October 28, 2014

Contrary to the lack of blog activity, I am still alive.

Life in General / National Novel Writing Month

So… it’s somehow been a month since I last posted? Oops. That was most certainly not intentional.

I’ve definitely thought about blogging. Sometimes I think I thought about it so hard that I thought I actually did blog. But evidently not.

My participation in WordPress’ Writing 101 course ended up being a dismal failure. I got two posts done. I do still have all the prompts saved, so I’ll try to keep working on some of them, but it’s definitely going to be slow going.

So, what have I been doing in the month where I haven’t blogged?

Chicken coop.

We finally finished drawing up plans for the coop, and are in the process of building. Sadly, I doubt it’s going to be done by Friday. And NaNo starts on Saturday. This is going to be interesting.

NaNoWriMo stuff.

I have several new readers this year, and so for those of you who aren’t aware, I am a Municipal Liaison for National Novel Writing Month (in everyday English, that means I’m a regional chapter head for a non-profit that encourages people to write that book they’ve always said they wanted to write but keep putting off).

That means on top of chicken coop things, I’ve been working with my partner-in-crime/co-ML, Michelle, to confirm venues for local events, and trying to figure out what the frick I’m writing.

Family stuff.

Half of my family is still nuts. Go figure. I may or may not be nuts myself. This requires a lot of time, especially as grandparents continue to age… it can be frustrating and is definitely an exercise in patience.

Animal stuff.

Besides the chickens. Because we have a cat and a dog too!

Winnie (the cat) will be going in for radioactive iodine therapy later in November to cure the hyperthyroidism. Still trying to save up some money for that, it’s a bit pricey, but if she even lives just two more years beyond the treatment, it will have paid for itself compared to giving her daily medication. We just need there to not be any underlying kidney issues that the hyperthyroidism is masking. Prayers on that front are greatly appreciated!

Fortunately, my wonderful best friend who doubles as a veterinarian was able to find someplace that does the therapy locally. For a while, we thought we were going to have to drive 80 miles to have it done. And since she has to be quarantined for 10-14 days, that means the 80-miles one way would have turned into 320 miles. Yikes. So glad that expense has disappeared altogether!

And Bear (the dog). He has soooo much energy. I’m very relieved that he seems to be happy to spend a fair amount of time outdoors, especially as the weather is cooling down for autumn. Mom is going to be giving us the doghouse that her dogs pretty much refuse to use, and while I’m not going to let the dog turn into a backyard ornament, his purpose ultimately is to protect the chickens (and us), so that does mean he needs to be outside quite a bit, and I need something that will give him reliable shelter out there. But he still sleeps in the house, especially in our part of town…

But he’s grown a lot! See:

Bear at 8 weeks.
Bear somewhere in-between.
Bear at 5 months.

(Yes, that is the beginnings of the chicken coop in the third picture.)

And he’s so scary smart. We train with him nearly every day, though we need to start working on some new commands. He does very well with ‘sit’ and ‘down’, but ‘stay’ isn’t as reliable, especially if there’s something exciting going on. But ‘stay’ is getting better. Otherwise, the only thing we’ve even tried teaching him is ‘roll over’. Which really isn’t a necessary skill most of the time, haha.

OH! And we taught him how to push doors open on command. We’re still working on the ONLY on command part of that, though. But I foresee this being very handy when I have my hands full carrying in garden produce! I can just tell him ‘door!’ and he pushes the garage-to-kitchen door open. 😀

Moving on…

So NaNo is coming. Normally, I’ve done daily or weekly updates on my blog about my story and progress. I’ll be honest: if I don’t do NaNo updates, it’s probably unlikely that I will be posting much in November. So will you answer my little poll below?

Notice that there is not a “No NaNo posts!” option. Because that’s just unrealistic.

I will attempt to get a “What I’m Planning For NaNo” and/or a “My 2014 NaNoWriMo Tools” post up before the 1st. But we’ll see. Don’t hold your breath.

Chicken coop comes first, after all.

So how are my lovely readers doing? Are you doing NaNo, or just sitting back to cheer people on? What are your Halloween plans?

And yes, I did change the blog theme again. Isn’t it puuuuuuuuuuurty? 😀

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Recent Comments

  • jazzfeathers
    October 28, 2014 - 4:38 pm · Reply

    Hi Bekah,

    What can I say, you are busy. But I wish you a great NaNo. I’m doing it too (well, guess you talked me into it years ago ;-)) and hoping to polish up my novel.

    I plan to do daily posts too. Let’s see.

    Hey, I have a cat who opens doors by himself. I never taught him. He did everything by himself.

    • Rebekah Loper
      October 29, 2014 - 1:33 pm · Reply

      I’ve done daily posts for NaNo before, and I just made myself a format to follow. I’d post my ending word count for the day, exactly how many words I’d written, and a 100-word excerpt (completely unedited). I do like being able to look back at things and see what happened each day, especially in perspective with my writing. I will probably still keep track each day of those things, and maybe just post them all in one big post once a week.

  • Candace Gauger
    October 28, 2014 - 11:54 pm · Reply

    No NaNo for me this year unless I manage to summon up the drive to write. For now, I barely have the will to do my homework though that is being completed. I will be cheering everyone on from my little hole in the wall.

  • Maria Zannini
    October 29, 2014 - 6:42 am · Reply

    Sounds like you have a full calendar for November. Good luck on your kitty’s treatment.

    re: guard dog
    Mine stay indoors, but we do have an attached dog run that allows them to go out whenever they wish. Makes it a lot easier on me. Their super hearing alerts me to deer, cows, strange dogs, and roadrunners.

    • Rebekah Loper
      October 29, 2014 - 1:38 pm · Reply

      I am so grateful for Bear’s hearing. I’ve had tinnitus for nearly three years now, and it definitely hinders me being able to hear much of what’s going on outside. Bear has already alerted us to a cat trying to get into the chicken enclosure once, and that was from a dead sleep in his crate in the LIVING ROOM. The chickens are a good 50 feet behind the house in the backyard. So, yeah. He’s already earning his keep. 😀

  • S.B. Roberts
    October 29, 2014 - 10:20 am · Reply

    Glad you’re back on the blogosphere! And I love the new theme! While I’m not writing during NaNoWriMo this year (though I’m strongly considering an editing stint instead), I can’t wait to hear about your adventures. 🙂

  • jmbauhaus
    October 29, 2014 - 5:28 pm · Reply

    I’m doing Nano as a rebel to (hopefully) finish the first draft of my current WIP. I’m rushing around this week trying to get as much routine stuff squared away as possible to free up time for writing over the next few weeks. I plan to be at as many of the Sunday write-ins as possible.

    Halloween, my husband and I have our own little Halloween party. We carve pumpkins and then eat junk food and watch scary movies in between handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. Alas, I won’t be coming to the kick-off party this year, for we are old and tired and we’ll be sacked out in bed by the time it starts.

    Prayers for Winnie!

    • Rebekah Loper
      October 30, 2014 - 5:37 pm · Reply

      We will miss you at the kick-off! I keep going “But it’s so late! I just want to sleep!”

      And I have to keep reminding myself that Michelle is older than me. I can’t wimp out. XD

What do you think?

About Rebekah

Rebekah Loper writes character-driven epic fantasy featuring resilient women in trying and impossible circumstances who just want to save themselves but usually end up saving the world, often while falling in love.
She lives in Tulsa, OK with her husband, dog, two formerly feral cats, a small flock of feathered dragons (...chickens. They're chickens), and an extensive tea collection. When she's not writing, she battles the Oklahoma elements in an effort to create a productive, permaculture urban homestead.

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