The cold has kicked my butt

      I think the headline says it all. I've done nothing this weekend except sleep, be sick, take medicine, etc. I'm about to go to bed now. I hope that I improve quickly. My Christmas plans are falling apart. Truly I need warm weather. I'm ready for spring, ready summer. A friend of mine asked me, "What are we doing here in this cold weather?" I don't know.
      I did watch the Fantastic Four movie on DVD. I'm glad I didn't pay for it in the theater. It isn't a great movie. Nor even good. It's just okay. It had no depth and no story. I think the Spiderman movies have set my expectations high.
      I'm going back to my cocoon now. Hope y'all are doing well.

...ooo000OOOO0000ooooo.....

      That's me moaning. This is a mean cold. Very mean. Almost Republican in its meanness and definitely Democratic in what it's costing me in doctors bills. Bad cold. Bad.
      I have lots of stuff planned for this weekend, but I suspect I'm just going to be resting. Rest good. Cold bad.
      The Net is a lifesaver since I can order lots of stuff for Christmas on it. Then I just wait until the items arrive at my office. Some businesses even wrap the presents for you. Wrapping good. Cold bad.
      Anyway, I still fighting the cold. That's all my news. Completely. Well, I did get my tree decorated last night and put up a few other decorations around the living room and kitchen, but that's it. Otherwise I slept. Sleep good. Cold bad.
      I have been reading Robin Hobb's Tawny Man series. Very good. It's a sequel to her Assassin series. I'm glad that she didn't leave Fitz alone and tired. I'm hoping these books end with him having some happiness and peace. Books good. Cold bad.
      I've just about got my Christmas cards finished. I try to include a little something extra in all the cards I send. I hope I'm able to do that this year. I know the real life addresses to several of my blogging buddies and commenters so I'm going to send them cards, but if you're one of them whose address I don't know, please email me with address if you'd like a card from me. I'd like to send one to you. Christmas cards good. Cold bad.
      More later if I can.

Touchdown

      The cold finally landed after a few days of hovering around. I feel absolutely miserable. I'm fighting the cold with gallons of orange juice, Airborne, Advil, two different nasal spray, vitamin C chews, Theraflu, chicken and rice soup, hot Earl Grey tea, and so on. I still feel like someone attacked me and didn't have the decency to finish me off.
      My IBD and my general health move around each other in a sort of dance. In its simplest terms, my IBD is an immune system disorder. Inflammatory Bowel Disease causes my immune system to attack me, mostly the lining of my intestinal tract. I have a powerful immune system, and it reacts frantically to any and all invaders. Unfortunately it's not very bright and ever so often, it mistakes my gut cells as invaders. We control the IBD by giving me steroids. Steroids suppress my immune system. They also have some unfortunate side effects, like enlarging a person's heart and also giving me that lovely Charlie Brown face and body. The dance or interplay comes in that if the steroids suppress my immune system too much, then I'm prey to any and all germs that wander by. Not enough and my IBD rages.
      When I get sick, the doctors take me off the steroids, but they have to taper me off. It can cause real problems if you suddenly just stop the steroids. So slowly the doctors drop the dosage, but they also prescribe antibiotics to help battle whatever infection I'm fighting.
      They used to give me a lot of antibiotics, but over the past few years, I've been balking at that. There's some evidence that shows IBD might have an antibiotic connection. (The thought is that the antibiotics kill off certain organisms in our guts, some of which are supposed to be there. Eventually marker cells that tell your immune system what is and isn't an invader get killed off or reduced so that your body gets confused and starts attacking the intestine.) When I was younger, doctors prescribed bottles and bottle of antibiotics for me. It's interesting to note that my IBD wasn't as severe then. To achieve some sort of balance in my body, the doctors also prescribe probiotics to help restore the missing gut organisms. The medicine bottles line up like a pharmacy shelf on my bedroom dresser.
      I confess that I don't always take everything I'm supposed to; sometimes the side effects are worse than what the medicine is treating. And I've noticed that sometimes my doctors just prescribe stuff without really examining me. I don't like being dependent on medication, anyway, a trait that I got from my dad.
      Anyway, that's where I'm at now. Tapering off the steroids, fighting the infection with over the counter meds, and hoping that I won't have to have antibiotics. And now, God help me, I have to go to work. The only bright spot is that I fully intend to cough on any rude customers today.

