Rooftop View

Ever wondered what our neighborhood looks like from thirty feet in the air?

Well, too bad. You get to see!








David and Bob were reinstalling our TV antenna. Yep, we still have an antenna. Our antenna rotor broke and we were unable to turn the antenna anymore, so Bob reinstalled it permanently faced in the most opportune direction. At least we hope so.

That's not a one-man job, so my teenage son got to help out. And being who HE is, he decided to take some photos from up there. I never plan to go up on the roof, so it was cool for me to see.

How about you? Ever take rooftop photos?

NaNo Day Ten (and Nine)

End of Day 10

Lisa - 17,024
David - 12,001
Emily - 720 + unknown handwritten amount
James - 558
Suzy - 765

I only wrote 34 words on Monday. I had time to write in the evening, but I just didn't feel like focusing on it. Mondays are hard. But tonight, I came back to write over 2000 words, so I am back on target. I need to be at 23,000 by the weekend for a reward I want to give myself, so I better get crackin'!

David is still on fire! He's almost on track with the 50K writers. He's already passed the 9000 word goal I had set for him and will hit his 16K goal very soon. Maybe by the weekend?

Emily is writing away in her notebook, but since she won't let me read it, I can't type it. Therefore, I have no idea how far she's getting. Maybe she can spend some time typing it tomorrow, or maybe she'll relent and let me type.

James has finished the plot idea he thought of, and he's still 2400 shy of meeting his goal. So he and I have conferenced ideas on what else he could add. He'll be working on that tomorrow, as long as he feels good enough.

Suzy is dictating to me, so her word count is higher than James (who writes everything by hand and then reads it aloud to me so I can transcribe). She enjoys writing her story. It makes her laugh. Hearing it read back makes her laugh too. Sometimes uproariously. So I guess it's a good experience!

Today we had a couple friends write with us here in the afternoon for an hour or so. It was hard to get anything done with the kids around! LOL And they were supposed to be writing too!

Clearanced!

Even if you don't observe Halloween, you can still take advantage of the awesome clearance deals afterwards. Walmart yesterday had all their Halloween merchandise marked down 90%! Shelves were still crowded with candy, makeup, costumes, and decorations.

Although we go trick-or-treating, we don't decorate for Halloween, so I skipped right past all of that. But the candy is good, whether or not it has skulls on it. And costumes are fun all year, right?

Here's what we came home with:

• 10 "trick or treat" bags that I'll use for easy-peasy gift wrap - 10 cents each!
• 12 glow sticks (3 different colors) - my kids love these for Christmas or camping - 10 cents each!
• 4 plastic beakers with Halloween "sweetart" candy inside - 30 cents each! (Who would pay $3 for these???)
• 8 chocolate lollipops with Halloween pictures on them - 10 cents each!

If my arithmetic is correct, that's $4.20 for that haul of stuff. Have you checked how much gift wrap costs lately? If I'd have purchased 4 glow sticks for my children's Christmas stockings, that would have been $4 right there. I'm really pleased!

OH YEAH - I forgot! I also bought two blond wigs for the girls for NaNo rewards (.60 each = 1.20) and a sparkly makeup set Suzy wanted for a NaNo reward (.40). I also picked out a stick-on handlebar mustache for 50 cents. Figured that might come in handy someday.

So, grand total was $6.30 plus tax! Lots of fun and sweetness!

NaNo Day Eight (and Seven)

End of Day 8

Lisa - 14, 717
David - 9,555
Emily - 720 (didn't write this weekend)
James - 409 + ? (didn't write this weekend)
Suzy - 271 (didn't write this weekend)

I'm ahead of where I should be for Sunday night (13346), but not by much. The gorgeous gorgeous GORGEOUS weather made other plans for me.

I had planned to write Saturday and wrote NOTHING. I had hoped to catch up for that and then some, by writing 5000 words Sunday, but I was able to jot down just 2500. OK, that's not so shabby, but only half of what I'd hoped for. Still, there's always tomorrow, at least until November 30.

David is ROCKING the word count, though. His original goal was 9,000, but when he started writing so much, I asked him if he thought he could write 1,000 every 'school day'. He agreed, so we went with 16,000. He's already almost at 10,000. He's been writing about 1000 EVERY day, not just our lesson days. He even skipped youth group tonight in favor of writing.

The other kids are not so gung-ho, so no worries that we are Super Writer Family or anything so amazing. They'll write again Monday, but for some it will be like pulling teeth. And for the others, it will be ok probably, but they'll hit their goal and probably stop.

