NaBloPoMo 27/30

Reminder for myself:

• set up planner for December
• set up planner for January
• set up bullet journal for writing for 2019
• finish bk 7 by 12/31/18
• review proof copy of Garlands of Grace when it comes in

I've got point one half finished. I've got point four around half finished (theoretically). I'm waiting for my proof copy to arrive in the mail so I can review it. I'm still on the hunt for the best way to manage my mental health logging. I've tried the bullet journal system for two years now. It's pretty hit or miss. The bullet journal system seems to be working alright for my daily planner and my writing notebook.

I've set up the weekly planner for January. Now I just have to set up the daily planner for January. I'm expecting the last two weeks of December to be chaos. I'm finding that it is easier to log my daily record of my mental state in my daily planner and then copy that into the bullet journal for my mental health stuff. It leads me to think that my daily planner is a better place to keep my daily notes, especially since I have started writing a blurb about how the day has gone. The bullet journal setup that I have been using hasn't given me the space to write more than a sentence. I'm still ironing out my daily bullet journal set up.

I was using one with checkboxes on the back to track stuff like if I was exercising and such. I kinda want to get back to habit tracking but I feel like my daily planner isn't working well for that. 

NaBloPoMo 26/30

My morning journal session is almost complete. I think it's pretty fitting that I should have written three pages in my journal and I did three posts here. Plus a meme.

I don't know if I can hit the final four. I'm not sure what more to add. I'm struggling with writing on multiple fronts right now. Yay seasonal affective disorder. I also am in the middle of making stuff for yule. The kids' sweaters are done except for having a design sewn on to them. I'm going to put one of the star motifs I made on CuddleBear's one and a red granny square canted at an angle on SnuggleBug's. Mainly because they asked for a design on them after I had finished making them and had them try it on. CuddleBear's probably going to out grow his sweater this season but SnuggleBug may actually have his last until next year.

I am hoping to convince Beloved to wear the sweater vest I made him at some point. He has enough sweaters that he keeps forgetting it is in the closet. I gave him his now gigantic blanket early. We had a chuckle about how it was bigger than I was tall. I have some jewelry to make. I need to repair a few pairs of earrings and I want to bead something pretty for a friend of mine. My list of things to make for the year is almost complete.

The things left on the list are things I wanted to make for myself. I think that they're going to roll over to next year's projects. I wish the camera was working right so that I could show you pictures of the stuff I have been making.

NaBloPoMo 25/30 Meme Edition

Don't worry, it's just Freddie. He might take exception to being called toxic however.

NaBloPoMo 24/30

Egg 'muffin' cups are not exactly my best friend right now. But they're becoming a pretty solid part of my morning diet again. This time, I'm trying to make them more quiche like. For the first time ever, I tried the crustless quiche that Tops had on sale. At 6 carbs and only 2 minutes in the microwave, it was a solid breakfast win. Between that and a slice of banana bread, I had reasonable breakfast with plenty of protein to go with the carbs. Then I did my math and realized I short changed myself 10 points of carbs so I ate a cookie.

This is how my diet has been going. Attempt to figure out the math of what I'm going to eat before I eat it. Eat, recheck my math and if I am low go have something more. I am getting better about the mathematics side of carb counting, I guess. Buying a set of pretty measuring cups that look like bowls help me feel less horrible about eating only a cup of chili for dinner because I'm using a bowl instead of a measuring cup. (Also, if they come out with a set of dishes with the blue and white design on the 1/4 cup measuring cup from the Pioneer Woman set of measuring cups/bowls, I might be compelled to buy them. Because it is really pretty.)

I have been attempting to use a blended keto recipes and non-keto recipes way forward to manage my blood sugar. I'm having reasonably good results with it. My fasting blood sugar, when I actually stick with my diet, is solidly in the upper part of the normal range. I am trying to get myself back to eating 30 to 35 carbs per meal because I have noticed that at 40 to 45 carbs per meal, my fasting blood sugar is slowly creeping up higher.

