Happy Holidays! by Konnie Enos

In all the hustle and bustle of having family here to visit, actually working a full-time job and preparing for today I completely spaced that I had a post to do today.

Yesterday instead of writing anything. I helped prepare things for a Christmas feast today and went with my daughter, her husband, and my granddaughter to the Giving Machine and we each picked out something to give.

If you're interested, they are still up and accepting donations through January 2, 2020. You can find locations here , just scroll down.

Now I need to be starting preparations to get our turkey in the oven, and after dinner, we're going to have family game time. Thanks to my sons, I'm positive one of those games is going to be a D and D session. Should be interesting.

Have fun today and to all my friends. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Solstice, and have a Happy New Year. And Happy Holidays (in case I missed any.)

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Jacki and Christmas by Bonnie Le Hamilton

Christmas is exactly one week away, and this week I’ve been thinking a lot about the kids in the above picture. Mostly about the girl in the bottom left corner. Jacki, better known as Dictionary. I’ve mentioned her before, but what I’ve been remembering about her has something to do with the coming holiday.

I know I’ve told the story of when she taught me to spell brother. That’s one story still talked about in the family all the time, but this one isn’t so funny, just profound.

Jacki taught me how to spell a lot of words actually, but the one that means the most to me is Christmas. I was having as much trouble with that one as I was having with spelling brother then she looked at me and said, “Can you spell Christ?”

I nodded and spelled, “C – H – R – I – S – T.”

“Good. Now spell mass.”

“M – A – S – S.”

“Okay, now drop an ‘S’ and put them together.”

“C – H – R – I – S – T – M – A – S.”

“You just spelled Christmas!”

All this came clearly to my mind on Sunday when one of the speakers at church mentioned that Christmas stands for Christ’s Mass, a time to celebrate and worship Christ in the ancient Catholic church.

In other words, Christmas is all about Christ, which reminds me of another event that happened several years after I learned how to spell Christmas. I was around thirteen or fourteen when I noticed a sign painted in a shop for the holiday season, but it didn’t say, “Merry Christmas!” it said, “Merry X-mas!”

It appalled me. It still does, because it’s taking Christ out of Christmas! This is so wrong. 

The above is just one picture of my living room, its a few years old, but I can tell you it wasn't Christmas when I took it.

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but when I was in that accident a couple years ago, a couple friends came to my place to give me a blessing. One of the two friends had been to my place before, he knew about my collection, the other hadn’t. When he walked into my apartment, he said, “Oh, you’ve already decorated for Christmas!”

It was in early November and my tree wasn’t up yet. My Nativities were all over, as they are year-round, but that’s because I don’t want to worship my Savior just at Christmas or Easter, I want to worship him every day of the week.

Frankly, I never understood why people only display their Nativities at this time of year. Why limit it? Does that mean you only worship him at this time of year, but not the rest of the year?

And then there are all those decorations people put up at Easter. I don’t get those. The only décor I’ve seen at that time of year that actually has to do with Christ is the cross, something we don’t use in our faith, but everything else has to do with the Easter bunny, colored eggs, and candy.

Then again, the majority of the décor for this time of year has to do with snowmen, Santa, reindeer, Christmas stockings, toys, and candy. None of it has anything to do with the original intent of either holiday. They have become commercial opportunities and possibly some time off, but little else.

And what of the rest of the year?

This makes me think of the people who only show up at church at this time of year. Growing up, I always participated in the midnight services at the Lutheran church I grew up attending until I converted, and every year as the children’s choir paraded into the sanctuary, I was always surprised at how full the pews were. Way more people than normally showed up at the regular Sunday Services.

And the thing is I still see it. People who only show up at church for special occasions. I admit, in my church, it is often because all the extras are family who are visiting for the holiday or a special family event, but there are still a few who should attend our “congregation” every week, and don’t.

Then again, Jesus Christ never said attending church every week makes you righteous, nor did he say decorating our homes for Christmas or Easter makes you a devout member. In fact, its more the opposite. He doesn’t want us to worship him only a few days out of the year. He wants us to worship him twenty-four/seven, 365 days a year.

So, I guess it doesn’t matter if someone spells it X-Mass or Christmas, what matters is if your focus is on the presents under the tree or the babe in a manager.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

And Happy Writing.

Light the World part 2 by Bonnie Le Hamilton

This should be Konnie's turn to post, but she's been busy trying hard to take care of her family's many health issues and just trying to prepare for Christmas among all that chaos. On the other hand, I've been busy with my mission, volunteer work, and playing chauffeur to my cousin and sister-in-law. As such, I didn't even notice that she hadn't yet scheduled a post until late last night, which seems to be hours before she realized it.

I'd have called her then but it was well after 10 her time at that point.

Oh, well.

Happy writing everyone!

And Merry Christmas!

Light the World by Bonnie Le Hamilton

Yesterday morning, as I was doing my good deed of the day by giving my cousin a ride, someone else did me a good deed. I was singling to turn out of the parking lot at his apartment when the nearby light turned red, and traffic was starting to back up. I figured we’d be stuck there until the light changed, right up until one fellow in a white pickup stopped well short of that driveway, allowing me to enter the flow of traffic as soon as the light turned green!

What a nice change of pace. I just wish I could give this stranger a shout out by name. I also wish people would do good deeds all year round, not just at Christmas time.