In the swamp

Saturday
      It always starts some small thing. An idea or a simple project. You think, "This won't be hard. I can do this." You should remember that moment. Fix it in your mind before you set off on your happy journey. It will be ironic later when you're in the swamp surrounded by hungry gators in a sinking rowboat while battling frantically to reach some part of solid ground that won't bite or drown you. Before you sink in the dank water, you will remember what you thought earlier and you will realize with a complete understanding usually only granted to prophets that you were a dolt.
      This seems to be story of my life. I always start out with such good intentions, but eventually I find myself in a basket hurling toward a warmer clime. I'm always perplexed, of course, since it doesn't seem any of my actions would lead to this sudden drop, but they do. I know this says something about my lack of foresight, but I think I'm going to refuse to figure out what it is.
      I had a busy day. I cleaned house, put up Christmas lights, worked on my family newsletter, did laundry, went Christmas shopping, ate at Chinese buffet, watched part of the original War of the Worlds and worked on reading/editing Darkness, Oklahoma.
      I'm pleased to report that Darkness, Oklahoma is not crap. I had worried about it during NaNo. I had to write so fast that I couldn't really get a picture of how the book was shaping up. So reading it was interesting. A lot of it is rough. Very rough, but there are the bones of a story there. And some of the scenes are written exactly as I saw them in my head. That is cool. After I finish this reading/editing, I will go back and add more words, fixing errors, changing characters, and in one instance, removing a character completely. (She didn't pass the interesting test. If I'm bored by her, you can bet my readers will be.)
      Blogger isn't letting me post so I'll just save this as a draft.

Sunday
      I woke up today feeling a cold coming on. I immediately took Advil, drank a half gallon of orange juice, chewed on some vitamins, and went back to bed. I'm feeling better now, but not healthy. I am going to take it easy today.
      I'm writing this on Word because my cable internet is down. I tried calling my provider's 24-hour service, but I waited for 30 minutes on hold -- never speaking to a real person -- and finally gave up.
      I intended to keep working on my Christmas cards and the family newsletter, but I'm going back to bed now. I'll try again later.

Sunday evening
      Internet is still down. Arrggggghhhhhh. I hate that. Who knows what interesting things are happening? I don't. I tried the support line again. This time the recorded message said there was an outage in my area. At least a lot of people are suffering with me. Somehow that's not comforting.
      So far, I'm holding off the cold. Go immune system go! I don't know if cheering helps, but it couldn't hurt.

Sunday evening later still
      Still no service. I'm calling it a night.

Monday
      Work was particularly grueling today, but some good things got accomplished. It was a successful day.
      I had to rush home after work to start putting together the program for the theater group's play this weekend. I should have done it Sunday. I had to be at the theater at 7:30 p.m. to take a cast photo for the program, and I wanted to take a rough draft of the program with me. I barely made it but I did.
      The program looks good. Nice, clean design. I'm pleased.
      Internet connection is dicey. It goes on for about five minutes and then cuts off. Once again, I can't get through to the support line. I'm not happy at all. And Blogger is apparently having problems, too.
      I got to watch a little of The Triangle on SciFi Channel. So far, they've got me interested. I want to see where it goes.
      My Christmas tree is up with lights on, but it's not decorated yet. I'm going to do that tomorrow night, I hope. And finish the family newsletter. And my Christmas cards.
      Well, it's late, and I can't post this anyway so I'm going to bed. Maybe tomorrow I can go early to work and post it from there. Or post it during my lunch hour. We'll see you soon. I hope.

