almost at the new year...

I've been thinking about what to post the last few days, but what I've been coming up with is more for a month from now. Sort of like New Year's Resolutions, only I don't make resolutions at the new year, I make them at my birthday which is shortly after. I like to think of the next year as in, what am I going to do at, in this case, 25? What do I hope to accomplish before I'm 26.

So...I will have something up soon on that. I'm beginning to think about the things I really want to do to mark my quarter of a century on this planet (God, it sounds old when you put it that way).

But for now, I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. I sure did, and it has been absolutely wonderful to really rest and relax this past week. Thankfully I have another week to go and I intend to do a lot of writing this week.

Happy New Year! I have a feeling 2008 is going to be a good year.

rewards

I've come to find that with life's challenges, sometimes a little reward is a necessary and wonderful thing. Whether it be a night out with friends after finishing that paper, a new book or CD for good grades (back in high school and before), a nice dinner when that job is finished and you get that promotion, etc.

So this evening, and probably for the following evenings, I'm instigating a reward system. A few of you know that I'm trying to finish the first draft of my novel before I leave for vacation, so I can use that time to do a thorough editing of it. But I'd really, really like to have the first draft complete.

However...things aren't quite going that way. Earlier this afternoon I spent much of my time checking email or whatnot and only writing a couple of words before getting re-distracted. The challenge: write at least another 1,000 words before I call it a night.

In my refrigerator, I have a bag of holiday M&Ms.* The reward: An M&M for every 100 words.

And you know what? In the last half hour, I've written over 500 words. I counted out about 10 M&Ms and have them sitting here next to me for relatively easy access. Of course I could steal another one, but then I'd have 9 left and that's not my goal.

Hmmmm...how many M&Ms, I mean words, do I want tomorrow evening?

*Yes, my M&Ms are in the refrigerator. I like my chocolate cold.

rainbows

This afternoon was a little strange as far as weather was concerned. I left my apartment, and needed to pull out my sunglasses, even though my apartment itself seemed dark from an overcast sky. I then turned the corner at the end of the street and had water droplets splashing on my face and on the sidewalk around me. Yet...the clouds didn't seem to be above me and the sun was still out.

Then later, while walking through Thomas Circle, I stopped to wait to cross one street and looked back over my shoulder, checking for oncoming traffic. But instead I saw a pretty perfect rainbow. It arched beautifully behind the Methodist church's steeple, and was full of bright, vibrant colors.

Inside Thomas Circle I saw a few people trying to take pictures and, as it happens, I'd left my camera at home. I normally carry it with me everywhere but this morning I transferred photos off it onto my computer. But, I was reminded that while I may have more than enough pictures of the Washington Monument, this city still provides a wealth of photographic scenes.

Did anyone else get a chance to see it? About an hour later when I walked home from errands, it was gone. But it put a smile on my face for most of the day.

In other news I've finished American Creation by Joseph Ellis. For this book I do intend to post a review, because it was absolutely wonderful and a delight to read. I read the second half in about a day. Today I've just started reading one of my new books on the French Occupation for background for a novel idea I have (and that's all I'm saying). I'm really excited about this and hope to read this book soon so I can at least begin to flesh out the storyline.

One more week until Christmas (and I escape for a vacation in Texas!). Hope your Christmas shopping is done! If not...well, the internet is a beautiful thing.

how 'bout them 'boyz?

28-27

I know I don't talk about football here, or anywhere/time in life. But I am not, as a friend recently joked, a fair weather fan, only liking my Cowboys when they do well. I am a fairly new fan, who is only within the last two years following my boys.

How could this be? I know. I was raised in Texas, a state where football is like a religion. But I never liked it. I thought it was boring, I didn't get it, my high school football team almost never won a game and there was a little bit of animosity between football and me every few years when Super Bowl Sunday happened to fall on my birthday.

But then I left Texas. After a brief detour in California, I moved here, a place where more often than not when someone (usually male, but not always) finds out I'm from Dallas, the question is "oh, so you must be a Cowboy fan?" And so, out of loyalty to my city, I had to state that yes, it was.

Then another interesting thing happened. I went to a Cowboy's game with family friends one holiday season in Dallas. And the strange thing was that I had a great time. I found the atmosphere incredible, with the enthusiasm in the crowd, and the tailgating outside, and how many people were there...it was a little exhilarating (I hadn't been to a football game since I was very little, and I don't remember much since most people were standing and I couldn't see the field for the fans).

The second thing was my father's friend sat next to me during the entire first half explaining everything that went on. Which I think must have taken a lot of patience since I knew absolutely nothing. And even though I have since forgotten most of what he told me, I remember that during that game, I got it. I understood the game and I actually enjoyed it. I had fun.

Imagine that.

I may not ever be like my co-worker, a woman who can carry on a football conversation with the best of them, but I have a little more understanding to the Sunday afternoon hiatus. And if my birthday should ever fall on Super Bowl Sunday again, well...I'll be understanding as well. Just know that I better get a nice dinner or some flowers later in the week.

when did Christmas lists get so hard?

When I was little, coming up with a wish list was a piece of cake. It was the cutting down the list to make it feasible that was difficult. I'd cut up catalogues and magazines and glue the pictures of the things I wanted onto some paper and have a list probably at least 10 pages long for my parents. I remember the dilemma of said project was when I wanted two things that were on either side of a page.

Hmmm. Tricky.

But I just emailed my Mom my list and not only is it much more bare than my lists from fifteen years ago, it's also a little boring.

