Like so many things with me, once I get past the hump of actually getting started on something, I tend to jump into it completely and, as much as possible, make the most of the moment.

Like spring cleaning, of the sort we did yesterday after continually putting it off for the past few weeks. It ended up being the equivalent of a good meditation session, clearing away the cobwebs that had built up in the corners of my mind and enabling me to take a closer look at some of the little things that tend to get missed in the crush. Like how great our apartment is; how nearly every single toy I picked up from the floor I could picture the kids playing with at some point; how a messy house makes for a messy mood, and a clean one exposes the silver lining.

Babe in the Woods, NaNoWriMo Word Count, Day 14: 11,509 (-11,829)

Squeezed out another 635 words last night before bed, officially bringing the first act to a close. I am now almost exactly one full week behind my word count which means I officially arrive at the Week 2 Wall - aka, where the hell is this story going? - today! Going to have to pull double-duty this week, with lunch sessions and a few late nights just to keep the gap from growing any larger, never mind reaching 35,007 words - the Week 3 goal - by Sunday.

In another sign of my finally sloughing off the poetry cloak I've wrapped myself in so tightly over the past seven years, I've removed myself from the last two poetry-related listserves I was involved in and have plans for attending only two readings before the end of the year: Nina's UPPERCASE at the end of the month, and Cristin's URBANA send-off at the end of next month. I might squeeze in an Acentos and a trip to Brooklyn for Ada Limon's Pete's Big Salmon series, but other than that, my poetry calendar will remain blissfully light.

Had an interesting discussion a week or so ago about friendships, and how the majority of my current ones are via my involvement in the poetry scene and, as such, not nearly as entrenched as those pre-dating adulthood. Partly as a result of moving around so often as a kid - several times not attending the school in my own neighborhood, resulting in completely separate groups of really close acquaintances - friendships have always been a rather fluid thing for me. Intensely loyal in the present tense, only a handful ever survive my transition from their place of origin.