Even though Day 2 didn't go as well as Day 1, I'm still pretty happy with the overall word count. For the day it's 2,627--bringing my total word count to: 8,401. High five to myself!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day Two
Even though Day 2 didn't go as well as Day 1, I'm still pretty happy with the overall word count. For the day it's 2,627--bringing my total word count to: 8,401. High five to myself!
I Dig Rocks
Dear Mom,
I told you about the DR Power Wagon and how it hauls all of my rocks. Did you know I am a huge fan of rocks? No matter where I visit, I want to pick up a rock and take it home with me.
A man I met at a senior citizen’s home who knew your sisters, (Aunt) Anna and Electa, had a little rock collection in his small apartment. He told me stories about how he collected rocks throughout his life. Whew, I thought I was bad—he put me to shame. I began to wonder whether I was a true rock collector. I am—in my own little way.
Mr. (Joe) Zykan told me a story about when he and his family were on vacation and he collected a huge pile of rocks that he loaded on top of the roof of his car. Before long, the roof started sagging and they had to pull over and remove them. But get this—he then shipped the rocks home! Now that’s a rock collector. If anyone knows my husband and his meticulous way with cars—could anyone imagine him letting me haul a bunch of rocks on the roof of a car!
Bringing home a huge rock would... ah, yeah rock. But I stick with ones small enough to fit in my hand. But unearthing a rock in my own back yard really thrills me. These rocks have items fossilized in them. One rock that was in the shape of a fish, had a sea shell where the eye belonged.
And then there's my other kind of fishy shaped looking rock.
Here’s a rock in the shape of a heart. I thought someone stole it until I realized it had cracked. I put it back together.
Some friends who poured our driveway brought us these rocks from their land.
And some more random—way cool—rocks, all from our yard.
I snagged a few rocks from my mother-in-law's yard after her death.
This rock serves as a place to sit when I'm tired. You can see the pink little rock on top of it (which is the same pink rock in the above picture) to give you a comparison in size.
There’s my small collection of various rocks from various places—one bearing the word HU.
I dig rocks!
I told you about the DR Power Wagon and how it hauls all of my rocks. Did you know I am a huge fan of rocks? No matter where I visit, I want to pick up a rock and take it home with me.
A man I met at a senior citizen’s home who knew your sisters, (Aunt) Anna and Electa, had a little rock collection in his small apartment. He told me stories about how he collected rocks throughout his life. Whew, I thought I was bad—he put me to shame. I began to wonder whether I was a true rock collector. I am—in my own little way.
Mr. (Joe) Zykan told me a story about when he and his family were on vacation and he collected a huge pile of rocks that he loaded on top of the roof of his car. Before long, the roof started sagging and they had to pull over and remove them. But get this—he then shipped the rocks home! Now that’s a rock collector. If anyone knows my husband and his meticulous way with cars—could anyone imagine him letting me haul a bunch of rocks on the roof of a car!
Bringing home a huge rock would... ah, yeah rock. But I stick with ones small enough to fit in my hand. But unearthing a rock in my own back yard really thrills me. These rocks have items fossilized in them. One rock that was in the shape of a fish, had a sea shell where the eye belonged.
And then there's my other kind of fishy shaped looking rock.
Here’s a rock in the shape of a heart. I thought someone stole it until I realized it had cracked. I put it back together.
Some friends who poured our driveway brought us these rocks from their land.
And some more random—way cool—rocks, all from our yard.
I snagged a few rocks from my mother-in-law's yard after her death.
This rock serves as a place to sit when I'm tired. You can see the pink little rock on top of it (which is the same pink rock in the above picture) to give you a comparison in size.
There’s my small collection of various rocks from various places—one bearing the word HU.
I dig rocks!
Monday, November 1, 2010
NaNoWriMo Day One
When giving updates on my NaNoWriMo status, I decided to leave off the “Dear Mom” and if she’s looking down upon me, well… thank you.It’s my first day and it’s not even over, but I surpassed my goal of 1,852 words and have written 4,357—that’s what happens when you get up at 5AM and follow a schedule. We’ll see what the rest of the month brings. I do have 3 days that I know I won’t be able to write, so having a bit of a surplus eases my anxiety.
With keeping on a schedule, I took my daughter’s idea (marking a water bottle) to show how much water you need to drink before the day is over. I always forget and who wants to drink 64 ounces of water right before they go to bed? No sleeping then. Thought I’d share the idea with anyone else who has the same trouble. I’m ahead of schedule on the water intake too! Go figure.
A blogger buddy and NaNoWriMo buddy is holding a contest on her blog and so I’m going to share it here if anyone is interested. Lisa (www.writinginthebuff.net) is a sweet Southern gal and I’m sure you’ll enjoy her blog.Now back to writing because I think I’m on a roll. Did I also mention that I rode 4 miles on the stationary bike and did a little laundry?
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Happy Halloween
Dear Mom,
My stepdaughter Robyn and I made spiders for Logan’s school Halloween party. Figured Halloween was a good time to display them.
It’s also Frank’s birthday – so Happy Biooo-thday Frank-enstein! I always have to incorporate some kind of Halloween message on his birthday—after all he was born on Halloween.When Ruthie and I were little, you had us make our own costumes with brown paper grocery bags. On the bottom, we’d cut out a big enough circle to go over our heads and then two smaller circles on either side for arm holes. We’d then get out the crayons and color some kind of picture on the rest of the bag. Ruthie had a BooBoo mask and I had a Yogi Bear mask, and every year we’d Trick or Treat in the neighborhood. Yogi Bear and BooBoo, year after year. I often wondered what the neighbors thought—there they are, the Moellering girls, so creative. Did people laugh behind our backs? We didn’t care so long as we got the goods. I couldn’t handle when someone asked me to do a trick or if I had a joke. I’d shake my head no and feel my heart drop thinking I wouldn’t get any candy, but they always gave me some anyway—probably felt sorry for me with my costume and all.