I think the solution here is to be more strict in my measurement of what I eat. For about two months now, I have been trying to estimate and eat according to that. I thought that I had a reasonably good grasp on how much serving portions are. Now, I'm not so sure. So, I am going to attempt to go back to strict measurements and such again as I was doing back in April. I don't know if I am going to lose more weight. I'm not trying to lose my weight as much as I'm trying to get my fasting blood sugar down about ten to twenty points. Bouncing between 201 and 178 for my fasting reading is stressing me out. From what I have been reading, those are better numbers to have after eating, not as fasting numbers.

I think I may have to schedule an appointment with a dietician. Because internet wisdom has not been my friend. And I learned the hard way that the full ketogenic diet is bad for me. I didn't get into ketosis but I got an earful from my doctor and the care coordinator about how attempting the ketogenic diet was dangerous for me because of the diabetes. Add to that the fact that I don't have a gall bladder to help me process the fat and cholesterol is not my friend right now, I just can't do the full ketogenic diet.

What is really frustrating, however, is the diabetic friendly recipes and cookbooks talk about these wonderful recipes. With carbohydrate numbers that are too high per serving for me to have anything else. It's making me somewhat depressed and frustrated. It is bad enough that I had to give up my comfort foods because they make my blood sugar spike. It's bad enough that I have had to give up my 'treat' foods because they make my blood sugar spike and the replacements are just about as bad.

The whole thing makes me feel like the thing I should do is starve myself. I know that's a terrible life decision, having done that in high school for a number of reasons. As I said in my last post, it is something I need to work through and resolve/process or whatever. This diabetes business is as hard if not harder on me than the bipolar because food has always been a big PTSD trigger for me. And all this year, this trigger has been right in my face. It's been exhausting.

NaBloPoMo 23/30

I'm going to use my morning free writing/journal writing session time for blogging. This might become a thing. Beloved may be annoyed with the heap of notebooks going unused if it does. I don't know. I'm not very awake right now. I don't feel fantastic at the moment. My stomach is in knots. I am pretty sure this is hormonal. For some reason, I have gone from not having my menses whilst on the Norethidrone dosage to having them again. A part of me says I should probably call my gynocologist and ask if this is normal. The rest of me is too surprised by the novelty of having regular menses.

I have polycystic ovarian syndrome. It screws with everything because my hormones are completely out of order. Hence the fact that I'm on birth control. It was the reason why I was prediabetic for most of my adult life. I'm highly annoyed that no one told me that I was prediabetic. I'd have made these dietary changes much earlier and possibly avoided the diabetes diagnosis or at least prolonged it until later in my life. But, one of the 'fun' side effects of PCOS is insulin resistance.

It is the reason why my body's insulin doesn't work properly and hasn't worked properly since puberty if not before then. I am finding that as I move back towards the limited diet that I had as a kid that was almost vegetarian, the better my blood sugar numbers are. The thing that frustrates me is how the fact that I've got a part of me that screams I need food when my blood sugar is high just as loudly as when it screams at me I need food when my blood sugar is low. It's very frustrating and confusing. I can't listen to my body's cues to tell when I need to eat because my body can't make up its messaging situation so that it gives me accurate information.

I've come to loathe my glucose meter. I appreciate the help it provides me. At the same time, it feels like a weight that I can't put aside. If I'm feeling like I'm starving, I check my blood sugar. Is it too high? Often, the answer is yes because I am apparently highly reactive to sugar and carbohydrates. If I feel like I'm in the beginnings of a panic attack, I check my blood sugar. Why? Because that's what some of the mental side effects of low blood sugar feels like for me. I start to feel like I'm having a panic attack for no reason.

This sucks too because I have a panic disorder. One that is slowly getting worse. As such, I am left questioning if I'm having a legitimate panic attack or if my blood sugar is too low. Depending on how bad I am off, my hands may be shaking horribly (because that's what they do when I have a panic attack) and using my glucose meter is kinda hard then. If it is because my blood sugar is low, I eat and after a few minutes the symptoms improve. If I'm having a legit panic attack, eating doesn't help. In fact, I panic over eating because of the shit I went through growing up. So, low blood sugar and panic may equate to my having the PTSD telling me that I'm not allowed to eat anything. That's where I need the reality check that Beloved provides me.

