NaNoWriMo and a missed potluck

1. Things at work have been crazy hectic, which has pulled focus away from course prep and grading for me, so I spent most of this weekend playing catch up. I am feeling a lot more on track now, which is good, because I missed book club to do work and there was a potluck. It takes a lot for me to miss book club in general, but to miss it when there’s food involved (even though I probably couldn’t eat most of it) is pretty hardcore.

2. I also missed book club because my friend Jasmine was in town promoting her new book!

The Proposal is a follow-up to The Wedding Date, and it is a delight. As is Jasmine! She did a short reading from her book, answered some questions, and did some book signing. (Apparently, if she were a cupcake, she’d be a lemon cupcake with a lemon curd filling. Who knew? 🤷🏾‍♀️) And then we went to get food, which was great because I was super hungry–probably from missing that book club potluck.

I’m joking, of course. I was hungry because it was time to eat.

3. For Halloween this year, I dressed up as my girl Flo from the Progressive ads. A couple of people asked if my Progressive apron was also a nod to my political stance, which I hadn’t even considered. I was just being Flo. I got my sweet apron and name tag from Etsy. Etsy! They think of everything over there.

I got a lot of compliments on my costume, so that was nice. I’d been wanting to do this costume for a long time. Since I’m a person who dresses up for Halloween now, I figured this was the time to go for it.

4. My fiction writing students and I are participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Well, they’re participating in NaNoWriMo, and I’m using this time to finish a draft of a pilot.

Yes, yes, I know it’s National Novel Writing Month, but I’ve found it’s a good time to establish and work on my own writing goals.

My goals for NaNo are:
– write at least one word per day
– finish my pilot
– write during the the in-class writing time I give my students (instead of grading, etc)

So far, so good. I have written every day (including today), and I used most of the in-class time for writing. I mean, I do still have to attend to teacherly things that are specific to that class, so you know. I just do the best I can.

I already hate my draft, so things are exactly on track.

5. I hate the end of Daylight Saving Time, and I am already looking forward to the upcoming three-day weekend. Mostly because I always have a harder time adjusting to standard time than the other way around. Plus it’s going to be dark so early now 😩.

6. I am in a reading slump, which means everything I’ve been reading has either been getting on my nerves or been super hard for me to get into. And I only read four books last month! Sigh.

Anyway, the books I’ve given up on:
The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes

Made it to pg. 110: I don’t know if I’m in a mood or what, but I just couldn’t get into this one.

View all my reviews

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Tapping out at 19%.

I’m sure the book is fine, but I’m just not in the mood for fantasy right now.

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7. Okay, so I am pretty sure Happy Together is my new favorite comedy this season. I almost choked on my food laughing at the episode before last, and I really like all the characters.

I can’t find the clip from that episode, so here’s this one to give you a sense of some of the show’s humor.

9. Ugh, the D key on my keyboard still is acting all wonky.

Good luck to everyone participating in NaNoWriMo!