NaNoWriMo: All Signed Up and No Place to Go

NaNoWriMo is just around the corner.  I participated (and failed) in 2006.  I participated (and WON) in 2010.  I participated (and failed) in 2011 - to be fair, I had a newborn, and I had zero expectations of completing the 50,000, but I'm not out anything for signing up and doing Day 1 :)

I've never done much intentional thinking prior to any of these attempts (or any writing, really).  I've never outlined.  This year, though, I'd like to do that different.  Clearly, writing from the seat of my pants hasn't paid off (monetarily or otherwise).  And they say doing things the same way and expecting a different result is insanity, so ...

I am skimming through The Nighttime Novelist by Joseph Bates.  I bought it some time ago and, well, left it neglected on a bookcase smothered between gift boxes, misplaced holiday fare, and other clutter.  Oops.  It's a very pretty and well-made book.  I've been trying to put together unlikely characters in my head - kindhearted serial killer (crap, that's Dexter), jealous nanny (nope, Hand that Rocks the Cradle).  I'm not finding it just yet, but it's only been a few hours.

It's chaotic here, as it is often.  I am staying on my oldest to do his schoolwork.  I've been too easy on him so far this year.  He's not doing as much as he should, and now when he's expected to do a little more, he acts as if I've asked him to move mountains.  So, no more Mrs. Nice Homeschool Mom.  We did work for two solid hours this morning and are now working on another two (or three) solid hours.  My middle one is drawing pictures of Minecraft, since they can't play it till the older one finishes school his school. 

I turned in their applications for magnet testing for school next year.  Maybe no more Mrs. Homeschool Mom at all for 2013-2014.

The baby is getting into everything that is 24" or lower to the crowd.  She tried her first Hersey Kiss while I was in the bathroom.  (Note to my husband: Fix the latch on the pantry so Baby Flower cannot open that darn door anymore.)  Most books are pulled off the lower shelves (she's a HUGE Chekhov fan - those are almost always the first ones she goes after).  There are also items that belong in my garage sale box - mardi gras necklaces, aquarium decor, and more, strewn across the floor.  Thankfully, she's rarely destructive (unlike my first), but she wants her hands on everything!

Taco meat thawing for dinner.