I for one try to help when I can. Ergo giving my cousin that ride. I’m not doing it because it’s December, I’m not doing it for #Lighttheworld, I’m doing it because he’s family and he needs rides. This isn’t a December thing and I won’t stop once December is over.

I’ll keep giving him and my sister-in-law rides year-round. Just like I offer the local sister missionaries rides. Giving people rides is something I can do, and I will do it no matter what time of year it is.

Like back in January or February when I was leaving my friend’s house as a woman walking past and she asked me if there was a bus stop along that road.

“Um, not that I know of, but I don’t live on this street.”

She thanked me and kept walking, as I got in my car all I could think about was the Winco bags she had, and the fact she couldn’t be all that close to home if she was asking about the bus, and about how cold it was. I got in my car, caught up with her, and offered her a ride.

Turns out she was clear across town from where she lived. It would have taken her hours to walk that far. I’m glad I offered her a ride.

On the converse, I’m appreciative of all the people who were so willing to give me rides when I was without a car for two years. The list is so long I’m sure I couldn’t name them all, but I’m going to try.

We can start with Dan Clark who dropped everything to come pick up me and my sister-in-law the night of the accident, and Jessica Baxter who hurried over to watch his boys so he could do so! And of course, to Jessica again for all the rides she willingly gave me over the time I was without a car, thanks so much.

Others who gave me rides were Sister Moore, Danie Renee Corral, several members of the Burgoyne family, the Bishop, Brother and Sister Henry, Brother and Sister Wardrip, and Sister Buckley, and then some, but that doesn’t cover all the people who gave me rides years ago when Tom had the car or that one time when our car was in the shop.

So, I have to give shout-outs to the likes of Sister Harmon, Ann Loveland, and several other sisters from my old ward (congregation) who gave me lifts when I needed them. Most importantly, I want to acknowledge Ann Loveland, who out of the blue called me saying she got to thinking about me stuck at home all day without a car (knowing that unlike her and her husband, we only had one vehicle) and offered to give me rides to town, since she went into town every Monday thru Friday afternoon.

She had no way of knowing our car had just gone into the shop, and while Tom had a ride to and from work, we had no way to get to the store, or that I had been praying for a way to get to the store. Her offer was a Godsend and an answer to my prayers.

But I know other people who are so in tune with the Holy Spirit that they are just there when you need them most.

Julia Rasmussen is another one. She seems to always be the first to know when someone needs help and she’s there to offer whatever service she can. She’s more than a friend, she’s a true servant of the Lord. I’m thankful for all these people in my life, and so many more, I know I haven’t named them all. I doubt I could remember all the names of people who have given me rides over the years.

Then again, I don’t even know the names of some of the people I’ve given rides to over the years. It wasn’t important.

What is important is sharing that light.

Happy writing everyone. And Merry Christmas!

Random Acts and Other Nice Things by Konnie Enos

I’m sure, like me, you’ve heard of “paying it forward” or “random acts of kindness”. I had wanted to get involved in these actions somehow but beyond offering strangers a ride, I was at a loss. I actually prayed to be able to see such a random, kind act.

Then this past September while visiting Bonnie, we went to her local warehouse store together. She’d forgotten to pick up fresh spinach on her last trip and I wanted to get me some Greek yogurt. Something I eat nearly every day and my sister doesn’t buy.

We both took out one of those scooters for handicapped customers. (Bonnie is under doctor’s orders and I have arthritis in my back.) She led the way through the store, with me following. Neither one of us got much.

When we got in line at the cash register, the cashier was ringing up one customer and another was patiently awaiting her turn. When the cashier got to the patient customer, I could see the two of them talking but couldn’t hear them. I don’t think Bonnie was even paying attention to them.

Then Bonnie got to the cashier. Before Bonnie could attempt to pay, the cashier swung the card reader around so Bonnie could not access it. She then pulled a twenty out of her hand and opened the till, using the twenty to pay for Bonnies stuff, and getting the change. Bonnie’s confused about what is going on as she accepts her receipt.

Without turning the card reader back, the cashier rang me up, paid with the money still in her hand, then handed me my receipt with the remaining change. She told me the lady in front of us had given the cashier money to cover our purchases and the change was ours.

So now I’ve not only seen such a random act of kindness, I’ve been the recipient of one. I assumed this was the answer to my prayers.

Then this past Monday I realized I needed to get more dog food and I was already so low on funds I was counting pennies, plus I hadn’t gotten everything we needed for our Thanksgiving dinner yet. Before I had the opportunity to check how much I had left, my daughter pointed out we were also low on laundry soap. I personally checked the soap hoping we had enough to muddle it until payday. (Mind you, payday is this Friday.)

We had less laundry soap than we did dog food and the dog food was not waiting that long.

I was on Facebook so before I got off I posted something about being at the tail end of our money and needing both laundry soap and dog food, which wasn’t going to wait until Friday.

At which point I got off Facebook, checked for exactly how much money I had left, and then went to get both items from the store along with what we needed for Thanksgiving, praying what I did have would cover everything. It did.

I then proceeded to relax and didn’t return to Facebook or even remember what I’d posted though not long after I returned home my husband came in with two store grocery bags. One had laundry soap in it and the other a small bag of dog food. (We buy fifty-pound bags because we have six dogs so the no more than ten-pound bag wasn’t much in comparison.)

We spent some time trying to figure out why someone would leave that on our porch and wondering if they dropped it at the wrong house.

