I took a break from my normal Saturday, although this Saturday is far from normal since Philip is here. The kid is thin! It’s remarkable. He desperately needed clothes. What he had was falling off. We went to see “Men Who Stare at Goats.” It was a good time to go, since everyone else is seeing the Twilight movie or 2012. There were only three other people in the theater. Philip and I thought it was a riot. I laughed so hard. One reference I had to explain to Philip because he doesn’t know the history of LSD. No one else was laughing. My son particularly liked the references to being a Jedi and Ewan MacGregor’s character (Obi-Wan) having no clue. This is one movie where the time went by quickly and I had no desire to find out the time. That’s rare.

I have been busy writing my novel and working–too busy to post here. After some weeks I finally spoke to my son on the phone. It was good and then bad. I don’t know if he will pick up the phone the next time I call. He was upset. I was upset. I’m no longer listed on his friends list on Facebook. I have quite a bit to say about that, but none of it can be posted here. He is supposed to be here for Thanksgiving vacation. Frankly, I have no idea if he will show up.

I don’t know that I have mentioned my grandmother much on this blog. She recently went to the hospital for difficulty breathing. I got a call today from my mother that she died this morning. No one expected it. She wasn’t seriously ill. She was 90, almost 91. Frankly, I didn’t know her that well. She wasn’t the kind of grandmother that doted on her grandkids or baked cookies. In fact, I don’t think I ever saw her bake.  She had been living in an assisted living home in Nebraska, where she lived her entire life.

All it took was a 40 minute conversation after 10 pm for me to take the phone away. I have been dealing with 12 hours of texting every day for about four weeks now. Now it might seem like nothing to be talking at that hour for that long, BUT…his cell phone is roaming and the girl is a in different time zone, making it 12 am for her.

If he’s not texting, he’s playing video games. The one rare thing that makes him interrupt his games is a text from a friend. Every few minutes he pauses his games, reads a text and sends one back. All day. Often he continues well after he should be sleeping. Funny though that he hasn’t begged for his phone back.

While it’s only the middle of the month, I’m already preparing for the holidays and my son’s arrival. Frankly it’s the only thing on my mind. Yes, I have other things to do. Today the heavy rain is preventing me from running any errands. I have one gift I need to give someone, which is an extra trip across the city. I’m glad I have no other shopping except food. I still have to work out meals for the holidays. I only have one meal chosen. I just noticed taht I have to figure out something for New Year’s Eve. I won’t be going to any parties.

Ever since my son bought RockBand (at my urging), I have been occupied. He and I don’t usually play vdieo games together. RockBand is different. We spent five hours playing on Tuesday when we got it, and another two hours on Wednesday. He was never fond of GuitarHero, although at this point I’m hoping that the drums, guitar and mic will work when GuitarHero World Tour comes out. The only drawback to RockBand is the music. We have downloaded (bought) other songs that we like better. I’m hoping that they come out with more music. It’s from MTV and EA. I don’t expect it would be that big of a deal to expand the game. It does have online play, but we’re too chicken…

I have learned that I play left-handed guitar. I’m completely worthless playing right-handed.

I think the goal of blogging every day is gone. I missed 5 days while my computer was down, and now with my son here, I’m missing more days. He has his ACT this Saturday, and we have to go out of town for him to take it. Hard to believe that there were no seats locally. That’s what happens when you postpone signing up for weeks and weeks. He didn’t see the importance in signing up right away. But it will give me a chance to spend some time taking photos in a new area. I have to catch some sunset photos on the ocean. I’ll be posting the photos when I get back.

I think I’m finally over my holiday procrastination. I had put off getting my nephews their gifts until today. Gifts are in the mail! I don’t know why I kept putting it off really. I finally got my hairdresser a gfit, but I will have to drop that off later. tomorrow I will be there to get my hair done.

My son arrived on Friday, nearly on time. The plane was about thirty minutes late. I’m still writing. I am past 36,000 words today.

I have spent more time these past few days either shopping or connecting gaming electronics than I care to. I bought a lot of chocolate before my son got here. By Sunday, he had eaten one and half pounds of chocolate, which meant another trip to See’s.

My blog is taking a beating with NaNoWriMo going on. I’m writing like crazy. I spend an hour to 90 minutes a day to write 2,000 words or more. I’m actually impressed with my productivity. I am currently at 12,132 words. I still have very little idea where my story is going. I just introduced four new characters today. Two were mentioned and given names. Two others have a bit more development and will be developed further tomorrow and after.

In addition to writing, I am working the leadership program and managing the measures I have to meet. I am getting closer all the time. I have been decorating for the holidays. My son arrives on November 16. It’s not too far away. My biggest concern right now is getting See’s chocolate balls before he gets here. I went to the store on Monday, but they were out of chocolate balls. I can hardly believe that the holidays are so close. I have lots of grocery shopping to do also.