Birthday Rescheduling...

So is it bad to declare to your family that you are deferring your birthday to another month? Should I have asked my Mommy first? January is going to be quite the month for me. In thinking back over my career...I'm not sure I have ever been so pressed. The good news is, I love a challenge and with set deadlines (all of these things are meeting related...which have set dates) I can't go wrong. There is an end point. I loves me some end points. The problem is, when I am in this kind of situation it becomes my everything. I know, I know...lack of balance much?

Sometimes I get so stressed that I don't enjoy things that I should enjoy. It almost happened during my Christmas break, but I pushed it away. It is not crunch time yet so I should be able to enjoy New Years too. My birthday however will be in the thick of it all...and I really want to enjoy it. So I think I may just push it a month. Besides, Shopaholic comes out in February...so this could really work out perfectly. I should look at my calendar...maybe I can have a writing day with my writing friends too.

Could I not be so work obsessed? It is my number one priority. I can't shake it. I'm but a Blossom PPG and a Wage Uglydoll. Seriously...my family and I set out to figure out which Uglydoll each of us were. I am Wage. Don't you think?


Uglydoll Website - Meet Wage

Enjoy this blurb from the Ugly Doll Website, here is Wage's Character Description:

Wage is a hard worker, just like you!  He works at the local Super Mart and wears his apron to serve his customers best.  Super Mart has no idea that he works there.  But Wage doesn't mind... or he just doesn’t realize it. Uglydolls have an amazing ability to be at two or more places at once (which is why you may see many of the same characters at a store). Wage is best friends with Babo, but there is always room for one more (you).  The two of them can often be found on the sidewalk trying to make friends with fire hydrants, phone booths, and other lonely creatures.  What’s with that look?  Is Wage happy?  Sure he is!  He smiles on the inside.  The next time you call in sick be sure to bring Wage along on your adventures.

And in case you are curious...my sister is just like Babo. ;)

A few of my favorite things... (Christmas Edition)

I thought that a post Christmas blurb could be a list of a few of my favorite things. Some of them are new, especially given all the fun I had with my family this year. We embarked on many new traditions that were fantastic...so the below list is a bit of recap of our fun during the holidays. I loves me some lists!!!

* Writing in my journal...which after a year is almost filled.
* Finding a really cool magnet with your name on it...on the first day of vacation!!
* Pashminas - pretty pink with lovely flower design and a turquoise one too
* New Pairs of Shoes - especially when purchased on sale
* Lovely Walks around the Inner Harbor with my Sister
* Sitting at the bar with my grandma, mom and sister laughing and drinking and chatting with the entertaining bartender
* Tanqueray No. 10 on the rocks
* Shopping with My Mommy - we are so good at it and have been sharing this experience since the late 70s.
* Watching House marathons
* Watching Law and Order (SVU) with Grandma - especially as the plot thickens
* The fun of gift giving and the ease that gift bags bring (see picture #1a and #1b below)
* Admiring Xmas Decorations that you do not have to put up or take down (see picture #2 below)
* Baltimore at Night (see pictures #3a, #3b, and #3c below)
* A car full of Vera Bradley
* Making Breakfast for everyone on our first morning back at home.
* Finding even more owl themed items from Urban Outfitters

Picture 1a -


Picture 1b -


Picture 2 -


Picture 3a -


Picture 3b -


Picture 3c -

Happy Holidays!!!

Swirly Girl To Do List...

I have so much going on at the moment and work has been crazy busy. I'm very excited about a small christmas vacation...and I am hoping that I will not have to do any work. The only work on want to do is novel writing. I was supposed to be done...what a dreamer I am. I have only written 10K words since NanoWrimo ended. How sad is that? I am so ashamed of myself.

It has been a productive weekend so far I think...there is a lot to do between now and Tuesday. Let's see how things are shaping up shall we?