Then Jerry got on Facebook. Eventually, he asked me if I remembered what I’d posted that morning. I had not, but I quickly got back online and checked. The two people who’d commented on my post could not have dropped off the packages. One lives in Idaho and the other doesn’t have a car or any idea where I live, exactly. I’m assuming one of my local Facebook friends, who does have a car and knows where I live, dropped them off, but didn’t comment on my post. So second act of kindness.

In the spirit of kindness and with December upon us, I’d like to invite all our readers to join in with our churches Light the World campaign again this year. Find a way to do random acts of kindness throughout the season.

May you have lots to be thankful for and have a peaceful holiday season. Remember the reason for the season. And Ben, have a happy birthday.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Save the Cat and other issues by Bonnie Le Hamilton

Okay, NaNo isn’t going so well for me. My story stalled out. And I'm debating how to fix it.

In other news, I just spent an entire week on my duff, thanks to my cat, and I still didn’t manage to do things that I could have done while sitting there, like write or even crafts, and I have some friends who are expecting. I’ve been trying to knit a baby blanket and one whole week of no knitting isn’t helping just as much as one whole week of no writing.

As for why I was laid up, well, see, Patches, my dang cat, likes to run through and around my feet while I’m trying to walk. Folks, I can’t see my feet! Not when I’m standing, ergo, I can’t see Patches when he does that. I tripped over him and injured the ligament in my knee.

Since then, instead of trying to miss him (which is how I injured my knee) I step on him. Hopefully, eventually, he’ll learn to steer clear of my moving feet. Though so far, I’ve stepped on him several times and he’s still scampering around my feet. 

Now to the problems with my story.

I think I’ve started in the wrong place. Then again, I’m not sure what I should do after a certain point in the story that is in my head, but not on my computer screen yet, which is the major problem, what happens next?

At this rate my story will fall into my pile of my “started but not finished” stories. I already have too many of those. Some could get somewhere, if I would just work on them, others stalled out because it just wasn’t working,

This one could work if I could figure out how to finagle it. Or at least I think it will work.

Then again, most of my stories that fizzled out unfinished, did so because it was starting to sound like a soap opera to me. And that isn’t a good thing in my opinion. I consider it sounding like a soap opera when it becomes too contrived or forced, or far-fetched.

You know, like a soap opera.

Can you tell I don’t watch those things?

I used to, many eons ago, until I realized their storylines were contrived, forced, or so way out there they were ridiculous. And I really want to avoid that with my writing. Such writing is a copout. It’s lazy.

Writing should be fresh and exciting.

Right now, I need help with that.

And I need to start with where I start this story.

I want to start it at the inciting moment, but the “Save the Cat” method says to start with their normal life before the inciting moment. Dang, I don’t want to start there!

Maybe that’s my problem, I do not want to start before they meet, I want to start where they get thrown together!

Maybe that’s my problem. I had said I was going to try the “Save the Cat” method, but I generally start at the inciting moment rather than introduce the main characters in their normal life before going into the inciting moment.

Off the top of my head I can think of like two stories I have where I show the “normal” life of my main characters before I have them meet or the inciting moment. Most of my stories start at the inciting moment. I mean really, start where the action is!

As far as I’m concerned anything before the inciting moment is backstory, very rarely do I consider any part before that point as a necessary detail of the story. I make all that backstory.

So maybe my problem right now is that the method I wanted to try and use this time around wants me to do something I don’t want to do.

I think I should start again, and begin with the inciting moment.

I’ve had good luck that.

Konnie’s favorite opening line is one I wrote (yeah, I haven’t finished that story; it kind of went off the rails – as in too long) but it starts at the inciting moment. She was talking about her favorite opening line to someone at the writer’s conference we attended. When she mentioned my story, I had to point out it wasn’t even finished yet, let alone published.

Most people pick an opening line from something published, but no, Konnie had to pick one of my stories!

Anyway, I’m going to try writing from the inciting moment forward, and see how that goes for me.

Happy writing everyone!

PS. Happy birthday next week, Ben. 

Sleep-Deprived, Again by Konnie Enos

So much for the best-laid plans.

Monday, being a holiday, my plans were to run just two needed errands and spend the rest of the day doing things like finances (I had to make sure we still had grocery money).

First issue. As I was getting dressed Sunday morning, I realized I no longer had any clean pants. I realize our weather here isn’t nail-biting, but when the sun is down the temps have been dipping into the 40’s. I haven’t been wearing my shorts or sandals to avoid being cold. So having no clean pants meant I needed to do laundry. I saw no reason to do said laundry on Sunday, as I wouldn’t be needing pants until sometime Monday.

This led to the second issue. I kid you not; every single one of my family members except my youngest son was desperate to get laundry done on Monday. Our washer was full from at least 8 a.m. until well, Tuesday. The only time it wasn’t running was when we were waiting for the dryer to finish so we could empty it. In order of desperation, my clothes didn’t even get into the washer until about 10 p.m. and it was after 11:30 before they got out of the dryer.

Of course, this means I can’t get dressed which means I can’t run any errands. Which I really had no issue with. We could manage one more day without going to the store. The problem was my son needed something bought for him BEFORE 5 a.m. Tuesday. This was extremely important. Needless to say, I had to get dressed and dash to the store in the middle of the night.

