October 20, 2008 – Write From Karen

NaNoWriMo Starts in Twelve Days

October 20, 2008 Karen

Are you ready? I’m not, though I know what I’m going to write about. I haven’t had time to work on my outline, but I’m not panicking yet – I rarely follow an outline anyway.

I hate outlines in general. I find them way too stifling and when I get into a story, my characters tend to take my story away from me and it’s often more fun to just follow them and see where they take me. However, I do need to outline a prologue and perhaps the first two chapters. When I reach chapter two, I’ll most likely outline the next few chapters and so on. This is called the “headlight method” – because when you drive at night, your headlights only shine so far in front of you and you can only see so far in front of you before things go dark.

It’s the perfect analogy for the way I write.

I made an introductory NaNoWriMo video, if you’re interested in listening to me ramble on for five minutes.

In essence, I talk about my involvement with NaNo, show you my desk and the notebook I plan on putting a hard copy of my NaNo project in. Exciting stuff, no?? BUT, the husband has been experimenting with a video program, so I think I can talk him into jazzing future videos up – stay tuned.

In addition, Write Anything has their own forum on the NaNoWriMo servers. There’s been a lot of activity lately – people are getting excited about getting this challenge started. If you’re doing NaNo this year, you’re more than welcome to sign in and leave your thoughts.

I’d love to add you as a NaNoWriMo buddy. You can find my NaNo profile here. Add me so we can keep track of our progress!

And speaking of progress, I’ll be posting some cute potato head graphics to indicate how far along I am in the challenge. For those of you that have been reading this blog for a while, you’ll likely remember the potato head guy. 🙂

I’ll also be posting excerpts from my project every Tuesday. In addition, I’ll be posting excerpts from my 2006 project, Reality Check, every Thursday. (I don’t have a working title for my NaNoWriMo project this year yet).

Tick tock … only 12 days until we start! Are you ready?

Menu Plan Monday – October 20th

October 20, 2008October 20, 2008 Karen

It’s been a while since I participated in this meme. As you all know, I’m not exactly a big fan of cooking, but we have to eat so … here we are.

The husband and I have been watching The Food Network again. We go through stages where we feel the need to learn new recipes and try something new (okay, HE feels the need to try something new because he gets sick of the same old crap I cook every night and to keep the peace, I go along with him. *grin*)

We’ve been watching these shows specifically:

Everyday Italian (or as my husband calls it, Everyday Cleavage because the woman loves to show her girls off. But hey, she’s hot, so she’s entitled, I suppose). Her recipes are cool, but a bit too fancy for my tastes. She also likes her wine – the lush. *grin*

Paula’s Home Cooking – LOVELOVELOVE this woman. She is so bubbly and cute and I love when she has her husband and sons on to “help” her. We’ve actually seen quite a few Paula recipes we’d like to try.

Quick Fix Meals – this woman’s eyes FREAK ME OUT, (I think she thinks her eyes are too squinty so she over compensates by opening them really wide and she just looks like a serial killer when she does that), but her recipes are right up my alley – nutritious and fast.

(We try and watch Rachel Ray, but I find her extremely annoying in a most pesky way. I think it’s the voice?)

I’ll let ya’ll know if/when we try any of the recipes shown on these shows and how they turned out. It should be a regular I Love Lucy moment, let me tell you. 8)

Here’s our menu for this week:

Sunday: Chicken Fried Rice – I really couldn’t find a similar recipe on Cooks.com so I’ll just tell you that this is one of the stir fry recipes my husband cooks and it’s delish! He stir fries chicken, cubed carrots, scrambles a few eggs and rice together and we top it with soy sauce. It’s a family favorite. (Especially mine, because he cooks it. *grin*)

Monday: Tostadas

Tuesday: Ham & Potato Skillet (Substitute yogurt for the sour cream. You’ll never be able to taste the difference and it’s lower in fat).

Wednesday: Smothered Steak – I actually got this recipe from a gal I used to work with. You just brown top-round steak, then lower the heat to simmer. Pour two cans of tomato sauce and one can of stewed tomatoes on top of the meat and then add a green pepper and onion to the concoction about four hours into the cooking time (cook on simmer all day) and that’s it! It’s melt in your mouth tender and my guys love it. Don’t forget the yeast rolls!

Thursday: Chicken and Dumplings: This is a great meal this time of year; it takes the chill out of the chilly nights. We actually bought a steamer (which I had no idea how to use until the husband explained it to me – and you only THOUGHT I was kidding about my whole ‘I don’t cook unless I have to’ spiel) so I’ll most likely make carrots to go with the dumplings using the new steamer.

Friday and Saturday – we “go git.” It’s tradition. And I get cranky if I have to cook more than four times a week (Sunday is the husband’s turn to cook).

What’s on your menu this week? Do you have any recipes you MUST share with me? I’m specifically looking for recipes with ham in it. Suggestions?

Monday Morning Meme

Monday Morning Meme – October 20th

October 20, 2008October 21, 2008 Karen

All you have to do is answer the questions below either in the comment section, or on your blog. And elaborate! Make these questions show your unique and special personalities. This meme entry will post at 12:01 every Monday morning and will be the first postentry listed on WFK all day Monday. (This is an all-day Monday meme, so please, play all day!)

October 20th Questions:

1.What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have any funny/odd memories of the library?

2. What two things are at the top of your to-do list? When do you think you’ll get around to doing those things? How good are you at crossing things off your to-do list?

3. Where do you come in the family? Are you the oldest? Youngest? Only child? Or smack in the middle? How do you think this has affected the way you grew up? Would you agree with your birth order personality? Are you happy with your birth order, or do you wish you had been the oldest/youngest, etc.

4. If it wasn’t for ________ , I would ________.

Monday Morning Meme Participants

1. JHS
2. Jodi
3. Marianne

4. Thea @ I\’m a Drama Mama
5. Carolyn
6. Jen @ mommablogsalot

7. Dawn\’s Daily Life
8. Sue
9. Oregonsunshine