It's happened a few times now over the year that my blood sugar got low and I used the meter. I then wasn't going to eat something fast acting because my PTSD was telling me that I COULD NOT DO THAT. That's where he basically demanded I go eat a piece of candy along with the sandwich I was having because the number of carbs was not quite as important as how quickly they hit my system. I still am struggling to grasp that concept. Carb counting and anxiety means I am increasingly becoming more rigid in what I am eating and how I do it. It's a problem in the making. I know I should talk to my therapist about it, but I have no therapist right now because they retired from the practice.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about my anxiety issues. I suppose for now, I am going to attempt self-therapy by way of Walden Pond method - journaling EVERYTHING. It's not going to go online. I may post about breakthroughs or something, but a lot of this stuff is just awful and I don't want to subject others to it.

NaBloPoMo 22/30

Attempting to crochet snowflakes to use as gift tags is not going so well because of the fact that the patterns I keep finding have errors in them. One came out a mangled lacy mess. I suppose it qualifies as one of those enormous snowflakes that is a cluster of smaller ones, like what you get in a blizzard. Either way, I'm not exactly enthralled with this. But here's some patterns that I found that actually work.

This list from The Spruce. I'm pretty sure they tested the patterns before linking to them.

EVERYTHING from Snowcatcher. Seriously, their blog is amazing.

This list from Craftsy is pretty good. Again, like The Spruce, I'm pretty sure they tested them before linking.

I'm seriously getting frustrated trying to make snowflakes right now. So I am going to go with the granny star. I can make anything granny relatively quickly. And stars are a novel twist on snowflakes that are everywhere right now. *glares at the front yard*

NaBloPoMo 21/30 meme edition

Yep, still going to write the 10 posts over the next 2 days. Here's a stupid one for you.

And one more:

These make me crack up every time I see them. Little fluffy serial killers that purr. Cats are awesome.

NaBloPoMo 20/30

Hrm. I can pull off ten posts in two days. It will all be stupid shit, but I can do it. I suppose I should apologize for random stupid memes and such. But, this has been the theme of my blog when I'm not ranting about things.

Speaking of ranting, I am going to make it official, I should make a list of where I put things and staple it to my forehead when I am manic. I've been going through this massive pile of papers and I'm finding things I 'filed' when I was manic from four years ago. Some of them were kinda important. I'm really frustrated with this. Then I look around and think about how I was doing four and five years ago. I was a lot less stable.

So, I'm trying not to be mad at Past Deb for the problems created for Present Deb while trying not to create problems for Future Deb. Seriously, I'm kinda afraid to look in the filing cabinet to see what is in there right now. Also, I am left wondering what's the expiration date on how long you hold on to old bills. We've got some going back to our first apartment and I'm pretty sure I don't need to hold on to them. (Those will likely be added to the bonfire at the in-law's place for security sake).

I'm recognizing that I have some of the mental itchiness of "THIS IS NOT RIGHT, I MUST FIX IT NOW!" that comes with my being manic. I don't think I'm leading into a manic episode because this is entirely the wrong time of year for it. But, life's got a habit of getting weird. I'm just glad that my depression is not so bad that I can't function. Perhaps this is a mixed episode.

But, I'm still highly annoyed with what Past Deb did whilst manic. Next I'll be finding canned goods organized and buried in the project room or something. They'll be very tidy and such, in a box where I put them to be out of the way or something. Organizing makes the mental itchies go away. Making lists helps some but organizing things is what really does it. Because I'm not staring at the pantry going "THIS IS ALL WRONG!" I don't think I'm going manic right now. It'd be easier of I took the time to write down where I put things. Because then I could find them. But I don't slow down and do that. Because I feel like I have to fix everything. It's so frustrating.

NaBloPoMo 19/30

In a fit of manic cleaning over the summer, I threw away the pen barrels for my very favorite pens, convinced that the nibs were lost and gone forever. I found them the next day. Which was the day after garbage pick up. I was looking on the internet for a lark to see if I could buy a replacement. I found the set for around $20. I was half tempted to buy it but then I said to myself an entirely new pen costs approximately $7.00 and will still use the ink cartridges I have.