X Purchase fun Vera Bradley that you don't need. Take a Peak Here
X Laundry
X Finish Xmas Cards and Go to Post Office
X Get Starbucks Gift Cards for Work Gifts and put them into my cute holiday cards with charming personalized notes
X Buy a few cute tops for Holiday Festivities
X Wait until after xmas to buy a couple of pairs of cute flats (in progress...I have been resisting so far)
X Pick up Dry Cleaning (Might have to do Tuesday AM..or when I get back from Vacation on 12/27)
X Switch out Current Vera for Holiday Red/Black/Gray Vera Jacquard Opera Bag
X Not stress about the huge meeting you have on Monday Morning
X Stop by Starbucks, Giant, and Dunkin Doughnuts to pick up some treats for the office
X Get a French Manicure and Pedicure....so pretty!!! If only it were not too cold to wear flip flops!!!
X Figure out what to take on Christmas Vacation
* Do a LJ entry on my xmas card from Erin...this may have made my entire year. ;)
* Do a LJ entry on random meetings of old co-workers from when you first started working
* Do a LJ on how it is possible for an INFJ (Oracle type person) to choose to be in a total 'denial mindset'

List Updated as of 8:00 am on 12/28/08

Letting Go of the Strings...

So in follow-up to my request for suggestions on Friday, I wanted to share my musings about how we remembered GP on Monday. In actuality, we remember him every moment of every day...
Link to my Blurb on the Balloon Launch

On a Monday??? (Word Count = 90,231)

Seems kind of funny that on my first Monday writing, I hit 90K. Finally!!! I can do my holiday cards tonight...wahoo!!! I am so excited. I have been sitting at a counter in Starbucks since about 1:30pm or so...and I finally hit it. Let's think about this. I was drinking a Venti Coffee...coincidence? I'm thinking perhaps it isn't. Maybe I always need coffee now to get the words out. I will have to try again and see what the result is. I can't believe how long it took me to get here.

The sad part is, it just took me sitting down actually get it done. The last time I sat down to write was well over a week ago. It was Sunday before last according to my excel spreadsheet...which has lots of zeros for the past week. But today with the good writing vibes of Starbucks all around I wrote 3,008 words. I am very happy at the moment...and I get to play with my holiday cards and my cute name/address stamper thingy. Fun times!!!!

This makes total sense...

So since one of my best muses is music...this quiz was very accurate!!

Your Inner Muse is Euterpe

You are most like this muse of music. While you may or may not be musical... You love music and set life to your own personal soundtrack. And you are good at making anyone's heart sing!

What Muse Are You?

Places I Remember...

So my mind has been filled with lots of things lately...and I'm trying to decide upon something. Feel free to give me some advice by visiting me here - Link to My Journal

Last Out...First In...

The guilt is mounting over having not touched my novel since Sunday. I'm in a whirl of busy at work and have been suffering massively from the Last Out/First In complex. This means I have been the first one here at work and the last one to leave for most of the week. I love working and I love being busy...but for the first time I'm kind of bummed that I am not writing. I really wish I had the inner fortitude to somehow whip out a few words when I get home from work each night.

So here is my deal...I'm really excited to get my holiday cards out and I have told myself that I can't work on them until I get to 90K. I need to get them in the mail...so maybe, just maybe...tonight will be the night. Hmm...trip to Starbucks may be necessary.

Come on 90K...you will taunt me no longer. I'm so gonna get you tonight!!!

Sleep Time... (Word Count = 87,223)

I need to go to sleep...but I did make some progress. I have written 200 pages. I have finished Chapter 10. I have not got to 90K...but that will happen soon. I am continuing to work on my novel. That in and of itself is tremendous for me. I'm kind of finally getting into a groove now where my scenes just kind of move right along and there is not so much filler or pontificating. I am sure that is because NanoWrimo is over. I'm not so scrambled for the word count. :)

So it seems that I am feeling again like I'm going slow. But we know what they say about that...

For Me... (in anticipation of hitting 90K)

In my previous post, I alluded to some purchases I made earlier today. To read about said items which were purchased in the spirit of motivation for getting to 90K...take a gander over here - A Blurb on Splurges...