More than you wanted to know about tea

      The little green tea people are after me because I made some unkind remarks about their elixir of life, their beverage of the gods, their cure-all for any and all ills including baldness and the dreaded creeping earlobe fungus. So I thought I'd send them into a stupor with a long discussion about the various teas.
      Tea is basically the dried and processed leaves of one plant species called camellia sinensis. (Herbal teas are not really teas, but simply dried flowers and/or herbs. They are more correctly called herbal infusions. Remember that. It will be on the test.) Even though all teas come from only one species, there are three major varieties: the China, the India (or Assam) and the Hybrid. All have a slightly different taste. Americans are most used to the India or Hybrid teas, both of which are easier to grow than the China variety. (Which is why China teas are more expensive. Please note, though, you can grow the China variety in other places than China, but that seems sort of silly.)
      You will find four main types of tea on the shelves: white, black, green and oolong. The difference in them is mainly in processing and, of course, how they're spelled. Basically, processing is taking the raw green leaves and deciding how much oxidation (or fermentation) if any should take place before drying them out. (This is not unlike what AA does for its members, but they stress the drying out portion and discourage the fermentation.)
      Tea leaves have enzymes in their veins. Don't be shocked. They're supposed to be there. When the leaf is bruised or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to oxygen resulting in oxidation. The amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how long. Just trust me on this, and let's move on.
      White teas are the least processed of any tea and therefore taste the most like fresh leaves or grass. Yummy. They also have the lowest amount of caffeine and most likely have the highest antioxidant properties. Tea leaves meant for white teas are immediately fried or steamed after letting them air dry for a short period of time. (The steaming and frying neutralizes the enzymes, thus preventing oxidation.) There is no rolling, breaking or bruising of the leaves. The tea police see to this, and violators are forced to drink coffee. Black. No sugar. While standing on their head and balancing a box of knives on their feet. The tea police don't fool around.
      Black teas are the most processed of the four types of teas. They are the highest in caffeine, but still have antioxidant properties, just not quite as much as others. They are rolled, crushed, bruised and generally folded, torn and mutilated and then allowed to completely oxidize, thus giving the leaves their blackened color. You can find places that boast that their teas "age three months," but that really doesn't mean anything, as the oxidation is pretty much complete as soon as the leaves turn black. We'll let them keep bragging about that because frankly if that's all they have to brag about, who are we to rain on their parade?
      Green teas processing is similar to that of white teas in that they aren't allowed to oxidize. They might want to so that they can get that rich, strong, delicious taste of black tea, but once again the tea police step in (and then step out and put their right foot in and shake it all around. The tea police are good dancers, but let's be honest, our brave members of the FBI are much better.) After the leaves are plucked, they are laid out to air dry (or wither or Bushized) for about 8 to 24 hours. This lets most of the water evaporate. Then the leaves are steamed or pan-fried (or Clintonized).
      Oolong teas are the hardest to categorize, despite having the most fun name to say. I often go into stores and ask the clerks if they know where the oolong tea is at. Oh, the look on their faces is simply priceless, I tell you, priceless. Man, I need a life. Anyway, oolong tea requires only a partial oxidation of the leaves. After the leaves are plucked, they are air-dried for about 8 to 24 hours. Then the leaves are tossed in baskets in order to bruise the edges of the leaves. Much rejoicing is heard from the happy leaves who never get to play in the fields. But it does leave them bruised. This bruising causes the leaves to partially oxidize because only a portion of the enzymes is exposed to air. Next, the leaves steamed in order to neutralize the enzymes and stop any more oxidation for happening. Oolong tea can have varying degrees of oxidation. Some are closer to black teas, and some are closer to green. Some would like to be orange or even purple, but they are whisked away by the tea police and never seen again, although I'm sure you've heard the rumors.
      Now hopefully the little green tea people are safely asleep and won't take me away in their spaceship. But if they do, and you never hear from me again (although if the evening news starts featuring reports about someone running wild, naked and free through the suburbs and shouting, "The success of any serious relationship depends on complete honesty, true compassion and lots of duct tape," you'll know I'm still out there, watching and waiting and scratching) let me say right now that I love all green teas equally. I'll let you work that one out for yourselves.

TEST

1. Isn't oolong a great word? Use it in a sentence in which you make it into a verb. For instance, I want to oolong with you.

2. Do you believe in alien abduction? Have you ever been probed for your genetic secrets? What are your genetic secrets? Come on, tell us. We know you have them after seeing your six toes.

3. Have you ever been herbally infused? Really? Did you feel used afterward?

4. Did you read the question number 2?

5. What about question 3?

6. How about this one?

7. Discuss the Boston Tea Party and why they didn't have any of those delicious almond cookies.

8. Are you dating anyone? I mean, in real life, not another of those creepy Internet things where you send fake photos back and forth and talk naughty and then meet and discover your netpal was Jabba the Hut's older, less mannered sister and get all upset even though your photo was of Brad Pitt that you PhotoShopped your head on, but enough about my life.