Problem. Our local Wal-Mart is no longer open 24/7. By the time I got to the store, they weren’t admitting any new customers because they would be closing in a minute. This required me to go home and get back on my computer long enough to find the location of the nearest Wal-Mart that was open 24/7. Oh, joy! In this large metropolitan area there are exactly two Wal-Marts open. Do you want to know where they are? Both of them at opposite ends of the same road clear at the south end of town, at least a 20 to 30-minute drive without traffic. The only good part was there was no traffic at one in the morning.

So I drive to the one I actually know where it’s at and quickly locate the one item I needed. I took the time to search for two other things I could use; finding only one of them (they were out of the other) then went in search of a line.

Mind you, I have exactly two items.

This Wal-Mart appears to have only a few cash registers. Then I realize that only three or four of them aren’t the self-scan ones and they have only one cashier working. It is, of course, an express lane.

No problem, I only have two items.

Problem.

The gentlemen already at the register have about THREE cartfuls of groceries. Obviously too much to take through self-scan and this is the only cashier working. Wonderful. I guess I’m waiting and waiting. I was in line longer at least twice as long as it took me to find my items. Which is actually par for the course for Wal-Mart.

By now, it is after 2 a.m. and I still need to get home. Fortunately, still no traffic. I was home by 3 a.m. but it took me a while to wind down enough to actually sleep, and I had an 8 a.m. appointment. Yeah, I spent most of yesterday in a stupor with a sleep-deprived headache or actually crashed out.

When did I remember that today was Wednesday and I had a post to get up?

I’m actually not sure. I do know it was sometime after everyone in the house had gone to bed and I had in fact been in bed and asleep for a while. I roused enough to think, “Wait a minute, I have a post to write. Too tired.” Then I promptly went back to sleep.

I also know I woke up to use the bathroom about 3:30 but was still too tired to keep my eyes open or otherwise think.

Thankfully, by the time my alarm went off this morning, I was cognizant enough to open word and start typing. I am totally too old for this staying up all night and still functioning the next day.

How is everyone else doing? For those Nano writers, are you meeting your goals?

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

National Novel Writer's by Bonnie Le Hamilton

November is here and all around the world writers everywhere are participating in the challenge to write 50,000 words this month. I have been doing this challenge since 2003, and I usually win, but now I have a few other responsibilities taking up some of my time, so we’ll see how well I do this year.

So far, I have just barely over 5,000 words. (My sister-in-law ended up in the hospital early Saturday morning.) How are you doing? What is your Nano sign-in? Let me know, I’ll friend you. My sign-in is FaithfullSpirit2 (and yes that is how it is spelled).

I’m an old pro at this, so I’d like to give you some simple advice for the month.

First, pay attention to your sleep schedule. You can’t write when you are yawning. And dozing off is even worse for writing. (Think falling asleep on the keyboard – the keys will move, but it won’t make any sense!)

Second, don’t skip meals. They say kids need a good breakfast because they can’t learn if they’re hungry, well, a writer can’t think with a growling stomach. So, remember to eat. This is why I’m glad all our local write-ins include at least snacks.

Third, don’t tie yourself down to an outline, maybe your muse wants to go another way. Let it. You never know, it might be a better choice, and you won’t know until you write it. Another thing is if you stick with the outline against your muse, you are letting your inner editor out. Just go with the flow, you can fix it later. This challenge is more like a month-long stream of thought. Besides, you can’t fix a blank page. 😊

Four, make sure your family knows what you are trying to do. Advertise this to everyone who may or may not interrupt you during the month, and lay down the law, “No interruptions while I’m writing!”
Though I do know some people can’t say that, while others wouldn’t understand. Children being chief among them. I don’t have that problem, but Konnie still does, even though all her children are all now legally adults, only one of them is actually out of the house.

As Konnie has often mentioned, she has a hard time doing anything on her computer because of interruptions from her family. I didn’t have much of a problem when my husband was alive. He only interrupted when I needed to be going somewhere or it was time to eat. Something I miss a lot, especially when he used to get my attention that it was time to eat by placing food between me and my computer. A whole lot easier than having to drag myself away from my computer long enough to make something to eat.

And I’ve heard of a writer who changed his voicemail message to say something on the lines of, “I’m writing right now, but leave a message at the tone and I will get back to you as soon as I take a break.”

Which might be a good idea for anyone who gets a lot of calls. Also, turn your ringer off while you’re at the computer. Again, that is something I don’t have to do, I don’t get that many calls, as in hardly ever. Even less since I discovered I can block calls from unknown numbers. Now I’m not getting any robocalls.

Fifth, remember first drafts are awful. They usually stink. But as I said before, you can’t fix a blank page. That is what this challenge is all about, filling the page so you can later go back and fix it. There is a time and place for editing, and a time and place to just write. November is when we just write, don’t worry about the mistakes, just write.

Though I know that last one is easier said than done. I find myself rereading what I wrote the day before, and end up having to add and delete words, correct spelling, and fix unclear sentences. Most of that is grammar, which I wasn’t paying attention to the day before. But that also means I do let my inner editor out for a few minutes every day. I’ve tried not to, but I can’t help it.

I make mistakes all the time, and when I see them, I can’t go on until they are fixed. Don’t know why; that is just how I am.

Sixth, don’t ever accept what others say is the way to write as law. No two people are alike, no two people have the same style. Go ahead and try it, if you wish, but in the end, it’s your choice as to whether it works or not.

Happy writing, everyone!

Small World by Konnie Enos

I recently read a friend's post where they mentioned something about proving it's a small world. That’s easy.

