morning Gregory,” Caroline greeted him. “I saved you a blueberry muffin, your favorite.” Handing him his prize he saw the genuine worry that he knew Caroline felt for him.

“Thanks!” he exclaimed, trying not to scarf down the muffin in front of her. “You make the best muffins.” Waving as he made his way out of the office and towards first period, English with Mr. Hasher. A tough teacher, so he had heard, but it was English and that was one class, outside of performing, that Gregory loved. Stopping at the door of class 113, Gregory wiped his mouth one last time, crumb checking of course. He stepped into the room, excited for the beginning of the school year, and hopefully the best year of his life.

End

Until Next Time!

Heart to Heart

I hate election day.  I especially hate the day after election day.  One side always loses and the other gloats.  It doesn't matter what party you belong to, it's true.  Don't even try to deny it, you can't.  My side lost last night, and I feel hung over.  Or better what I imagine being hung over feels like, I wouldn't know.  And now I have to deal with all my friends being quiet and the other side gloating like they won the superbowl.  It's a crappy, rainy day here. 

I think we all just need a moment to have a heart to heart.  Do I honestly think the world is going to shift because of this election?  No.  I worry about what policies are going to try to be rammed through.  Who isn't when they aren't on top?  I worry because I see who won in Florida and I know where they stand on the "gay marriage debate".  I worry because our Supreme Court Justices are getting older and it will be harder to have a court that goes in my favor if, heaven forbid, someone were to die or retire. 

Other than that?  Nothing will change.  Nothing ever changes.  Sure, a few things change here or there, but the total output is exactly the same (nothing).  Elections leave me with a feeling of excitement and a feeling of dread, at the exact same time.  It is quite an interesting feeling, to be honest.

So, election season is over for now.  I am excited to not see smear ads all over the TV at all times.  Today I am lounging lazily with my puppies inside our extremely cold house, curled up with a blanket, drinking some nice hot tea.  The world didn't end, my life is still exactly the same.

Until Next Time.

Today

Today, 1500 words later, I hate everything I've written!  Much like everyone I know, NaNo is not coming quickly this year.  NaNo is not coming easy.  The last thing I want to do when I get done writing on my novel is come here and write, but at the same time this is exactly what I want to do. 

So for today's blog post I'm not going to write anything exciting. 

Today has been full of the business.  I have a few Christmas gifts I am trying to buy and I am just struck with dilemma after dilemma.  I want to order a couple personalized gifts, but am struck on what we call the kids vs their real names.  The parents named them something different from what they are called, yet their names are important to their parents.  It makes for ordering personalized gifts difficult. 

My writing is going okay.  I have a children's book in the works that I am pretty excited about.  It's about dinosaurs and a purple bunny that is a scientist.  It's turning out a bit cute.  I also have a sci fi novel in the works and I am pretty excited with how the last chapter turned out.  I am not sure where the heck the book is going, but I have an overall feeling of how I want it to end.  Plus I have what I am writing for NaNo and woah, I am tired.  But I am getting in so much writing practice. 

I love writing sometimes just for writings sake.  I think that is what I do ninety percent of the time anyway, which makes writing a novel hard!  That is what my plan is though. 

Until Next Time!