9. Would you like to date anyone? Say, someone that collects explosives and comic books? Why not?

10. I'm lonely. And I have lots of duct tape. Why does that seem to upset people, particularly the police? Answer true or false.

Time's up. Pass your papers to the front. Now, let's all take a break and have a nice cup of orange juice.

It's not tasty being green

      I had my last cup of green tea last night. I've been on this health kick lately, and a friend of mine (whom I will never trust again) told me that green tea was healthy and "tasted good." Somehow she maintained a straight face when she said it. So I bought some, and as I toiled on my NaNoWriMo novel over the past few weeks, I thought I'd give it a try.
      It's a cliché, of course, but the idea of an author being fueled by some beverage, be it coffee, alcohol or tea has been with us ever since Gok pounded on a rock while he was fueled by fermented dinosaur milk. I don't drink coffee because my IBD won't tolerate it. I don't drink alcohol, but I'm not some fanatic teetotaler about it. If you want to sully the sacred temple of your body by swilling liquids created in the pits of Hell to destroy lives and wreck relationships until all concerned are whoring themselves in the gutter, far be from me to stand in your staggering way. Go for it. Have a double. Anyway, tea is my drink of choice.
      I prefer Viennese Earl Grey, but I also enjoy orange pekoe (which isn't actually a brand, but a type of tea -- never mind). For a fried chicken church dinner, I think Lipton (unsweetened) is excellent, although I know tea connoisseurs have just started fluttering their white hankies to fan their shocked faces. I don't drink a lot of tea. I can nurse a hot, steaming cup through an entire writing session. Just a few occasional sips when I pause to read my incredible, fantastic, flowing, lyrical, wise words. Ahem.
      Anyway, my friend (?) told me that green tea was incredibly good for your body. It's loaded with antioxidants that help clear free radicals out of your body. I do think this is true. I can see free radicals leaving as fast as possible. After all, if you were willing to drink green tea, who knows what other crap you might pour down your body? Free radicals ain't stupid.
      I had my doubts since it really didn't look like tea, but I heated my water and then placed the tea ball in there to seep. Yes, I said tea ball. I don't know who thought of the idea of placing tea in gauze, but to me, those packets always look like something you're afraid the doctor left in you after surgery, particularly after they plump up with water. I know a few purists who insist that even using a tea ball is wrong. They think that the tea should just be placed loose into a bone china teapot filled with hot water and allowed to gradually settle to the bottom while they discuss Royal Family and why marrying close cousins really is a capital idea.
      Right now the green tea lovers are hopping up and down and dying to tell me that I need to try their brand because it's delicious. I say to them now: You're all lying weasels. Because I tried several brands. See, I'm not very bright so when the first one was bad, I thought, "Huh, maybe it went bad," so I bought another brand. It was worse so then I thought maybe the stocks in that store were bad so I tried a couple different brands from another store. And then I grabbed another brand at another store. Right now in my kitchen I have five opened boxes of green tea. I hope they won't be toxic in the landfill.
      Truthfully, part of the problem is that they call it "tea." Your mouth thinks it's going to get tea and instead it gets alfalfa juice. That's the problem with soy milk. People expect the taste of milk. They should call it "soy drink" or "soy liquid" or "soy spit." Then no one would be disappointed by taste expectations.
      Anyway, I tried it with honey, then with sugar, then cut with real tea and then other options. Eventually I was drinking a beverage made of real tea, a pound of sugar, cream, half a cup of honey, 1/3 cup of raspberry juice and a teaspoon of green tea. And I could still taste the green tea. You could put a drop in paint thinner, and it would flavor the whole can.
      So that's my adventure with green tea. But all is not lost. It turns out that strawberries contain tons of antioxidants, and I like strawberries. But not in my tea. The only thing that belongs in tea is a cube of sugar and a spoon. You can quote me.

Winner's circle

      I've won NANOWRIMO! I'm exhausted, word weary and absolutely exhilarated. More about this tomorrow. But thank you all for your support. I couldn't have done it without you cheering me on. Good night, sleep tight and have a great tomorrow!