I grew up in Pocatello, Idaho. (Pocky to residents.) It isn’t a big city.

We moved away from Pocky about 1977. Then in 1987, I decided to serve a mission for my church. I spent the first month in Utah for training.

A week after I’d arrived at the training center I met a girl who’d just arrived. I got into a conversation with her and learned she was from Pocky. No, she didn’t know me, or my sister.

She did, however, know another sister from Pocky was already in the mission I was going to. I mentioned once going to school with a boy with the same last name. I mentioned his first name and the school we attended. Turns out his little sister was the one serving in my mission.

Another day an older gentleman approached my companion and I, asking if one of us was a Westover.

Of course, I was.

He asked if I knew a Harold Westover.

Fortunately, I knew my Grandpa’s full name, which I told this gentleman while explaining he was my grandfather.  

He told me his mother was one of Great-Grandpa Westover’s sisters.

Another thing I ran into both in training and the mission field, at least three times, was people (also serving a mission) who were from the Pocky “area”.

Inevitably, we had the following conversation after I told them I’d grown up in Pocky.

Me: “Where about in Pocky do you live?”

Them: “Out past Chubbuck.”

Chubbuck is a small town adjacent to Pocky.

Me: “Where past Chubbuck?”

Them: “Past Tyhee Road.”

Anything past Tyhee Road is the reservation but they allow whites to live there.

Me: “How far past Tyhee?”

Them: “Ballard Road.”

They always lived on Ballard Road. The same road my mother’s parents lived on. Yes, they always knew my family.  

After I’d been in the mission field for a few months, they moved me to be companions with my old classmate’s sister. I told her I knew her brother. She wrote him and he remembered us. (Easy to do when they come in a pair.)

Now my companion would often talk about one of her former companions while she’d been in the training center. She only mentioned her last name but was always talking about this young lady knowing everyone, everywhere they went because she’d been a music major at BYU.

One day, the bishop’s wife was giving us a ride somewhere and my companion was telling her about her music major previous companion. This time my companion gave the young ladies first and last name.

I jumped. "I know her!"

My companion: "Everybody knows her."

"Yeah, but not everybody was Sugar-Salem High class ‘82." Yes, she remembered us.

Then, on my companion’s last day in that area, a friend of hers who'd served his mission in Pocky was passing through with his wife. The four of us went out to lunch.

All I knew about them was he was from Virginia and had served in Pocky, and she was from the Pocky “area”.

While this young man and my companion reminisced about his mission, I talked with his wife. Yes, I had the exact same results. I decided Ballard Road was longer than I thought.

I can name other events like this, but I think the funniest happened around the time I moved to my house.

One of the first people I meet at our local church meetings was a lady who, for some unexplainable reason, always had me envisioning a young woman in a cowgirl outfit, prancing by on a beautiful horse.

I asked her where she grew up and places she’d lived. No, I’ve never been to any of them. I could not figure it out.

Then one day, a couple of years after we met, my husband, and I were in her home and somehow the conversation got around to the Bicentennial. (Yes, the three of us are all old enough to remember it.)

This lady proceeded to tell us her Bicentennial story. She was spending some time visiting family. Her aunt, uncle, and cousins had entered their horses in the parade but had ended up one rider short. She was happy to help her family.

Of course, every city and town had parades, but the one she rode is was– you guessed it, Pocky’s.

Where was I for the Bicentennial parade in my hometown?

Watching the parade!

I’m positive I saw her prancing by.

Small world.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

NaNo Prep by Bonnie Le Hamilton

We have all heard the saying about the best-laid plans. We all know something will go wrong, so why do we bother making them? I had a plan for when I would work on my post, last Saturday – didn’t work. Other things got in the way. Unfortunately, I also didn’t work on it Sunday or Monday. Tuesday, I was going to work on it in the morning, before I went to work at the book scanning center – well that didn’t work.

I’d like to say that things that got in the way were important also, but most of the time, what happened was my ADD. I can honestly say that on Sunday, instead of working on my post, I did some brainstorming with Konnie about my hopeful NaNo project. Whereas yesterday morning, I didn’t get anything done because my brain refused to settle down and concentrate.

Last night I was going to work on it, right up until I realized my ADD made me forget to put my yogurt back in the fridge yesterday morning. Meaning I had to make a quick run to the store, and by the time I got back, I had a fatigue headache. I went to bed and now I am frantically writing hoping I have enough time before I need to get this up.

All I can say is, if this keeps up, I’m going to have a really tough time with NaNo this year. I do know, I’ll be able to take my computer with me and work on my writing while I’m volunteering at the Pocatello Visitor’s Center. The thing is, that’s only three hours a week, and I most certainly can’t do the same for the eight hours a week I work at the book scanning center since I am there to help with the work, not do my own thing.

And yeah, I know plenty of people have full-time jobs and or are students and still manage to complete the NaNo challenge. I actually applaud all such writers, but I have never before had to worry about finding enough time to write! This will be my first year where I have to work my writing time around work. Yeah, I know it isn’t even twelve hours a week, and three of those, I can work on my novel, except when someone comes into the center.

Of course, there is also all the time I spend with my sister-in-law and all the other club meetings I attend. Then again, two of my clubs are writing clubs, so I don’t really have a problem there, they’d clearly understand. The other one is the knitting group, and my sister-in-law attends that with me. Since she doesn’t participate in NaNo, I’m not sure she’ll understand that I might not be up to attending during November.