Is it odd that I am going to ask to get a pen for yule? Is it equally odd that I'm going to ask for a package of stickers? I don't know anymore. I could jerryrig my pen nib into working with the cartridge. It's just messy and unpleasant. Just buying the pen barrel is silly at $20, but I keep thinking about how much I preferred that style of pen. The new version has a window cut into it and feels awkward in my hand.

I could always brush up on my hand lettering skills and just start writing with a dip pen.

It'd be nice to have a good fountain pen with a super narrow nib on it again. I prefer them SO much to ball point pens. At the same time, with the cheap paper in my notebooks, the fountain pens bleed through pretty intensely. Ugh.

/rambling

P.S. - I'm avoiding my children by writing with my headphones on because they're upset with me for making them put their laundry away.

NaBloPoMo 18/30

Banana Bread.

4 medium, over ripe bananas - mashed well
3 cups almond flour
6 eggs
handful dark chocolate chips
1 tsp cinnamon

Combine together until uniform. Bake in a parchment lined paper at 350 degrees for an hour. Cool 15 minutes in the pan.

It makes a very dense loaf. It tastes like someone made french toast out of banana bread. According to theory it is around 20 carbs per slice. I adapted someone else's recipe and omitted all the sugar, because bananas have tons of carbs.

NaBloPoMo 17/30

In the waning days of NaNoWriMo of the two-thousand and eighteenth year of the common era, I had lost my mind. One novel sitting half finished, at best, I began another. I thought with hubris that I could finish the first by the end of the month but the day of turkeys laid me low. My children thought me a mad woman. My husband knew it to be so. After all, we have children and I'm a writer.

I have written nearly two thousand words upon this new venture. I have piles of dishes wanting washing. I have mail and correspondence awaiting sorting. And yet, I still want to write instead of these most important daily tasks. I confess my ignorance of the human soul. It must be pure madness that moves me to write this.

/dramalogue

NaBloPoMo 16/30

I could theoretically manage fourteen posts in the next couple days. I'm not sure if I have the emotional energy for it right now. Seasonal affective disorder is stomping on me right now. And, honestly, I don't know if I'd have anything particularly worthy to say. If I had a cat, I'd post funny cat pictures, but I haven't a cat. And the camera situation is finicky right now, so I can't really do stuff like pictures of my latest foray into gluten free, low carb cooking. I'm not eating gluten free food by choice, it just happens that all of the low carb recipes are gluten free.

I'll probably post something else a little later. Right now I'm going to attempt to bang out a few hundred words on my novel. But first, tea.

NaBloPoMo 15/30

The last two weeks have been rough. I've been struggling to focus on getting things done and then trying to do ALL THE THINGS at the SAME TIME. To say the least, it hasn't worked out so great. I've made good progress on the writing projects. The crafting projects are gradually coming along. The apartment is kinda a mess but the kids had most of last week off. As a result, my living room looks like a toy factory exploded in here or something.

I finished the second prayer book that I was working on for the Filianic/Déanic community. I got the editing done and now I'm waiting on my proof to arrive in the mail. In the meantime, I've been trying to finish book seven of the Umbrel Chronicles of Evandar (the fantasy series that I've been writing). It went completely off the rails and my plot map is all but useless now because characters did random things. I'm trying to trust in the story and just write. It's been hard, though. I had things I wanted to accomplish in this book and now they're all up in the air.

I also finished after three years the psychic's handbook that I've been working on. I'm leaving editing that for until January. December is going to be my big push to finish gifts. I'm about half there. I'm also going to use writing time in December to get back to my journal writing. My seasonal affective disorder is making itself known along with my anxiety issues. Last night, I just about had a panic attack over misplacing my daily planner supplies.

I'm still trying to figure out why my anxiety is so ratcheted up right now. A part of me says there is some kind of anniversary date of some trauma, I just can't manage to get a good grasp on it. As Beloved would say, "Your brain is protecting you from something." That, however, has side effects of my struggling to concentrate and get things done. It would help if I had a therapist to work with right now, but the one I was seeing retired from the practice.