Have a safe and fun Halloween and booo careful.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
National Novel Writing Month
Dear Mom,I’ve decided to do the NaNoWriMo which is writing a 50,000 word (fictional) novel during the month of November. For those who might be interested in my progress, I plan to post here daily my accomplishments even though I’ll be posting on the NaNoWriMo official site.
Why I’m causing myself more work, I’m not sure but that’s how I roll—heaven forbid should I keep things simple.
Since I need all the help I can muster, I pulled out my totem.
Ruthie reminded me to bring out a totem every time I write to trick the muse that it’s time. I’ll be using my silver spoon from the Hilton in Minneapolis—and no, I didn’t steal it. It was given to me. A fun memory with two dear writing friends. I’ll also keep a picture of my Great Aunt Helen (Lena) Moellering whose story I’m obsessed with finding out, but I keep coming up empty handed. And so I’m going to make up my own story about Lena. Maybe then I can quit obsessing over her and finish up other stories I have to write.
The photo was taken from a family photo probably in the early 1900s. The date of Lena’s exact birth is unknown—about 1896—so my guess she’s about 7 or 8 in this picture. Guessing age is not my thing, maybe she’s 10.Wish me luck as I’ve never been good at fiction, which is going to be tough. I also always write in long hand, but for this project I plan to type on the laptop. That too is going to be different for me. Ah, those secretarial skills will come in handy now.
And Great Aunt Lena, wherever you are, I’ll be open to your help ☺.
Monday, October 25, 2010
My Power Wagon
Dear Mom,
I finally got out in the yard to take care of the weeds before they invaded the house. There’s this wild, native, invasive—but pretty looking—plant. See the plant with the rounded leaves? That's the culprit, trying to take over the phlox.
I decided it looked cool and let it grow. It took off like the moles around here and the next thing I know it’s choking the life out of all my plants. I’m in the third year of trying to keep it out of the garden area and under control. It really is pretty in the spring—tiny purple flowers bloom—especially when it’s covering the ground like a blanket.
While fighting that, I came across another plant that is acting the same way. This water plant has variegated leaves of pink, green and white with scraggly edges. It made its way out of the water and on to ground—also choking out my other plants. It’s more invasive than the other. You know the ole saying, if you can’t beat 'em, join 'em—and I decided to create an area of its own. Maybe it will be happy in its own little section. I gave it lots of love.
The path that I had created was now gone—covered by mulch, weeds, dirt, etc. Again being creative, I decided to line the path with more rocks.
Here's what it looked like before. Do you see a path? It's supposed to be in between the boxwoods (left) and the hosta (right).
My husband had bought me a power wagon several years ago. I gasped at what he paid for it and wondered whether he had any sense. Who would pay that kind of money for a motorized wheelbarrow? The first time my little sister and I used it to create a dry (rock) creek bed, we used the DR Power Wagon. Just once it paid for itself—saving wear and tear on our backs, the ease in which we gathered and hauled rocks. We loved the DRPW.
When creating my path, I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle to get the DRPW since it meant hauling it out of the barn, driving it through the woods, down the hill and into the back (the only way to get back there with a powered machine) and so I carried one big rock. Was I crazy? I went and got the DRPW. And filled that puppy up with rocks (that came from our woods).
Isn’t she a beaut? Oh, and my husband—he has LOTS of sense.
Oh and did I tell you that the DRPW also has a button you can push and it dumps your load for you?
I finally got out in the yard to take care of the weeds before they invaded the house. There’s this wild, native, invasive—but pretty looking—plant. See the plant with the rounded leaves? That's the culprit, trying to take over the phlox.
I decided it looked cool and let it grow. It took off like the moles around here and the next thing I know it’s choking the life out of all my plants. I’m in the third year of trying to keep it out of the garden area and under control. It really is pretty in the spring—tiny purple flowers bloom—especially when it’s covering the ground like a blanket.While fighting that, I came across another plant that is acting the same way. This water plant has variegated leaves of pink, green and white with scraggly edges. It made its way out of the water and on to ground—also choking out my other plants. It’s more invasive than the other. You know the ole saying, if you can’t beat 'em, join 'em—and I decided to create an area of its own. Maybe it will be happy in its own little section. I gave it lots of love.
The path that I had created was now gone—covered by mulch, weeds, dirt, etc. Again being creative, I decided to line the path with more rocks.
Here's what it looked like before. Do you see a path? It's supposed to be in between the boxwoods (left) and the hosta (right).
My husband had bought me a power wagon several years ago. I gasped at what he paid for it and wondered whether he had any sense. Who would pay that kind of money for a motorized wheelbarrow? The first time my little sister and I used it to create a dry (rock) creek bed, we used the DR Power Wagon. Just once it paid for itself—saving wear and tear on our backs, the ease in which we gathered and hauled rocks. We loved the DRPW.When creating my path, I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle to get the DRPW since it meant hauling it out of the barn, driving it through the woods, down the hill and into the back (the only way to get back there with a powered machine) and so I carried one big rock. Was I crazy? I went and got the DRPW. And filled that puppy up with rocks (that came from our woods).
Isn’t she a beaut? Oh, and my husband—he has LOTS of sense.
Oh and did I tell you that the DRPW also has a button you can push and it dumps your load for you?
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