Part of the problem is that I want "grown-up" things that won't easily pack in my suitcase to bring back from Texas, like these cappuccino mugs from my favorite place: Crate & Barrel. Three Christmas' ago I got a blender. Two years later, blender was still sitting in Texas and I went out and bought a new one with my Bed Bath & Beyond coupon (that thing was never going to get mailed to me and I would never have the space in my suitcase to pack it up).

Books, DVDs, all well and good...but boring. Am I right? There's nothing new, nothing sparkling, nothing I've had my eye on all year and would wait up all night for Santa to put it under the tree. There are no dollhouses, no bikes, no ice skates (although...maybe I should ask for another pair. I miss ice skating).

And as cheesy as it might sound, the thing I'm looking forward to most this Christmas isn't something I'll get under the tree (unless maybe it was the key to a new Aston Martin sitting outside), but I'm mostly just looking forward to going home and spending some time with the family, and kittens, with the holiday decorations up, good food and drink, and some downtime.

So this is growing up.

e-books

I've been seeing the Kindle on a lot of my trips to Amazon lately, and was also reading about e-books while catching up on some of my blog reading. Hmmm...e-books...

Yes, I suppose they would make aspects of life easier. For one thing, it'd probably be much easier to read the latest Grisham or Dan Brown on the metro, or definitely make it easier to read your daily New York Times, especially on the metro during rush hour. The few times it's been pretty bad, I have put my book away simply because I couldn't hold it at a good angle or people kept hitting my book and making my eyes wander from the line I was on.

Slightly difficult.

But...I'm not tempted to get a Kindle, or Sony Reader, or anything along those lines. At the end of the day...I like my books.

I like seeing the spines lined up on my bookshelves, or stacked up along end tables, I like the weighted feel of a new book in my bag, hoping that something causes a delay in my day to read the next chapter or two. I like being curled up in an armchair with a book in my hands, turning the pages in anticipation, or seeing the increasing thinness on the right side as I hurry towards the ending.

It's what I do on lazy afternoons, stormy nights or in the cold chills of winter.

Yes, as cliché as it sounds, I love the musty smell of a collection of books and I look forward to building my own library in my house (whenever that will be) of books I've read and loved through the years. It'd be a little difficult to do that with electronic books.

So what do you think? Tell me I'm not the only one with this love affair for books in a printed form? Or go ahead, try to convince me that I should make the change (although...good luck. I've heard many arguments and think they're really good...but...what can I say? I love my books).

it's snowing!

Yes, I complain about being cold. But you know what? I don't care when it snows. Somehow the snow cancels that bone-chilling cold that makes it hard to breathe.

It's snowed all three winters I've been in DC. This is strange, this is new. Growing up in North Texas, we weren't guaranteed snow every year and were lucky if it snowed at all, even a light dusting.

Anyone looked outside? It's accumulating. There's a light dusting of whiteness on the lawn and driveway at the Embassy in front of my office. And it's still falling. This morning weather.com said there might be a 1 or 2 inch accumulation. To you Northerners, that may not be worth anything.

But for me? That's very exciting. I am a happy girl.

Now...if only I had some hot chocolate...

nothing

Today I did practically nothing. Sure, I got stuff done around my apartment, but I didn't do any of the errands or Christmas shopping I'd thought I'd do earlier in the weekend. The reason was because I could barely walk (ok, slight exaggeration here...but it may have been the truth last night).

Yesterday I went for a six mile hike through Rock Creek Park that took about four hours. I can easily walk six or seven miles in DC while running errands since I don't have a car and I try not to take the metro whenever necessary. But that's on smooth (in places) sidewalk and level, for the most part. None of this hiking up steep inclines or rock-hopping across creeks, tiny steps down steep inclines and traipsing through calf-high leaves.

It was well worth it though. It's amazing to think that all that exists within Washington, DC, except in the few areas we passed through where you saw the road. Mostly it was just the group I was with and the leaves. I'd like to go again in the spring, because the leaves were a little tricky. There were places where you knew there were steps, but couldn't quite see for the leaves. And then I also kept waiting to fall down the rabbit hole since I couldn't see anything on the floor. It was great to take some time and just hike through the area. I found my mind wandering at times, wandering when I'd be finished so I can stop off at the grocery store on my way home, but then I tried to remind myself that sometimes you need to not think about what else there is to do and just enjoy the present.

But it was fun and I'd really like to do it again. Last night, a few hours after the hike, I met Carrie in Chinatown to see Beowulf (and yes, the 3D was awesome). My walk to the metro was a little slower than usual, and I opted to take the metro instead of walking since I could already feel the tightness. But man, standing up after sitting through a two hour movie was painful! But it was a good pain. It means you worked hard.

I did it!

I honestly wasn't quite sure I'd get a chance to finish. Earlier in the week, the 10,000 words I had left was a little bit daunting. But...I did it, down the wire.

I've always said I worked best under pressure.

This was my first year to participate in National Novel Writing Month. And it's interesting, I've written novels before (my first big one, Paradise Without Heaven, is close to 80,000 words), but not in a month. But even still, I didn't think it'd feel this gratifying to get done with NaNoWriMo. You know?

But it does. I am so stoked that I wrote this novel in a month. On Sunday, ok, maybe on Monday, I'm going to go back to the first book in the series that I was working on slowly, editing as I went.

As for now...I'm going to go watch the rest of The West Wing that I have on Netflix and tomorrow I'm going to celebrate with a movie, sushi and sake.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!Please note that this means I will be back to more interesting posts. All my creativity has gone to the novel and there hasn't been a lot of energy to spare from daily life to writing. So...there wasn't much of any kind of energy left for posts.