Black Friday

I learned several things about Black Friday shopping. And as I was driving somewhere...don't remember where now...I thought "hey, I should share those with the people (um, if there are any. haha) who read my blog!

And now my brain is too shopping fried to remember. So maybe tomorrow.

Those of you who get up even earlier than I did (4am) to shop? You're crazy. I admire you, but you're crazy. 4 in the morning is crazy enough for me, thanks. =)

Happy napping!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone enjoyed your day. I hope you are thankful for something. I hope you ate lots of yummy food. =)

And I hope you got lots of rest if you're going to brave the Black Friday world tomorrow...

Neutral Territory

Okay, the title of this post sounds more like I'm talking about some kind of hard core warfare than how to love people more, but hey, that's what you get when you've got a very sleepy blog writer who tried to stop and get coffee this morning only to find out that the coffee shop where she tried to go does not open until 11am on Saturdays. Seriously?

I'm over it, though. Not bitter at all. Although I do think I'm going to go make myself a nice, hot shot or two of espresso when I'm done typing this.

Yesterday our church went on what is becoming sort of an annual camping trip. Now let me clarify before I keep going. I love the people in my church. Really, I do. But you know we could all do a better job loving each other and really getting to know each other. That's part of the reason I love this camping trip. When we're all sitting around a campfire eating dinner and marshmellows and smores...actually, eating anything, I'm not the pastor's wife. That person over there? She's not just the pianist. That man's not just an elder. My hubby is not just the pastor. We're all just people. We can let go of all the labels we've stuck on each other and just get to know each other as people. It's a very casual camping trip. No devotionals or anything like that. Just fellowship.

Do you have people in your life you'd like to get to know better? How can you do that? Are you a camper? (I'd recommend waiting till it's warmer, maybe. Our group about froze to death...those that didn't have heaters. Seriously? Heaters on a camping trip?) Do you like coffeeshops? Do you hit the stores on Black Friday every year? Think of a way you can get people you'd like to know better into "neutral territory." Not the church, not your house (I'm not knocking hospitality, there's just a different dynamic there).

Ideas, anyone?

Stories

We all have them. Stories are a part of our lives. As a writer, I love this concept. It's one of my favorites. I'm sitting at Starbucks right now--I know, terribly stereotypical of me--and on their winter coffee cup sleeve-thingy, it says:

Stories are gifts. Share.

It's true! They are gifts. Strange that Starbucks would be such an impact on my attitude about several things, but they have been. I knew there was a good reason, um, besides the awesome coffee, that I came here. Things I've been reminded of:

1. Stories are powerful tools to use to share the message of love, God's love specifically. While being a wife and mom is definitely my priority right now, I need to make more time for writing. I really believe this dream is not just from me.

2. We, the church, tend to be closed off from each other, at least here in America. I hear it's not like that as much in other places, but what do I know, I'm an American. In any case, we need to be willing to open up to each other and share our stories. We need to invest in one another's lives.

3. Stories can be hard to share. Whether you're a writer, or a person who has your own true story, sometimes they're hard to pass along. But (and you could technically count this as #4) stories really help people make decisions in their own lives.

Moral of the story? (Haha, that was totally on accident). We need stories. They're a vital part of our lives.

So read one.

Write one.

Tell one.

Share one.

Avoiding Burnout

We need a vacation.

I'm sure if you're reading this you're nodding. You do too. Don't we all? If only they didn't involve silly things like time off and money, right?

For those of you who haven't had a vacation in a while, how do you do it? Especially if you're one of my fellow pw's, how do you keep going and going and going and not just...burn out?

I'm open to suggestions. Meanwhile, I'm going to drink my coffee with hazelnut coffee creamer (usually I drink it black...I feel like this says a lot about my mood today) and hope that maybe it'll remind me enough of college and the mountains to qualify as a 'mini vacation.'

I'd love to hear your suggestions. Besides yummy coffee. =)

National Novel Writing Month

Ah, November. There's a chill in the air and people are drinking coffee, tea, apple cider and thinking about things like Thanksgiving...Christmas shopping...The end of the semester (if you're a teacher like me or have kids in school).

And writing a novel.

Yep, that's right (I actually typed *write* here at first..ahahahaha.) during this month hundreds of thousands of people, yeah, that's actually an accurate number. Crazy, right? Anyway, hundreds of thousands of people will try to write 50,000 words of a novel.

This month.

I've tried every year for the last couple years and haven't made it. But this could be the year. I can feel it.

Which also means you'll probably notice more frequent blog posts, because anyone who has ever written anything knows that writers are the best procrastinators ever when they're on a deadline.

Speaking of which, I should go see about that laundry...no, really, I need to go write. The baby is sleeping and my characters are calling (um, figuratively calling. I don't actually hear voices...Honest.)

So do you think you could write a book? Ever wanted to try? It's easier to do it in November when it doesn't feel so insane because 'everybody's doing it'.

If you're signed up for Nanowrimo already, let me know. We should be friends. =)