Long day

So I just got home from work. At 8:30 p.m. It was a looooong day. I know, I know, some of you have much longer days than that. But it's a very long day for me and I'm just not used to it. I have to be at work early tomorrow too, but I already asked if I could leave early and have been told I can. Actually, the timing for that couldn't be better because season 4 of Scrubs is out on DVD today, so I can pick it up on the way home from work tomorrow afternoon and just lie on the couch watching episodes of Scrubs until I can't laugh anymore.

Speaking of laughing until you can't, I bought "Thank You for Smoking" the other day. I hadn't seen it, but I loved the book and the cast was great, plus it was on sale at Best Buy, so I picked it up. It was a good risk, because I loved it. So funny! I really identified in some parts because the main character is a lobbyist and spokesperson, which is basically what I do (part of what I do anyway) and even though our organizations are very, very different (he worked for big tobacco and I work for a hunger relief organization) there were still moments when I chuckled because I knew how he felt.

So let's see... I know I missed a few days, so let's catch up a bit. This weekend was a total blur. Friday I was exhausted after work so I just went home. Saturday I woke up with a massive migraine and didn't really want to do anything at all. I was supposed to go to Bayfest, which is Mobile's music festival. I had arranged to meet three different groups of friends (gosh, I sound popular, lol) there at different times during the day and I hated to disappoint them, but there was no way I was going to go to a music festival with a migraine. Luckily, they all understood. Sunday I was feeling better, which is lucky because my sister had a party for my nephew's 3rd birthday. (she wouldn't have understood if I missed it because of a migraine!) The kids really had a great time, and it was such a simple, nice party. They had it in a neighborhood park and the kids just played with each other on the playground equipment and the adults sat around and talked. Of course, I played with the kids... grown up talk is so boring! My sister usually invites several single men to her parties because she's always trying to fix me up with someone. This time was no exception. I don't really have the same taste as she does, so it's hard to be (as she calls it) "socially single" around the guys she picks for me. I mean seriously, it takes more than a nice car and a few slurred compliments to make me want to get to know a guy better. A lot more, thank you very much! So anyway, that was my weekend. I know, it's very exciting.

Monday was a fairly normal day at work and today, of course, was a late day. We had some visitors. A couple of people from our parent organization and someone from an company that funds projects for us came into town for a visit. We've been planning very carefully and it couldn't have gone any better. It was great. They were the nicest people, and really seemed interested in hearing what we have been doing and what our plans were for the future of our organization. It was one of those moments when I sort of stepped back and looked at myself and thought, "wow, I'm really a professional now." I love those moments. I guess I'll be having more of those next year if they decide to send me to DC to lobby for the farm bill. (I really want to do that!) Anyway, I love those moments because they are also the moments when I realize I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing with my life right now. I mean, writing is my passion and my dream, and I hope that one day I can write full time and I think I'm working up to that now, but this job is also extremely important to me and I think it's vital to my development as a person and as a professional. Plus, it's nice to be doing what I went to school to do. Not everyone can say that. So anyway, today was great.

My story is shaping up in my head, and I plan to use this coming weekend to work through some of the Snowflake Method so I can get some ideas down on paper. One thing I had planned is not going to work, so I'm going back to the drawing board with it. I think my alternate plan will work better in the end, it's just that now I have to rearrange some things I was thinking of doing. But I think it'll be okay. I'm also trying to decide if I want to post short bits of the novel here on my blog as I'm writing it. I've never done that before and I'm afraid it might affect publication if I do that, so I'll have to check on it first. I will do what I did last year, though, and have a daily wordcount update as well as a short description of how the day went in terms of writing. I remember commenting on odd things that popped into the story without warning and interesting adventures in writing (or at least I thought they were interesting at the time, lol) so I'll probably do that again.

I'm already spending way too much time on the NaNoWriMo forums. That's a bad sign...