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.

The weekend provided a gigantic release of anger and pain. I was so caught up in getting everything done yesterday that I didn’t get to over the weekend that I forgot to post here. Lots of things have happened in my life–mostly a different view.  I can really be with people now, but sometimes that means that people are putting meaning on the interaction that isn’t there. If you’re interested in a different view of life (enthusiastic, fun, playful), check this out (this will begin a video). Let me know what you think. I would like to hear about it.

In other news…

My cat Hamlet looks very sick right now. He eats, but he’s nearly a skeleton. It’s sad to watch him waste away. He’s not the only pet either. My sister’s dog has liver problems, and he’s wasting away. He’s young too. My mother’s dog is having chemotherapy to prevent cancerous lumps from returning.

While I’m still getting over the disappointment of not being able to tryout for the Tahitian group, I have been busy getting the rest of my life in order. I have the leadership program beginning in late August. It’s our first chance to see who is in the program locally and meet our coaches. Coming up next week I have the first seminar of a series on sex and intimacy. Everyone’s favorite topic. It should be a very interesting seminar if only to see how everyone else reacts to the topic. I have to make time for dance practice and especially conditioning. I never work as hard on my own as I do in class. I suppose everyone is like that. I certainly like the results from just three hours of conditioning and practice–trimmer arms, tigher abs.

The other part of my life to get in order is work, of course, but also dating. I put that on hold over the summer while my son was here. It’s not easy to meet someone new while he’s here, and I would rather spend most of my free time with my son. Actually, I don’t like the dating part…the meeting, the wasted time. It can be fun to get to know someone, but you have to go through so much effort to find one worthwhile.

Life has been so exciting this summer. How muchfun can I have watching video games or listening to the guns in video games. Othwrwise I have spent some of my time chatting with friends, finishing up seminars and the project. I’m still not done with the project. I get closer every day though. Today was an excursion to Walmart (ick) and the mall. There sure are a lot of moms with strollers at the mall. I remember when my son was that small. I hardly went. It was nearly impossible to get myself ready and keep him out of trouble. As he got a little older, I was in graduate school. There were very few trips to the mall unless I needed something from some store. Today was like that. Needed to go to one store to buy something for him. With all the large SUVs and the drivers who can’t park these monsters and strollers, I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Are the blahs contagious? If so, we have an epidemic at my house. I’m wondering if all the reading I have been doing on the internet is the cause. I don’t watch the mainstream news on television, so I get my news from multiple sources on the Net. Frankly, it’s depressing. There are lots of “problems” and few working on the solutions. One person can’t possibly do everything or work on every “problem” even though one person can make a difference.

Anyone else looking forward to Harry Potter? It’s a bonus summer. First a new movie and just over a week later–the book. I know we will be seeing the movie the first day it comes out. I already have the books on order set to arrive the day they come out.

I’m not a crazy HP fan, but I do enjoy the books and movies. My son does as well. Actually it was Harry Potter that got him interested in reading. Before that he just couldn’t find anything that he wanted to read. Then came Harry Potter. He was too young at first, so he had to catch up on the story. Before long he got caught up and couldn’t wait for the next book. I will be sorry to see the series end. They have been fun.

And let’s admit it…we would all like to be able to do the things in the book. Who wouldn’t like to turn someone into a toad, rat or other appropriate object perfectly suited to their personality? Who wouldn’t like to be invisible?

Well I survived the volunteering weekend. The course went very well for my son. After taking an entire weekend away, we’re back to our normal schedule. We’re both quite tired though. So now my son has compelted two courses in Landmark. He loved it. I recommend their courses to anyone. The results are quite amazing.

It looks like a busy day today with several meetings and then picking up my son from the airport. He has a lot of work to do this summer. He has lessons and a make up course. There’s the usual stuff around the house as well. I need him to be responsible. So that is what is on my mind now. I have my project to work on, and I’m getting tired of it. My seminar is nearly over. Only two more meetings after tonight. Yeah! I’m not sure if it is good or bad that I want the program to be over. I certainly have enough to take care of this summer. I don’t get much of a break before my next seminar starts in mid-August and the leadership training program starts in late August.

Yesterday I spent a good portion of the day attempting to get my son signed up to take a class to complete a science requirement. I think I have mentioned before that he didn’t pass one trimester. I wasn’t successful getting him signed up. I hope his dad has better luck today. They had been out of town, so I had been taking care of what I could. However since school is out finding a counselor is nearly impossible. One thing I realized yesterday was that I was spending a lot of time and energy on this “problem” and trying to fix it. Focusing on a porblem only seems to make it larger. It never seems to go away. Yet I know how to deal with things more effectively. I’ve done it, and yet in this case, I forgot. Only a day to go before my son is here. We won’t be talking about waht’s wrong.

Today was a semi-mad dash to find out how my son can complete a class he failed while out here. So far, no luck. There is no equivalent offered in summer school out here. I never did speak to his school. They are supposed to be open, but all I got was a recording. It’s looking like he will have to make it up during the school year. When I spoke to his dad, I found out about other assignments he nearly didn’t finish before the end of school, which would have delayed his graduation. The boy is really trying hard to do poorly. Yet, he scores extremely high on the state competency tests. Go figure. So now I’m set to find out the issue. Maybe he needs a new school. Maybe he needs home school. I talked to a friend about it just to get some ideas. My experience of school was very different from my son’s. I hated it. Boring. But I played along and played the grade game. I had to and knew I had to so I could go to college.

Then it was off to a meeting where I had to present my project. Again. I’m a bit frustrated that I can’t find anyone interested in working on part of the project. I’m sure it will be easy. It will take a few weeks, but once it’s done–it’s done. You can’t often say that about volunteer projects.