Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

A few of my favorite things from Flickr

1. Project Spectrum, 2. stranded knit in progress, 3. Flute Player, 4. Storm, 5. Wolf's Lair, Hollywood, 6. Sun!, 7. Untitled, 8. Alice1-1, 9. /terminal velocity/, 10. Patchwork of colours, 11. Untitled, 12. Haunting prospect, 13. the new purl, 14. Pretty Pink Daisy Petals . . ., 15. _GER3697, 16. Myself, 17. IMG_7235, 18. Scone Maze, 19. 27/365, 20. Snowing from the trees, 21. bien au chaud, 22. perspective, 23. Elvis Lives, 24. Untitled, 25. Socks Bex, 26. Graveyard from top of the Bass, 27. peace and comfort, 28. Frosted Chocolate Malt Cupcakes, 29. The Rococo Shawl - Hand Knit Wool & Llama Shawl (in Teal), 30. The garden seat, 31. Woman sitting on bumper bar of a car at Warwick Farm racecourse, 32. Prairie dog, 33. Toni Frissell: Weeki Wachee spring, Florida, 1947, 34. guard, 35. Ghost outside the Window, 36. Stripey Wednesday Socks

Besides inspiration, I use my favorites on Flickr to bring a smile to my face when I really need one, when I need some happiness.

I went to the viewing tonight of a woman who was my first Sunday school teacher. I can remember putting my offering into a little plastic white church (a quarter at the time), saying a prayer, then having my lesson. Miss Reva (she was married, but was always called with the 'Miss' in front of her name) was an inspiration for the way to live. She was nice to everyone and did not have an unkind word to say about anyone. Heaven has indeed gained another angel. I know you're up there in Heaven Miss Reva, reunited with Lydia, another member of my church, who died this year.

No new flute...

...but I did buy myself a piccolo. I did not meet my word count for the beta version of Camp NaNoWriMo although I will for sure try again in August.

But for what I did write and for some of the things I have been through the past couple of months I decided to buy myself the piccolo, since I do have a flute already, albeit one I've had since the 5th grade and has so many dings and scratches on it and the pads have probably dried up as well.

The one I bought is one to just play on and didn't cost a lot.

Hopefully playing this weekend....

Goal setting and treats

I haven't been writing as much as I would have liked during Camp NaNoWriMo so I've decided to to give myself a treat to get the word quota up and over where it should be.

I played the flute and piccolo in high school and I would really a new flute. I have recently come across some old marching band music and would like to play again but my flute needs a bit of work so I'm thinking about buying a new one. A piccolo would be nice too - I would borrow one from the bandroom when I had to play so I never had my own.

So to reward myself for reaching the 50K for one month I will buy a new flute. For reaching the 50K for both months (100K total), I'll buy a flute and a piccolo. Now these won't be professional models. Just ones I can play at home for my own enjoyment.

I found an outline (4 pages!) for an idea I had written in November 2010 when I wasn't able to complete the regular NaNoWriMo and have been working from it. I had totally forgotten about writing it and came across it again while organizing all the materials I saved. (I save items to read as PDFs at a later date so I don't waste paper.)

Look what was waiting for me after work

I don't know whether to enjoy it or save all the stuff inside - I so want to mail those postcards to myself. Maybe I'll buy a second one to actually use!

My goal is to participate July and August both and see about getting two more novels written. Well, started anyway - and the voices out of my head so there will be room for more.

Camp NaNoWriMo is now open!!!!

What a wonderful surprise to check the NaNoWriMo page this evening and find that Camp is now open!!!!

Now I just have to decide what to write. I may have to haunt the the adoption threads to find a plot and some characters.

When you only have two hands....

....and need both of them to eat with, you use whatever is handy to keep the pages of your book open. I had once seen someone use a knife the same way, but Red Lobster provides you with two forks, and since I didn't eat a salad this time, I put the extra fork to good use.

The book is Secret of the White Rose by Stefanie Pintoff. I pre-ordered from Amazon and I am now just getting around to it as I work my way down my TBR list.

Have you heard the news....

...that Camp NaNoWriMo will be available this summer? This is for those of us who like NaNoWriMo so much we want more chances to participate.

Here's the link for more information: http://blog.lettersandlight.org/post/4930557210/going-to-camp-in-my-mind

Now...what to write?

Being a pack rat has its advantages. While looking for a copy of resume, I came across this on an old computer of mine @ work. Enjoy.

mood dudes

mood dudes, originally uploaded by mysterywriter40.

My sister knows me so well - this was a belated birthday present for me.

Happy Birthday Kait!!!

You are one of those rare people who are as nice on the inside as you are beautiful on the outside. I wish you many more and can't wait to see you again (in Italy) next month!

Ridgelawn Memorial Park

Ridgelawn, originally uploaded by mysterywriter40.

Where else would I be able to have a quiet lunch alone?

One great thing from today....a new pic of my favorite house in NYC!

What have I been up to this year?

I've been trying to keep myself occupied while all the snow has been on the ground. I have to admit I'm really tired of the white stuff now. Other areas have gotten much more than I have, but this is like the 3rd year for lots of snow in the winter months and it is taking a toll on me emotionally.

I remember when I would drive through bumper deep snow in my Jeep Wrangler (I miss that Jeep!) since I worked as a police dispatcher and HAD to be at work. Back then I was in my late 20s/early 30s and wasn't worried about the concept of dying young. Now, I am. I have a healthy balance of annual leave (vacation time) so I take it when it snows. I don't like leaving my co-workers to fill in for me, but I have 40 miles to drive (one way), and 90% of it is on a county two-lane road over hills. I can't just hop on the interstate or drive up one of the other main state roads that gets cleared first. If I did, I would go to work. So I'm hoping my friends at work don't begrudge me my time off. I rarely take sick time (I have 10 months+ worth saved) and usually don't take vacations unless something special comes up, like my anticipated trip to Italy in April to see my niece.

So anyway, the sewing machine is the one I bought so I could make quilts. I made one on my old machine, but it wasn't really made for quilting. So I got a new one and I've been sewing strips (see jelly rolls below) together for a postage stamp quilt-a-long I'm participating in. Mom gets it when I'm finished with it.

I also have been waiting for the book New York 1900 to come down in price so I could buy it. I'm still in the planning stages of my trilogy that I started during NaNoWriMo in 2009. I failed miserably this year writing the 2nd story, but that's OK. I went into without a clear idea of what was supposed to happen. Won't happen again. I hated to lose this year. So I have gone back to the planning stage for all three of them, to better get a sense of the overall plot and what needs to happen in each individual story.

So that's about it for now. Trying to get through all the snow without wrecking my car. Trying to keep myself from going crazy. And trying to get a little bit of writing done.

My first shipment of Field Notes

My first shipment of Field Notes, originally uploaded by mysterywriter40.

I think this can only be termed love at first sight!