My mom sent me this link, and although it looks really cool, I need a hint. I can’t figure out where to start. So if someone tries this, please post me a hint. Probably I’ll be terrible at it–I’m not a huge fan of most dark movies, but I’d like to give it a try.

Today was a refreshing change of pace from our recent days in the mid to upper eighties. It was overcast and in the mid-seventies (woo-hoo!) and we spent a lovely day at the zoo. Well, pleasant. Okay, tolerable. But attitudes improved dramatically after the requisite popcorn snack and lemonade, and further still after stuffed animals were purchased (by Gramma) in the gift shop. My older son got an okapi, and my little one got a huge hairy tarantula. (He’s actually sort of cute).

I got absolutely no writing done today, but I am feeling pretty good about having sent off the first 35 pages of my WIP to be critiqued and scored by contest judges. I don’t have to think about it again until late December (when finalists are announced), and I’m going to make it my goal to get this book done by then. I need an extention of the Fast Draft mentality, and then I need swift, clean editing without my usual second-guessing. The gauntlet has been thrown down…

1. Play tennis
2. Play the piano
3. Read music
4. Ballroom dance
5. Write a tight 1st draft
6. Understand a simple sewing pattern
7. Talk to strangers (comfortably)
8. Design something…anything.
9. Appreciate low-calorie desserts
10. Travel (more often, more places)
11. Public-speaking
12. Split my time between a summer house and a winter house
13. Understand what makes people behave the way they do

My legs feel shaky tonight. First of all, I’ve just started riding my bike again (after a long time off of it), and I’m pulling my four-year-old in a trailer. It’s not so bad but not what I’m used to. So after we make a few loops around our neighborhood (& I shower), we head off (in our car) to meet some other moms and kids at the new kid hangout, which is basically just rooms full of those inflatable slides, obstacle courses, and bouncers.

My little one played for 2 1/2 hours while all the moms stood or sat around and talked. One mom went up on the slide with her toddler and slid down, but no one else. But then, after all the stangers left (moms and kids), I decided, what the heck! and went in to bounce. It was a blast, but sort of exhausting. I did the slide a few times, careening into the barrier at the bottom, but then primly put my shoes back on and went back to being a mom. We got home with just enough time for me to pull out the bike and trailer again, speed over to the elementary school, and pick up my older son. On the way home I was pulling almost 80 lbs, not counting the trailer.

I had (am having) a bit of a delayed reaction to the extra exercise. About thiry minutes after I got home, it was like I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I felt shaky and wobbly and winded. Needless to say, not much writing got done today. I did get about a page, but that seems like a total let down after Fast Draft. Will try again tomorrow and also attempt a final edit of my first 35 pages.