Dear Online Journal,

I have not forgotten you. The sad fact is that most of my words have been poured into the masterpiece I am working on for National Novel Writing Month. Will this be the year I get 50,000 words by the end of the month? It's too early to tell. I have high hopes, but the busy part of my month hasn't begun yet.

Anyway, dearest journal, I just wanted to give you an update, so you wouldn't think Hurricane Sandy whisked me away. Nothing but a little rough wind and lots of rain to speak of.

Take care,

Bella

I made it through the first half of nanowrimo. Then I choked. I blame the needy people in my life. It seems like I am suddenly very much in demand when I already have other commitments.

I did get to spend Turkey Day with three other versions of me. I am not sure how my husband handled all that excitement. The female six year old me adores him as much as I do, so she tried her hardest to keep his focus on her as much as possible. She danced with him while he chatted with the male, older version of me chatted. She begged him to keep playing "knick knack" (tic-tac-toe) with her while we ate leftovers.

The youngest of the bunch comes in at three years old, but he hasn't escaped the terrible twos yet. He hated us for turning off the television so he'd eat dinner, asking him not to walk on the furniture, and not piling so many toys on him that he smothered under their weight. When the tantrums didn't make his displeasure clear, he outright told us. I have to feel bad for the little guy. He's so cute when he crosses his arms and pouts that we laugh and then want to hug him. At one point, he even declared he wasn't hugging anyone anymore. That lasted for about two minutes. I opened my arms and asked for a hug and he forgot about his declaration. Am I a bad person for thinking he's cute when he's angry?

Just in case you are curious, our Thanksgiving feast was fantastic. We had turkey, stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, mixed veggies in cheese sauce, sweet potato casserole, rolls, banana bread, sweet and tangy cranberry sauce (two types), turkey gravy (which I do not make well at go time, so I may have to start making chicken gravy instead), chocolate cupcakes that looked like turkeys, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie, pecan pie (which only I wanted--yum), bittersweet chocolate pudding, and lemon pudding, mini pie shells for the pudding. With my brother, niece, nephew, husband, two missionaries, and a couple of friends, we still managed to have massive amounts of leftovers. I may love cooking more than I love eating. Does that surprise you?

My brother helped eat quite a few leftovers before he whisked away the kids and returned to the real world. Now I need to get ready for Christmas. I've started filling out cards, wrapping presents, and making candy. Of course, I still have more gifts to acquire or make and much more candy to make. I may drop one of my creams from last year since it didn't seem to speak to anyone. In case you forgot, Santa doesn't have elves, he has hobbits. Thank you for reading.

I need to get out more. People ask me normal every day questions and I stare at them with wide doe eyes while I contemplate how to answer these questions. Of course, I know this. I accept it to be true. But I really like sitting on my couch with piles of paper, books, and fabric surrounding me an tempting me with their siren calls. I don't foresee my sociability improving anytime soon though I do try to get out.

Today, one of my friends invited me over to bake some cookies. I selected a recipe from my pile that I haven't tried yet and drove to her house. I got lost on the way there, but I blame this on google. I had an idea of where I was going, but google swore a quicker route existed. Following that suggested route led me to an entrance, but the gates were chained shut. I shook my head and redirected the yodamobile toward my perception of the correct route. With one more detour, I found my destination.

Since the delicious cookies we baked needed some time to chill, we played a couple of rounds of Bananagrams. I promise that I warned her that people don't want to play such games with me because my freaky brain adores words, but we made it through three rounds without any crying. I found the "z" and the "q" rather challenging, but somehow mustered through for the win in each game. It is possible she let me win because she is a good host though. I try not to rule out the kindness of others.

Then I returned home to obsessively clean, organize, and poke at my early Christmas present. Soon I shall have even more handmade journals for the store I need to open to clean my house. I do love my crafts, but I am not much of a shop girl. Maybe I should look to Eliza Doolittle for some tips on how to sell my wares, no matter how wilted they may be by the end of the day.