Then again, she knows I write, and about NaNo, so maybe she will.

But all in all, I think I finally have an understanding of what Konnie goes through, and frankly every other person with more on their plate than I usually have, when it comes to finding writing time.
In the past, my problem was always just balancing my time between writing and chores. This is clearly a lot harder when I’ve promised some of my time to other people. And the hardest part is the biggest chunk of my time I no longer have for writing I promised not to other people but to my Savior. My work at the book scanning center is my service mission for my church. As I said, I can write at the visitor’s center, and everything else is just stuff I’d like to do, but don’t have to, except taking my sister-in-law to her appointments.

And that’s something I’ve had to deal with for several years now, except the years I didn’t have a car.
I have a car now.

Actually, having a car now is why I’m so busy, and having a cat again is why I’m so far behind on my chores, because he’s an active kitten, and he’s knocked things down or tore apart bags which had other things in it, scattering those other things all over the house.

Yeah, my house is a mess, and I’m not sure I’m going to have time to deal with all of this before November, which I’d really like to do, so I didn’t have to worry about it during NaNo. Then again, I’ll still have to do dishes, feed the cat, clean the litter box, and pay my bills.

Life goes on, but at least I do have an inkling of an idea for NaNo now!

How about you? What are you doing for NaNo?

Happy writing everyone!

Sleepy Babblings by Konnie Enos

I spent so much of the last three days reading and editing my sister’s current WIP that, though I had ideas for it, I didn’t set down to write my post until after ten last night.

I wasn’t worried about the hour because I felt I could get something typed and scheduled before I fell asleep, probably around midnight. However, as usual, the best-laid plans go awry.

I was never able to type even one letter for my blog before one of my children requested my attention. The issue was sufficient that I was awake with said child until three. I was unable to do any typing during this time.

When I was finally able to return to my room and bed, I decided it was better I attempt to get at least some sleep before I attempt to write my blog. I also remembered family members, me included, have appointments this morning so I had to do my blog sooner than later.

Therefore, I find myself attempting to produce something that is coherent and succinct with only a few hours’ sleep. This is not an easy task.

It’s hard to think when you have a pounding, I need sleep, headache, in a dark room with someone curled up next to you snoring.

So all my ideas about the season and or the passing years have gone out the window due to my tired brain and body. I can do little beyond remember today is my niece’s birthday and that Friday is my oldest child’s birthday.

Any attempts to wax nostalgic about my niece arriving a full nine weeks early (Yes, she was once a very tiny preemie) and two days before my daughter, who was full-term are lost in my sleep-addled brain. (By the way, Happy Birthday to Michelle and Clarissa.)

Considering October is now half over, I’m sure everyone reading this has things to do in order to prepare for the coming holidays or major events you have in the next three months.

So go fix those costumes, prepare your treats, make shopping lists for groceries and gifts, or outline that fantastic story you’re going to write in Nano, I’m finished prattling.

Goodnight one and all.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

NaNo Prep by Bonnie Le Hamilton

National Novel Writer’s month is less than a month away and I’m still editing. I wanted to be done with this round long before now, so I could prepare for NaNo. The problem is, I lost my manuscript. By some accident, which I still haven’t figured out, I lost what was the most up-to-date version of my WIP.

That isn’t to say I lost it entirely. I’d sent a version to Konnie. The trouble was I’d started edits and tweaks before she sent it back with her critique. I was to chapter sixteen with those changes when I lost it. So, I had to start all over, using a copy of her critique as my WIP, fixing, then deleting her comments.

Now I’m to chapter twenty-one out of thirty. Though I’d really like to be thinking about what I will write next month.

On top of that, I now have a copy of “Save the Cat Writes a Novel” and I got lesson in this method of outlining at the writer’s conference Konnie and I recently attended; I’d really like a chance to study it some more and possibly utilize it this year, if I have time.

But, as always, time isn’t on my side. I’ve had one issue after another the last couple of weeks, that has me way behind on all household chores, and every time I try to catch up, something else happens to put me behind, again.

I must prioritize, just like any other writer. Are the chores more important than writing? Not really, I need clean dishes and clothes. But other things can wait a little longer, I guess.

The big problem is that it is October, and I was going to make Christmas presents this year. Well, the time is gone, I doubt I have time anymore. I can try, but well, what is more important? NaNo or Christmas.

To me both are important. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, particularly because it celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. (For those of you don’t know, I have a rather large collection of Nativities. Way more than I have Eagles and flags, but Independence Day is my second favorite holiday. Eagles, flags, red, white, and blue, and over a hundred Nativities describe my front room.)

And, well, NaNo is writing; writing is my life. That is who I am. I’ve failed to win just two NaNo’s in all the times I’ve done it, and one of those I just had technical problems and didn’t get my win certified. The other time was the year I ended up with a concussion, and couldn’t finish. Needless to say, from the time I heard about NaNo over a decade ago until now, I have always participated, and generally finished.

How do I prioritize things that mean so much to me?

Writing is my life; Christmas is the bedrock of my religion. Family – roots are part of my religion too. Choosing isn’t easy.

I also have the added challenge this year that I am volunteering four hours a week at the local visitor’s center and another eight hours a week is dedicated to my service mission call for my church. Meaning I have fewer hours to write this year than I’ve had in years past, but those things are important too. And I did give my word I would do them.

What sort of things seem to be standing in your way of writing?