Please give me some credit...I did not purchase any Vera Bradley...even though I was in a store that sold Vera Bradley. Instead I got some cute labels that say "Happy Holidays"...I think they will look cute with my VERY cute holiday cards this year. Once I get them out in the mail...I will have to post a picture. I think I really out did myself this year. ;)

Okay...enough stalling, I need to get back to Lolly. Here's to getting close to 90K today!!

For the Car...

So to keep the novel writing going, I have put together a mix CD that I can play in the car so I can keep the inspiration going. I thought it would be fun to capture lots of the songs I have been playing while writing on a Mix CD regardless. I was going to get a car adaptor thingy for my ipod so I could just listen to my ipod in the car...but then I decided there were much more fun things to spend my $$ on. I'll have to do a separate post on that. Hint: Think Juicy Couture and cold weather accessories. ;)

Curious as to what I have been listening too while writing about Lolly Friar? Please enjoy the below list of just a few of the many songs...

Two Close Calls In One Day...

Okay...so I just had another close call with my draft novel. Earlier today my laptop wigged out and the keyboard stopped working. I remained calm and my writing buddies suggested just taking out the battery and putting it back in and then restarting. All was fine.

A few moments ago I went to open up my draft novel again and it looked like the last 1K I wrote (which included a lot of odds and ends that I added to the current chapter I am working) and I freaked. I was like...screw this...I am so giving up. Can you believe that? I was ready to throw Lolly away over a measly 1K words? Luckily it turned out okay. Phew...

Okay...now that I am calm...I will get back to seeing how many more words I can write tonight.

A bit of an update (Word Count = 85,025)

Well...that whole 90K by 5pm is not in the cards...but it will be fun to shoot for through the rest of the day and into the early AM. It is Friday which means I can totally put my skills as a night writer to use. :) It was great to write with Ellen and Lisa today and we had a good time catching up during a late lunch. I got 2K done before lunch and have done another 1K since after lunch. I'm going to go for about another hour and 20 minutes. We will see how much I can get done.

And now for a quick observation - -

As I sit in a remote location somewhere in Maryland, I have my itunes fueling my writing. I wonder how may chick lit authors listen to Fugazi?

Writing Day!!!

I'm very excited because I'm about to meet my writing friends for a day of writing. Last time I had to leave them early to head to work. But not today!!! In my mind, I would like to have 90K by the time I leave today and head into my Friday evening. So my goal for today, clearly stated is as follows:

I must get to 90K words before 5:00pm this evening.

Can I do it??? We shall see. It will be interesting to see what Lolly gets herself into today. I have some things perking in my mind already...

A First Time for Everything (Word Count = 82,088)

Is it really true? Did I just add to my word count after November had ended? I did. I did. Another 1K done and hopefully tomorrow I will be able to finish up Chapter 9. I have just a bit more to do and then off to Chapter 10.

I'm just going to keep moving forward. I am putting all the thoughts about the work I have to go back to do on the back burner for now. So to keep up my motivation, I have created a little word count tracker for my Lolly Friar novel with my other gadgets. I miss the constant updating of NanoWrimo so this is my lame attempt at fooling my brain.

This does not mean anything...

I had to bring some work home with me tonight...and then I fell asleep...and now I have to do said work I brought home. Yes...I know that means that Lolly does not get any attention tonight...but that is just tonight. Wednesday will be better.

Update: But I did do a quick redesign...and I did not have to change my color scheme. What luck!!! :) Okay...now I really have to do my work...

Another Excerpt...

This one is a bit long...but I think Lolly really shines through. Apologies for the NanoWrimo rambling...obviously there is much to clean up. Hope you enjoy it!!!



She whizzed right by me talking on the phone. I could tell she was on the phone with her husband Peter. She did not even wave hello. I wanted to throw up. And then I heard it…just like the morning before. Natalia had thrown up for me. Ugh. I struggled with whether or not I should have called housekeeping or not. That would make it two mornings in a row. I did not want anyone to know that she may be sick.

I picked up the phone…I would just have housekeeping bring up a new bag offering some lame excuse for the need and I would change it myself. That way no one would know that she got sick again. Then it hit me. Holy Shit…Natalia must be pregnant!