I feel like I am some kind of ultimate test or something for my therapists. I've lost count how many I've gone through because they were uncomfortable with what I was processing. At least in this case, the therapist left the practice because her dream job opened up (working with kids in special education). But, I am left wondering if I'm just not going to find a therapist who can handle working with me and I just have to work this out by myself. It is really beginning to look that way. Having been in some form of therapy for most of my adult life, I've got a good layman's grasp of how it works. It's just a lot easier when you're working with someone else to process really ugly things.

NaBloPoMo ??? / 30

I am mightily vexed with my writing. This is my characters right now.

I had a plot that was detailed and organized.

It is now useless.

*flails*

NaBloPoMo 13/30

So, here's a NaNoWriMo update for you. I finished the prayer book I was writing at the beginning of the month. Just a few days ago, I finished the psychic's handbook that I had been struggling with for the last three years. The prayer book I started back in October because I anticipated this month having plenty of disruptions. My estimate of disruptions versus writing time appears to have been accurate. That said, I'm still making reasonably good progress on my current project.

I have picked up book seven to finish it (hopefully) this month. I'm sitting at 22k right now. That's a little shy of half of the word count goal for NaNoWriMo purposes. I'm not aiming for that, however, because at 22k, I am on chapter three. This thing is going to be a monster when it is done. My characters are being a pain in the butt and I'm having a mild conniption fit over the fact that my plot has basically thrown itself out the window.

Still, I am averaging around 2k words a day on the project. This is good. And I'm not too far behind on my blogging goals either across three blogs. I'm hunting through my cookbook to find a good recipe to slap up on my new blog. I am in the process of organizing all of my stuff on my remaining witchy blog. It's a slow going process that I peck at when I am taking a break from my writing and my chores.

NaBloPoMo 12/30

I honestly didn't realize the wonder that was low fat greek yogurt mixed with pudding. Two cups of low fat greek yogurt plus one box of sugar free, low fat chocolate pudding equals basically chocolate cheesecake mix. I made this last night in a fit of frustration to use up both the yogurt sitting in the fridge and the pudding mix because I kept forgetting to make it.

I had enough self restraint not to eat all of it. I'm going to look for a variety of sugar free pudding mix that uses stevia or possibly try to find a way to recreate this with stuff I have in the pantry. Because it was amazing. Maybe some of these 'diet' recipes aren't so bad after all.

NaBloPoMo 11/30 Meme edition

my children right now. one of them just farted at his father.

NaBloPoMo 10/30

Fennel is only 6 carbs per cup. I didn't realize this. That said, I have started experimenting with it.

Today, I made a salad. One apple was sliced fine, the fennel was cut into length wise strips, and I added bell pepper strips. I tossed it all with balsamic dressing and some diced swiss cheese. It came out looking kinda pretty. It tasted pretty good to me. I've yet to see how Beloved feels about it.

Dinner tonight is steak and salad. I was going to make potatoes but I forgot. Since I'm on a low carb diet, though, I suppose not having mashed potatoes is a good thing. I kinda miss them but mashed cauliflower is pretty good.

NaBloPoMo 9/30

The last several days have not gone as I planned. At the same time, however, I finished up several projects. Including the psychic's handbook that I had been working on for the last three years. Writing non-fiction at significant length was hard up until I realized 'hey, you keep a blog about this stuff. your research is already done. just reshuffle some of the material and stick it in the book.' I'm reminded of someone I know who cited their own paper for a final thesis paper. I have a feeling they'll find the fact that I did this amusing.

Last Friday, I had a sick kid home from school who seemed to make a miraculous recovery once he got home in many ways. He still has a pretty nasty cold but the chamomile tea cured his stomach issues. Saturday was nothing but chores until the kids finally went to bed. Then Beloved and I watched Deadpool. It was hilarious. We agreed that the movie stayed true to the comic book. We also got a real kick out of Stan Lee as a dj in a strip club. Sunday was another day of chores. The kids had off from school yesterday so I didn't get much writing time because they were bickering constantly.