Coming around the curve

      Another 2,000, and that brings the total to 47,002. Just 3,000 more, and I will have won NaNoWriMo for the first time! I am so looking forward to hitting that 50,000 word mark.
      I sure appreciate everyone's support. To reward you (if it is a reward, but if it isn't, I don't have any cash to send you, so you're going to have to make do) here is another excerpt from Darkness, Oklahoma.

Excerpt 2 from Darkness, Oklahoma

Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. You may not copy, print or use this in any form. You can read it, but read it real fast so that it doesn't stay stuck on your eyeballs. Otherwise two men in gray suits will visit you and break your knees ...

      Nurse Darcy Trutell hung up the phone and swore softly.
      "What's up?" Lisa Dixon asked, dropping a chart into the receiving tray at the nurses' station.
      Darcy looked over at the aide. "That was Helen. She's going to be late. She wants me to cover for a couple of hours."
      Lisa shook her head. "You should have said you wouldn't. What was her excuse this time?"
      "She said her daughter forgot a paper that's due today," Darcy said. "She has to take it to the school, and then she needs to pay her insurance."
      "If you keep letting her get away with it, she's going to keep taking advantage of you," Lisa said. "It would piss me off, that's for sure."
      Particularly since I know Helen is lying, Darcy thought. Just like she knew that Lisa wouldn't volunteer to help and that Lisa didn't care about Darcy one way or another. Once, that uncaring would have hurt Darcy or made her mad. Now it just made her tired.
      "Well, I'm off," Lisa said. "At least Margaret won't be late." She and Darcy exchanged a look at the mention of the day aide.
      "Have a good day," Darcy said, wishing that Margaret wasn't so lazy. In the month Darcy had worked at the Eliza Rhiden Memorial Hospital, she hadn't seen Margaret do much of anything, and that she did grudgingly. Any other hospital would have fired Margaret, but her father was on the board. Besides, ERMH had the same staffing problems that other small hospitals had. Why work in Darkness when an RN could make triple the money in Oklahoma City?
      That's what Darcy would have done if things had been different. As it was, she was grateful for the job. At least she wasn't in North Carolina any longer, and if she could build up a good record again, she might be able to make the move to the city in a year or two. For that, she could work a couple of hours extra. She just wished she wasn't so tired. She hadn't been sleeping well; this was the first time in her career that she had to work the night shift.
      She picked up the report she'd prepared for the day shift and put it in the flow tray. Then she checked for new orders and began her rounds. Thankfully the patient census was low. She only had three patients.
      She shivered in a sudden cold draft. The hairs rose on the back of her neck. She looked over her shoulder to see the dead man.
      She swore, closed her eyes, and then opened them again. He was still there. "No, not again," she snapped. "Go away."
      She walked into her first patient's room. As she did the morning assessment, she was conscious of the dead man standing in the door. Her mouth tightened. She wouldn't let this happen again. She wouldn't.
      "You must help him," the dead man said.
      "I'll be right back, Mrs. Simpson, in a few minutes," Darcy said, brightly. The elderly woman smiled at her and turned her attention back to the television.
      Darcy stalked out of the room and made the rest of her round with the ghost watching her. With the vital signs of all her patients checked, she went to the pharmacy and pulled the meds. She pushed the meds cart to the nurses' station. Margaret sat at the nurses' station, leafing through a magazine.
      "Margaret, Mr. Fields in 212 needs to be turned," Darcy said. Margaret looked at her and then back at her magazine. Darcy felt her face tighten. "Now."
      Margaret looked startled, dropped her magazine, and hurried to the room.
      "You must help him."
      Darcy glared at the ghost. She looked up and down the hall, then said in a furious whisper, "Get out of here. I don't want you here. I'm not going to listen! I'm not going to help you. I'm done with that." She turned back to the cart, double-checking to make sure the meds were correct. She still needed to take vitals before she passed out any medication.
      "I am beyond help," the dead man said. "I am damned by own actions. I was misled, but it was my choice. I took the Mark willingly. It was my sin, and now I will pay for it."
      Darcy paused. This didn't sound like the run-of-the-mill haunting. None of that "Tell her I love her even though I was sleeping with her sister" or "You must take a message to my estranged son whom I haven't seen since I kicked his sorry hide out of my home years ago." She shook her head. No, she wasn't interested. It was none of her concern. She had enough to deal with. She had learned that if she ignored a ghost, eventually they went away. But any attention just fed them. She should have never spoken to him at all.
      "I am doomed, but you must help him," the ghost said. "You both have been called to a Purpose. You will know him by his eyes. He has the eyes of a hunter. You must save him so that he can save you. The Bone Queen has awakened and even now seeks the Sword of Silence. You must not allow her to wield it or all is lost."
      "What?"
      "She will do to all what she has done to me." The dead man reached his hands inside his shirt and pulled open his chest to reveal a black void that spun out toward Darcy. She didn't even have time to scream before the cold blackness closed around her and crushed her into oblivion.