And it's a good thing our Inner Editors have gone on vacation for the month of November or mine and David's would really be having issues! LOL But I'm letting it go. January will be soon enough to deal with editing. That's not what NaNo is for.

Simple Woman's Daybook - November 8

For Today... November 8, 2009

Outside my window... Sunshine! And warm temps! Loving it!

I am thinking... that God always meets our needs and often grants our desires as well

From the learning rooms... NaNoWriMo goals

I am thankful for... my husband working 40 hours a week! (Even if it is minimum wage. May God multiply his wages to meet all our obligations.)

From the kitchen... NaNo snacks

I am wearing... flowered PJ pants, lavender sleep shirt, fleece robe and slippers

I am reading... listening to A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Disc 34 of 48) by Diana Gabaldon (#6 in Outlander series). Putting aside other fiction for NaNo and skimming a selection of books on writing. Also flipping through a number of magazines like Writer's Digest, O, Mary Jane's Farm, National Geographic, Better Homes and Gardens, Practical Homeschooling

I've been watching... Management (yes, again. Twice actually. Love that movie!),High School Musical 1 & 2 and Barbie Thumbelina (just parts of them while the kids were watching)

I am hoping... that skipping church two weeks in a row won't turn us into heathens (ok, I'm joking. Sort of.)

I am creating... An explosively sarcastic work of cutting-edge fiction - 13K so far

I am hearing... James walking back and forth. David eating cereal. A few minutes ago, I was listening to Pandora - a TobyMac station.

Around the house... a big TV we got off freecycle. It's 38 inches or something like that. We just need to figure out where to position it.

One of my favorite things... AUTUMN

A few plans for the rest of the week... Writing. Writing. And maybe some more writing. Oh, yeah, life does go on - normal stuff like lessons and Spanish, too. And I think we are going to a free movie on Wednesday. And if my writing goes well this week, I may be able to go scrapbooking next weekend.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you.
James and his friend raking the yard.

Voluntarily.

They didn't want to pose, thus the blurry photo.

NaNo Day Six

End of Day 6

Lisa - 12,251
David - 6,356
Emily - 720 (didn't write today)
James - 409 + ? (didn't write today)
Suzy - 271 (didn't write today)

NaNo Day Five

End of Day 5

Lisa - 10,232
David - 5358
Emily - still 720 (didn't write today)
James - 409 + unknown amount not typed yet
Suzy - 528

David is really going to town! He's amazing me!

James has hit the wall. He has writer's block!

NaNo Day Four

End of Day 4

Lisa - 7148
David - 4470
Emily - 720
James - 409
Suzy - 271

NaNo Update

Word count at the end of Day Two of NaNoWriMo

Lisa (me) - 1881 (Sun) + 347 (Mon) = 2228 words
David (age 14) - 1001 (Sun) + 1000 (approx) (Mon) = 2001 words
Emily (age 12) - 500 words (Mon)
James - 149 words (Mon)
Suzy - 0 words + 3 pictures so far

Daily goals are:
Lisa 1667 every single day
David 1000 every school day (his revised goal)
Emily 438 every school day
James 250 every school day
Suzy 63 every school day

Simple Woman's Daybook - November 1

For Today... November 1, 2009

Outside my window... Sunshine, lots of greyish fluffy clouds, and many many leaves on the grass. Carved pumpkins on the neighbors' steps.

I am thinking... about narrow-mindedness.

From the learning rooms... NaNoWriMo goals

I am thankful for... the opportunity to hear (with my husband) Todd Wilson ('da Familyman) speak last week

From the kitchen... Leftovers for lunch and planning to stock up on easy meals for NaNo

I am wearing... Jeans, my 2008 NaNo shirt (that didn't fit when I bought it months ago, but fits now!), a white long-sleeved tee underneath, earrings, makeup, shoes! and hair straightened

I am reading... listening to A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Disc 30 of 48) by Diana Gabaldon (#6 in Outlander series). Putting aside other fiction for NaNo and reading a selection of books on writing.

I've been watching... Disturbia (not that great), The Proposal (quite funny, but not for the prudish), The Lord of the Rings trilogy (12 hours of fine filmmaking! Forgot how much I love those!)

I am hoping... that the Write-in I am going to this afternoon is both fun and productive

I am creating... An awesome work of death-defying fiction

I am hearing... Bob's breathing machine, the furnace, the clock ticking (ok, that was last night. Right now I hear James doing dishes, someone's lawn mower, and Bob talking.)

Around the house... an awful lot of CANDY

One of my favorite things... a bookstore. Even if I don't have any money. Which I don't.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Writing. Writing. And maybe some more writing.

Oh, yeah, life does go on - normal stuff like lessons and Spanish, too.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you.