Some random thoughts on a snowy Monday

We had a great time this weekend — lots of visiting and catching up with people I don't get to see very often. My parents' 50th anniversary reception went very well and I think my folks really enjoyed it. My youngest sister-in-law put together an awesome scrapbook of our family's life -- very cool. And she's going to make another one that will include photos and memories from this weekend, as well as bringing the family history up to the present time. (I think she got through the 80s in the first one.)

Yesterday afternoon my daughter and two of my sons and I drove back home to Kansas. My husband called Julia's cell phone to tell us there were tornadoes in Kansas. Yes, in November. Not unheard of, but unusual. And now it's snowing. Yep, I'm back home in Kansas. Anyway, we did run into heavy rain with lightning and wind as we crossed Missouri, but we got home safely. The nice thing about driving with Julia is I get to discover new music. A few months ago she introduced me to Guster. Last night we were listening to a band that was new to me: Blue October (from Texas). I liked them -- very loud, very interesting music.

As for NaNoWriMo: I fear I will not reach 50,000 words by Wednesday at midnight. I've written almost 24,000 words, and I feel like that's a good start, but I just don't have the time and energy to crank out another 26,000 words in less than three days. I knew when I started that I had an awful lot going on this month. So I'll chalk this up to experience and keep working on it. I plan to finish it this winter, so I'm not quitting. And this puts me even more in awe of people who have reached their goal already. Big congrats to all you NaNo finishers!