The home stretch

      Yesterday was a better day for words. I wrote 3,000 on Darkness, Oklahoma. I'm about to get started today. I need at least 2,000. I'd like to get 3,000 if possible. NaNoWiMo ends Wednesday at midnight. I'm taking it right down to the wire.
      Nancy asked what are my plans for the novel when it's finished. Well, first thing is that I'm going to print it out and see exactly what I have. There will be plenty of corrections, I'm sure, and plenty of changes. I already know it will need another 20,000 to 25,000 words to be published. I want to add more descriptions, more character interaction and more humor. Right now, it's a bit grim. It's not a comedy, but many of these characters are intelligent and funny. I need to bring it out. I also know that some of the narratives -- I'm using a lot of viewpoints -- need to be united. A couple of them might even be eliminated, their information better served in another character's narrative.
      Anyway, that's my January project. I intend to continue writing a 1,000 words a day through December and January. Naturally there will be days off in there, and I'm not going to sweat it like I did NaNoWriMo, but I'd like for the first draft to be finished by the end of January. After that, I'll be asking some of you to read through it and give me your opinions and suggestions. From there, I'll revise and revise and revise. Somewhere in that, it will finally reach the limits of my writing skill. Then I'll start submitting it to agents and publishers.
      What are my writing plans after that? I want to go back and finish Dragons Gather. I have a lot of time and words invested in that story. It needs to be completed so that I can finally see what exactly I have there. I also plan on self-publishing a book of my humor pieces. I have over 200 humorous stories, some published in various newspapers and magazines, and of course, the ones here and in my monthly newsletter. I think I'd like to put them all in a collected form. I also want to revise Murder by Dewey Decimal and Murder by the Acre and turn the outline of Murder by the Mile into a book.
      Anyway, that's some of my plans for 2006 writing projects. Oh, and in there, I plan on doing NaNoWriMo 2006. I'm hoping I can convince some more of you to join me in that madness. Speaking of which, I need to stop stalling and start writing.
      Talk to ya later.

The grind

      A very bad day for words, but I got another 2,000, bringing the total to 40,025. I just lack 10,000 words now. That's pretty exciting. I've got five days left, and I'm off work the next two. I think I'm going to make it.
      But man, it's slow. I've written all the easy scenes, and now it's putting the connecting the scenes and the necessary scenes and all that stuff that makes a middle part so difficult for me.
      I actually am writing this book from the beginning and back from the end. I'm hoping they meet somewhere in the middle. It wouldn't be much fun if they slid pass each other. Does that make sense? I mean the whole paragraph. I'm a little word-woozy right now.
      Anyway, I had a good Thanksgiving. Must have ate too much rich food because I've battled with IBD all day. Not fun, but it's been controllable.
      Anyway, I got no news. What's happening in your world? Share!
      And have a great day tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Thanksgiving Prayer
By Samuel F. Pugh

O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency;
bestir my compassion,
and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.

A Thanksgiving Joke

      A turkey farmer was always experimenting with breeding to perfect a better turkey. His family was fond of the leg portion for dinner and there were never enough legs for everyone. After many frustrating attempts, the farmer was relating the results of his efforts to his friends at the general store get together. "Well I finally did it! I bred a turkey that has 6 legs!"
      They all asked the farmer how it tasted.
      "I don't know," said the farmer. "I never could catch the dang thing!"

Thanksgiving Riddles

What kind of music did the Pilgrims like?

Plymouth Rock


What did the turkey say before it was roasted?

Boy! I'm stuffed!


Which side of the turkey has the most feathers?

The outside


Why did they let the turkey join the band?

