After the Kick-Off

The 2008 NaNoWriMo Kick-Off Event was yesterday and it went beautifully! I was so happy with every single part of it. The space we reserved was more than ideal! We want to use the space for our TGIO party at the end of November. We kicked it off at the Havens Community Center which is right next door to the Chocolate Bar on Alabama. It has at least 4 separate sections plus a little kitchen area and bathrooms. It has tables and chairs, couches and is centrally located. I absolutely LOVE it! However, the perfectness of the space aside, the kick-off itself went really well. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many wonderful new participants and there are so many others, the old crew, who are just dear to my heart that I see far too rarely.

For the Swag Bags this year, Chris made an awesome CD of writing music which includes such songs as Every Day I Write the Book by Elvis Costello, Writer's Minor Holiday by Calexico, My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors, by Moxy Friivous, Paperback Writer, by The Beatles and several others. I hope everyone loves the music. We also made door hangers and put in bouncy balls and candy and stickers. We got powerstrips for the Area Liaisons which they seemed to enjoy. It was a lot of fun.

Afterwards, a group of us went for pizza at Star which maintains a status as one of the highlights of my weekend. It's been forever since I've had a chance to eat Star Pizza and it was fun to talk with everyone I hadn't seen in ages. I got some excellent ideas to include in my book in November.

This morning Chris, Colin and I went to play disc golf but it was really hot and we didn't make it through all 18 holes. It was fun none-the-less. Then I met Soluna and PataLeBon at Coffee Oasis for a Got Plot? Brainstorming Session. This was originally scheduled to be at Chelsea Coffee House but they were closed so we re-grouped at C.O. I have to say that the best ideas for my novel there actually came from Colin who was on a roll and giving everyone creative writing ideas. Then we went to pick up Chelsea from Brian's and she was happy cuz she had gone shopping and had her eyebrows done for picture day tomorrow. So that was awesome.

In other news, I've been back at work for exactly 2 weeks and it's really like a roller coaster. Rumors abound about the impending layoff which has been announced to happen right after the election for political reasons. Everyone there is looking for a job and I've spoken to people who have mentioned by title some of the exact same positions I'm looking at. That's a little scary. I had an interview at UH last Thursday and they said I should hear from them by Monday - tomorrow. I hope it's good news! Please keep your fingers crossed for me. I would like to get off the island anyway. I think it's toxic. The trees and bushes are brown and dead from the salt water and sludge that flooded everything. The first week we were back everyone got sick. It was pretty awful.

I got to speak to a class of kids at Westside High School about NaNoWriMo which was a lot of fun. I handed out stickers and heard some plot ideas that sounded really promising. These kids sounded like they really could do it. I also got the grand tour of Westside from the teacher - Chris's brother Rob - and this school actually has an Outback Steakhouse in it for their Hotel & Restaurant Management classes! The kids can eat cocanut shrimp for lunch every day if they want to!

Also, Rob and Noelle are new parents-to-be expecting the newest little MacGregor in May! So Congratulations Rob & Noelle! I should be crocheting blankets but I have documentation to finish, a novel to write, a region to wrangle, a new job to find, and that's just the extras - I still have my family and a strewn-apart job to go to on the ghost-town island as part of my daily chores.

That's about it for an update. Oh we're gonna early vote. We saw a voting line at the library yesterday that wrapped around the building in two lines! I can't even imagine what November 4th will look like! I hope Chelsea's voter's registration card comes soon.

Much Love ~