I know for a lot of people, Konnie included, it would be scheduling time. Though with Konnie, even if she scheduled time, her family would interrupt. I’m sure she enjoyed all the time she got for writing when she here visiting me.

However, I was surprised the time I came back from my mission service and found she had my TV on. Konnie doesn’t watch a lot of TV, as in hardly ever. I observed her concentrating more on her computer screen than the TV. “Why do you have the TV on?”

“It was too quiet.”

Okay, that’s funny. Konnie is always complaining about all the noise at her house, and how it makes it hard to get any writing done, then when she’s here, she has to turn on the TV to have some noise!
Me? I generally can’t write with the TV on; I’m used to quiet. I actually find I can’t get any writing done while at her place because it's too noisy and busy. It’s useless for me to even try. So, it really is funny that for Konnie to get any writing done at my place, she has to turn on the TV!

Our lives are so different.

Anyway, what are your best tips for getting your writing done or participating in NaNo?

Happy writing everyone!

Schedules and Stress by Konnie Enos

It’s Wednesday morning again and I haven’t written my post yet. I don’t have any ideas to write, and I can only blame it on my poor planning.

Some months ago, I learned about a writer’s conference in Idaho Falls, Idaho. At the time, being stressed at home, I felt this was the perfect excuse for me to get away.

I bought the ticket and booked my flight.

I told my sister so she could expect me and go to the conference with me.

I didn’t concern myself with how long I’d be gone or that it was over my daughter’s birthday. I didn’t even worry about the fact I’d be gone the last ten days of the month. (I wanted to see family too.)

I planned for my daughter’s birthday and made sure family members knew where I’d hidden her gift.

I figured I’d be home for the first of the month madness of getting bills and such taken care of.

I told my family, multiple times, how long I’d be gone.

Things didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped.

While I was gone, multiple family members were asking each other when I was due back. Apparently, they couldn’t remember I’d told them when I was returning. In addition, before I even got back several family members were asking me about the family schedules for this month. Information I did not have yet. Not one of them, all adults, had given me their personal schedules for October. Leaving me with no clue on who needed to be where when.

They’ve also asked me, more than once, how much money we have left and when am I going to the store. How am I supposed to know if I haven’t been home and haven’t done the grocery shopping for the last ten days? I still have to figure out how much money my daughter spent and if we have anything left. (I’m sure I do because said daughter is good with money.)

I also haven’t done this month’s budget yet, because you know, not home for ten days right at the end of the month.

So far, I’ve managed to get one daughter’s schedule, thus far, for the month. A schedule that included two appointments yesterday. So instead of sitting at home on my computer figuring out our budget or writing my post, I was driving her around.

I also found out I have multiple calls to make. I have to reschedule an appointment because of conflicts. I have to call one company about our service because of issues and I need to call at least one healthcare provider to make appointments. I’m also sure there’s something else needing done which I’m forgetting.

Then there is also the monthly issue of getting our bills paid and doing our monthly major shopping trips. All of which I still have to figure everything out. I haven’t even made a shopping list yet.

I’ve managed to go through the stack of mail that had piled up as I was gone which, apparently, my husband had gathered and just set aside without looking at anything beyond the two appointment reminder cards he’d received. This is when I learned he hadn’t even read who the mail was too. One of the articles received was for our neighbor (i.e.: miss-delivered). Two were for our youngest son. One of which was his new debit card which he needed because his old one expired.

He came into me rattled because he hadn’t received it yet and his old one was already expired. Luckily, I’d already gone through the mail by then and knew he had some, one of which could easily be his card. Yes, it was there, and my son had panicked over its absence for well over a week because nobody bothered to actually read the mail.

Now I have to spend the next few days updating our financial information, paying bills, and figuring out what we can and cannot cover this month.

On top of that, it’s already October. Leaving me with less than two months to get the rest of my Christmas shopping done. (I prefer to be done before Thanksgiving so I can relax for the holidays.) I’m behind because I simply can’t think of appropriate gifts for some family members. Men can be so hard to shop for. Yes, most of the gifts I still need to buy are for the males in my family including my son-in-law.

So, taking that trip to relieve some stress only made things at home well, more stressful. Are we having fun yet?

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Of Nano and Conference by Bonnie Le Hamiton

National Novel Writer’s month (Nano for short) is coming, as it does every November, but well, this past weekend I attended my writing group's monthly meeting and the discussion was on, “What are you going to write this Nano?”

Yikes!

I’ve been so focused on editing my one novel that I haven’t written much of anything all year beyond my blog posts. I most certainly haven’t been thinking about what I will write, so I have no idea.
But let’s face it, for the Nano’s I’ve participated in, I’ve had an outline a whopping total of one time. And I’ve only known what I was going to write in advance maybe five other times beyond that.
More often than not I’ve headed into the first of November with no plan, and no story idea. Though I have to admit, since I generally write romance, that is what I was thinking I’d write when I started the month.

That is what I wrote those times. The only time I didn’t write romance was the time I used an outline, so maybe I should try outlines more often and branch out on what genres I write.
For me, romance is easy. Anything else is hard, so I’d need an outline for something in the sci-fi field. I did have an outline, not much of one, but I did have one. Not enough to finish that story, but it was start. I need to finish it.

Maybe I should work on that again.

But I have other story ideas, one that has been popping into my head once in a while. I just don’t think there is enough there to make a good story, not a novel anyway. And I’m not sure of motivation or anything on the part of the characters. I just plain don’t think that one will work, so I haven’t fleshed it out in my mind let alone on paper – or rather computer screen.