Oh boy. Oh Girl. We are going to have a baby. I was excited. I was nervous. Oh my god…if it is a girl maybe she will name it after me? Oh wait…that is really conceited to think that way…but Lolly was such a great name and Natalia totally adored me…so it was in the bag. I was stupidly grinning thinking of all the cool potential baby gifts and then I started thinking about the shower I would have to throw. What should the theme be? It could something really chic with all the essentials from Burberry, Dior, and Hermes. It was going to be so perfect. For fun, I would totally have to get her mommy and me matching Vera Bradley or I could just get them a baby bag. It was all so clear to me. This was so perfect. Natalia was having a baby!

I was pretty sure I was beaming at the news but quickly reminded myself that I was not supposed to know yet. So if and when Natalia told me I had to act totally surprised. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Of course she was not mad at me…it was this news. I wonder if she was trying? Or was a total surprise? Any way I looked at I was excited about how much our worlds were going to change. Maybe I could be Auntie Lolly? This was just so outstanding.

Her door opened and I choked on my excitement. She popped her head out quickly, “We need to talk.”

I must have been thinking too loud. She knows I know and now is the moment where she is going to tell me all about it…since I already know. It was silly to keep it a secret. A secret at least from me. The fun part about my job was that I got to know a lot of things before most people did and sometimes they would never know. It was a confidential position and I was very good at not letting on to anything I knew. Natalia’s pregnancy would be no different. I would keep it under close confidence until of course it was obvious. Then all would know that we were going to have a baby. A baby!!

I settled myself down, grabbed my notebook, and headed into Natalia’s office. This was it. I would remember this moment for years to come. I would tell little Lolly…my namesake Lolly...all about it when she graduated high school or turned sixteen. I was sure she was going to love me and I was totally going to be her favorite Auntie. We could go shopping and talk about boys. It was going to be fantastic. I ramped down my animation before I made eye contact with Natalia. I closed the door behind me and waited for the news that I already knew.

“Sit.”

I sat. She did not look happy. Why didn’t she look happy? This was exciting news. We were going to remember this moment for the rest of our lives. We are having a baby! A baby!

“Look I need to let you in on what is going on because there are bound to be questions that you are not to answer. I figure if you know what is going on, you will have a better shot at being evasive in case you are grilled.”

It sounded more like an investigation or court hearing or hounding calls from the press. I could handle that. I had handled most of those before. Well, everything but the court hearing. I steeled myself. When was a pregnancy such a hush hush matter? Oh my God, was it not Peter's?

“Okay. I appreciate you wanting to keep me informed. Is everything okay? I have been worried about you.”

And then she proudly wore a grin, “I am fine. I am great. Better than I have been in a long time actually.”

I took a deep, happy breath. Okay…the news was coming. I planned how I was going to look surprised and shocked and then over the moon.

“I’m being wooed by Mass General. Can you believe it?”

“That’s…That is amazing.” That is so not what I was expecting to hear.

“I know…it is the dream job. I’m heading up to Boston this afternoon so I need you to clear my calendar on Friday. I should be back by Monday, but to be safe clear the morning. Peter and I may be celebrating.”

The shock on my face must have shown because she continued, “Oh don’t worry…I am going to take you with me.”

True to Form...

So in reviewing my spreadsheet...I did not write on any Mondays. Today is no different. I was not feeling well today and ended up coming home from work early and sleeping most of the day. I feel like I am getting a cold. Or maybe it really is a NanoWrimo Hangover. It was really nice to get some extra sleep. I even watched some shows that I had on the ole' DVR. TV...oh yes...I remember that!!! Do not worry...I will be back into my novel tomorrow and have lots of work to do to finish up by the middle of the month. That is the plan.

I also need to get my reward for hitting 80K. Maybe I will take a few minutes tonight to work on a blog redesign. Or perhaps post another excerpt??? Or maybe both!!!

PS - - I am so excited because this Friday I am going to spend the day writing with my writing friends Ellen and Lisa...they are my novel writing heros and have yet to give up on me. With that kind of support...there are no excuses. :)