Beloved's blanket that looks like melted crayons now has a black border. The thing is officially larger than I am tall. If he wants it bigger, I'm handing him a crochet hook and a ball of yarn. Cuddle Bear's sweater is almost done. I have the front and the back panel's done. I just have to sew them together. Then I'm going to put sleeves on it. Snuggle Bug's sweater is done. I'm leaving it sleeveless because I have a feeling that's how he'll be most comfortable. He keeps pushing up his shirt sleeves when he is wearing long sleeved shirts right now.

NaBloPoMo 8/30

I had fennel for the first time today. Despite what people claim, it did not taste like liquorice to me. It was sweet and a hint of anise to it. But it was not the syrupy overly sugary sweetness of liquorice. I'm going to attempt to actually cook with it next. Today it was just added raw to a salad. I saved the upper part of the bulb with the fronds to throw into the next pot of stock I am going to make. I've had fennel seeds as part of a dish and they were pretty mildly flavored. Anise is a bit stronger.

It may be that my tastes are changing, however, because of this low carb diet that I'm on. My migraine aura hunger has changed to peanut butter instead of straight up sugary snacks. The slice of cake that I had the other day (with the frosting carefully scraped off) tasted to me like it was made out of pure sugar. I am slowly switching to drinking my coffee and tea black. This is not by choice but because creamer has too many carbs for the portion that I would require to flavor it enough for my taste. And cream is just too fatty for me because I don't have a gall bladder. So I can't process fats very well.

To be honest, however, I have always had issues processing fatty foods because my gall bladder didn't work right to begin with. So, I haven't really been one for stuff with a lot of fat to it. Deep fried butter is just repulsive to me. I may treat myself to deep fried pickles but now it's only one or two instead of the whole appetizer from the bbq place up the road. I'm in the process of cutting out salt from my diet as well. Thus, when I occasionally have a goldfish cracker, I am struck by how incredibly salty they are. I guess I am eating healthier food.

It's just a pain because I have to batch cook stuff if I want to have food I can just grab and go. Because the stuff you can grab and go off the shelf is usually way too many carbs for me. It's hard and it makes me frustrated. At the same time, however, I am exploring new foods and getting better at cooking them. I am also finding myself getting reacquainted with some old favorites through a different way of serving and cooking them.

I am somewhat nervous about thanksgiving. I am going to plan on bringing a dish I know will be friendly to me in carbs and a dessert that will be equally so. The trick is figuring out what to make. Good thing I've got access to cookbooks and the internet.

NaBloPoMo 7/30

Some real content for this post. It is my birthday today. I'm officially an adult now because I'm 40. I still want to go dye my hair wild colors, so I can't say that I'm completely out of that 'phase'. And because I'm going grey, the wild colors will take better, I suspect. I'm looking around at my life right now and I'm not sure how to feel.

I thought that at 40, I would be somewhere teaching physics or english. I thought that at 40, I would have a decent start on a writing career. Have a few big book sales to my name and maybe be recognized in a few national markets. I'm not at either of those points.

I thought that at 40, I would have a side job/hobby of doing psychic stuff and make enough money to pay for my other hobbies. I thought that at 40, I would be healthy and beautiful like I was at 20. Because the baby weight comes off, right? That side job/hobby didn't quite work out. And the healthy part is not quite working as I thought it was because of the fact I'm disabled and now diabetic. But I'm beautiful like I am at 40.

I never thought that I'd see 40. I was told as a kid that I was going to die before I hit 30. I was seriously mindfucked on that one. I had a little crisis a little while back going "The diabetes, that's what's going to kill me." I had a panic going into giving birth with each kids, one more so than the other, that I was going to die while in labor. I got over those panic moments.

I spent the last ten years spinning in circles when I wasn't focused on the kids. Now that they're older and getting more independent, I'm going to start pouring my energy into myself and where I want to be in ten years. Because at 50, I don't want to have the regrets I do right now about not reaching out to people over the years and losing friendships through neglect. At 50, I want to have a solid start on that writing career. Even if it means I am writing porn to support my writing other topics. (I don't think I'm that great at writing porn, but it seems to sell even if it is badly written.)