I only have a vague idea about what happens next on my sci-fi, and I know I still have some fleshing out to do on what I already have to make it a complete story. So, I need to work on that. I need to be more organized and work on my writing with more consistency than I have been.

Have you ever found yourself so busy writing has taken a backseat for you? Or do you consider editing just another part of writing? I have been doing a lot of that, just not consistently.

I haven’t been doing anything with a whole lot of consistency.

That’s probably my biggest problem.

But then I’ve discussed that before. I get distracted easily. Too easily sometimes.

Then there is Konnie. When she’s home, she has a hard time finding time to write, but her distractions come in the form of a husband and four kids still living in the home. Needless to say, I don’t have that problem.

My distractions come in the form of one small kitten who likes to play and a sister-in-law who needs rides once in a while. Then there are my writing groups, the knitting group, and my volunteer work. Yeah, I’m busy.

This week is even more so because Konnie is up visiting me and she, of course, would like to visit some of our family in the area if she can while she’s here. On top of that, we have a writer’s conference to attend this weekend. (Which is why she’s here in the first place.)

Though that has already led to some interesting interactions.

Sunday at church, I spotted the young daughter of a friend of mine, right as the girl noticed my sister, not me. She smiled and started toward her, then stopped and frowned in confusion, then I got her attention and the poor girl was shocked. She is learning delayed and still very young, so I can imagine she had a hard time with the idea that there are two of us.

Another lady from church walked right up to us and started to say, “Now which −”

I smiled and said hello, calling her by name.

“Well, that answers my question!”

Everyone, of course, noted that the person sitting next to me looks just like me. They would have to be blind not to notice that.

We got a lot of people staring at us at the airport when I picked her up too. This will continue the whole time she’s here. This conference should be fun!

Anyway, have you ever been to a conference? This will be a first for both Konnie and me.

And do you participate in Nano? Will you be participating this year? If so, do you know what you are going to write?

Well, happy writing, or editing everyone!

Life on the Spectrum by Konnie Enos

Not long ago I bought a case of spam and it was sitting on my kitchen table waiting to be put away. My youngest looked at it. “That’s going to annoy me.”

“What?” He simply pointed at the case so I examined it. Most of the cans had been arranged in the same way, making a clear pattern with the tabs. A few broke the pattern. “Oh. Yes, that would be annoying.”

More recently, I walked into the kitchen and found him making not one, not even two, but four hash brown patties. His reason? “I’m only having these and two just wasn’t enough.”

No, he did not consider having three. You see three is an odd number. Four is even.

See, for my dear son, things must follow the established pattern and things MUST come in packages of even numbers.

This is why he always cooks four hamburgers (he usually only eats two, two are for my husband and me) or makes two sandwiches. It must always be even.

Yet another incident. I was trying to pack my nebulizer with several individual vails of medicine. I told my son which bag he could dig some vails from. He handed me a fistful. I counted what I had and decided I should have at least seven more.

Son reached into the bag two more times, getting a few each time. I counted them as he handed them to me but I saw no obvious efforts on his part to count them. I told him how many more we needed as he pulled exactly that number out of the bag.

“I know that.”

“You’ve been counting?

He thought that was obvious.

I’ve lived with him for eighteen years and I’m just now beginning to realize his reliance on numbers and patterns, but it’s clear they are important to him in his everyday actions.

On top of that, he has an obsessive need to talk to someone about the shows he likes to watch, to the point of spoiling the story for anyone listening.

I know a great deal about all his favorite shows, which I’ve never watched because I’m his favorite sounding board. Probably because I’ll actually listen to him.

My son is also obsessed with technology.

I’m sure he knows more about computers than anyone else in the family. Something that is helpful to at least his senior citizen dad who has never quite gotten the hang of it. My husband is always asking our son for help doing something on his computer or phone.

It’s commonplace to hear my husband asking for help by saying, “Show me how to do this again.” He also regularly needs help with his passwords. I think our son knows my husband’s passwords better than my husband does.

My son has noted that, though my husband and I are the same age, I rarely need his assistance.

Another fun thing about my son is his need to show all his gadgets to strangers and talk incessantly with them. Someone comes into our house and he’s showing them all his tech and survivor gear and talking about his obscure bits of knowledge.

Not long ago he got upset with me because I told him to ‘leave us alone’ and ‘stop talking’. The gentleman my husband and I were talking to was here on business and I’m sure the conversation took twice as long as necessary because my son kept butting in with off the wall stuff he just had to share with someone.

Worse still, he has always had difficulty speaking in conversational tones. If you can get him to ‘whisper’, as he puts it, he won’t be giving you a headache just listening to him, but most of the time I have to remind him to talk quieter.

What I find both a bit laughable and really frustrating, is his insistence that he cannot read. It seems like a daily basis when he’s telling me he can’t read something, yet, on the same daily basis he’s on his computer and phone doing all sorts of things, all of which require him to read in order to do it.

Some days it’s kind of fun to watch his still childlike traits competing with his adult knowledge and skills. However, other days it’s unnerving to have someone so much bigger than I am reacting with such childhood innocence.

He is capable of taking care of himself, though now I have to convince him of that, my sweet, lovable oaf.

This is what it’s like living with a high functioning autistic young man. Of course, since no two people are alike, the autistic people you know may be completely different from my young man.

What stories do you have to tell?

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.