Because he had the drumsticks


How did the Mayflower show that it liked America?

It hugged the shore


Why did the police arrest the turkey?

They suspected it of fowl play.


A link to Thanksgiving Cartoons


Happy Thankgiving!

38,124

      Don't have much more to add than the word count and to wish you all a happy, safe and blessed Thanksgiving.

36,068

      Okay, three thousand words tonight. It wasn't easy, but I was lifted up by something cool that came in the mail today.
      You may recall that three or four weeks ago, I won a drawing on the Paperback Writer site ran by S.L. (Shelia Lynn) Viehl. Today my prizes came: Private Demon by Lynn Viehl, Last Girl Dancing by Holly Lisle, and Threads of Malice by Tamara Siler Jones. (Click on the books to purchase them from Amazon.com.) What with NaNoWriMo and everything going on in my personal life, I had actually forgotten I had won. So it was a wonderful surprise to receive three new books. And here's something even cooler: Lynn signed her book and also signed a bookmark, and she included a signed bookmark by Tamara Jones! Is that awesome or what? I had been feeling a bit down about NaNoWriMo because I had started out so well and then got behind and am having to rush to catch up. This just cheered me up immensely. Thank you, Lynn Viehl. I needed that.
      And now I need sleep. Night!

33,053

      I know, I know. I said I'd post something besides word count, but I'm sorry. I didn't have time. But rejoice with me that the word count is still rising and think how soon December 1 will be here and this self-imposed NaNoWriMo madness will be over! Have a great evening and wonderful tomorrow.

31,032

      Well, that's it for tonight. I'm not where I'd like to be yet, but NaNoWriMo has moved back into the realm of the possible. Tomorrow I'll try to post something other than this boring word count. In fact, I've been working on a humor piece, tentatively titled "Tea Time." I don't know if I'll get a chance to finish it this week since NaNoWriMo has to come first, but I've found it helps to take a break from NaNoWriMo sometimes.
      My friend Nancy called me this afternoon. I had loaned her Talyn by Holly Lisle about three weeks ago. She said she finally had a chance to sit down with it today and she is "absolutely loving" it. That's a quote. She said she's going to try to find some more of Holly's books on Amazon. I suggested the World Gates series, but didn't tell her I had them so she didn't ask to borrow them. Hey, Holly would probably appreciate the sales.
      It was cool to hear one of my friends confirm my opinion of Holly's writing. I recommend authors and loan books to people all the time, but rarely do I hear if they liked them or not. (By the way, if you haven't bought Talyn yet, click here to order it from Amazon. It's a dark, sexy and exciting fantasy novel. Worth your time, and it would make a great Christmas gift.)
      I hope everyone else is blogging up a storm. I'm looking forward to getting caught up with y'all when I finish NaNoWriMo (or it finishes me).
      Oh, I got the poster finished for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I think it turned out really well despite the rush job. Or maybe it did because of the deadline. Sometimes a deadline can spur a person's best work, I think.
      And now guys, I'm going to call it a night. Have a great week. Catch you on the flipside of tomorrow.

30,255

      I don't have much more to add than the wordcount, but it's going up slowly but surely. If I keep going, I might still win NaNoWriMo. Be back in another 500 or so words.

29,745

      Breaking for 10 minutes to give my head a rest. Also to stretch my legs. The words are coming slow, but they're coming. Not complaining. I'm glad to have them any way that they get here. I've done most of the easy scenes. That's why it's going so slow. I'm having to connect and move forward and keep all the characters going the same way. It's like juggling with greased balls. Gotta walk around a bit before getting back to it. Later.

29,043

      Congrats to Jean who finished her NaNoWriMo today! Way to write, Jean! You're my hero and my inspiration!

28,552

      And so begins another day at the writing mill. I'm hoping have to have four thousand today. Anything over would be helpful, but I'm outrunning my imagination. I'm hoping it learns to run faster real soon. Wish me luck.

28,004

      Barely 28,000, but I'm all out tonight. I'll be back at it tomorrow. I'm hoping for at least 3,000 words tomorrow or even 4,000. If I can do that, I'll be close to being back on track to win NaNoWriMo. Thanks to Michelle and Gloria for their support tonight. See y'all tomorrow, and you have a great evening and wonderful tomorrow.