So, happy birthday to me. Fuck you to all the shit that tried to break me over the last 40 years. And welcome to all the stuff that's going to help me accomplish my dreams over the next.

NaBloPoMo 6/30

Because I thought this was pretty, I'm sharing it with you. I may just make it my desktop background to motivate me while writing.

Photo by Ylanite Koppens from Pexels

This one is my current background.

I found it on Pexels.com too. I forget who took the photo. But it lends great ambiance for writing medieval horror.

NaBloPoMo 5/30 MEME EDITION! CAPSLOCK IS COOL NOW.

NaBloPoMo 4/30

I'm a day behind because yesterday was super busy. I don't have anything exciting really to relate. Today was just a day of writing. Actually, there is one exciting thing. The book I started back in October just got finished. So, draft one is complete. It is a novella, barely. Considering that I am not really strong on writing long form nonfiction in one shot, I'm pretty pleased.

I'm just tired because it has been a long day. The kids were a bit cranky today. I'm not sure what got into them. But by the time Beloved got home, they had those moods turned right around. It always seems to work out that way.

Something, something, kids, they said. Something, something fun, they said. LOL

NaBloPoMo 3/30

Ten percent of the way through the month, right? I've got lots of time to finish presents, write, and stuff.

Yet, I spent most of my day cooking and cleaning. Making up for the time I spent not doing some of that  over the last two days. I think I need to work on my time management skills or something. Thank gods for the fact that Beloved was able to get a roasted chicken and we had stuff like frozen mashed cauliflower and peas for dinner. Still, there's an epic pile of pots to be washed from my batch cooking things for next week.

And I'm not done yet. I still have breakfast stuff and lunch stuff to work on for me. But, going to FoodLink with JH was a great idea. Now I've got fixings for making banana bread muffins, blueberry muffins, and gazpacho. And I successfully navigated a crowd with two bored children with out a panic attack or a meltdown for myself or the kids.

My next mission is to figure out how I'm going to turn this butternut squash that was practically thrown at me into something Beloved will find tasty and to figure out how to make sugar free, low carb lemon curd. If I can pull off the latter, that will be a gigantic thing. That means I can make lemon pie for thanksgiving.

NaBloPoMo 2/30 Meme edition

Me right now with my book:

NaBloPoMo 1/30

I'm going to attempt National Blog Posting Month along side National Novel Writing Month this year. Blog posts are going to be short. But I'm going to try to get back into the habit of daily blogging on top of things like getting back into the habit of doing yoga twice a day. I'm hoping that daily blogging will be less uncomfortable than the yoga is right now.

There's big doings happening at the school right now. Cuddle Bear made honor roll for the first marking quarter. We're all really proud of him. He is more interested in pretending to be a cat and watching videos of angry cats today. Snuggle Bug's report card hasn't come in yet. I have a feeling it will be more good news.

Cuddle Bear's been very busy in tech class. He's brought home a bird feeder, a pumpkin basket, and a bird house. Honestly, I was surprised the pumpkin on the basket wasn't painted blue. But the blue painted pumpkin he brought home last week I suppose made up for that. It was our Halloween decoration.

Snuggle Bug has been making increasingly more complex lego creations. Just today, he figured out how to make a lego car that could survive being made to do a back flip by flicking the end of the car. He's been telling me all the facts he has been learning about crayfish in school right now. I'm hoping that he'll remember them tomorrow when he takes his big test.

Aside from blogging and working on a couple of novels (in sequence, not at the same time this time), I am working on yule gifts. I've been adding to Beloved's big ol' melty crayon blanket that I crochet for him a few years back. He asked for that to be made a little bigger, so I am. I searched high and low, every yarn store I could get to in my area, but I couldn't find that yarn I used. So, it is getting a border of black. The black really makes the clashing colors of the main blanket stand out. He's lucky I love him so much. I loathe this color combo in the main part of the blanket.

(Guess which is is favorite blanket? Yep, the loudest one in the house.)