Almost done with my NaNo words for the day. Cooking and chores are done. I have some printing to do, a little character work (will do that at the appointment because I hate not having something to do while waiting), and flash fiction to read and think about what I want to add and subtract. I like flash fiction, but it's super hard to do fantasy in 1000 words or less. Worldbuilding has to be so condensed and filtered through the main character's perceptions.

I am trying to do all the things I would do in a regular day in about half the time. My afternoon is booked. So far I'm doing pretty well.

Happy Nirthday, Jean!

Morning. Boys are charging into their schoolwork. I'm fixing lunch, and getting as much done this morning in advance of a busy afternoon. Other than that, it's static. Still waiting on revisions to come back, and then I'll come up with some kind of writing schedule that will allow me to handle the holiday stuff, work, and writing without completely losing my mind.

I wroted all the things. Imma go to bed now and read.

Well, lets see. I salted it (it was the 5 lb flat cut), peppered it, and stuck it in my Dutch oven. Then I put it in the oven at 500 for about 30 minutes, flipped it, and roasted it at 500 for another 30. I chopped up 5 carrots and 3 onions and cut the top off a head of garlic, and roasted all that on a pan at the 500 for about 30 minutes or so. Then I put it all together, added 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of V-8, two bay leaves, and a sprinkle of thyme and covered it with the lid. I then braised it at 275 for 3.5 hours. I was supposed to roast it again at 500 to get it smoking again, but I got hungry. It smelled too good!

Well, for this brisket, I roasted it with high heat in the oven, and now I've got it in a pot with carrots and onions, about a half-cup of liquid (water and V-8), a few bay leaves, and some thyme to braise it until it's tender. It takes hours and hours in the oven. But it's good.

Charging along, getting things done. About to start cooking with one boy, but the other one is making his own homemade French Fries, and he gets grumpy if I get in his way in the kitchen. Dinner is brisket, roast potatoes, and caramel apples for dessert.

My neck is hurting again. Same place as the first time. Going to walk more today to loosen it up before it gets worse. Lots of drafting planned for this week. Next week is busy with a lot of work, the holiday, and a birthday for the turtles. They will be 16! And yet, I still have my hair.

Morning. Big day of drafting planned, and the boys have school. By the end of this week, they should both be at the same lesson for Math and Latin. Sometimes one boy works ahead, and the other takes his time if something is long, but it's pretty close most of the time. My neck is hurting today. Adding more walking to my day to stretch.

Drafting today. My neck hurts again. I think I'm going to have to break down and just go get a massage to fix this muscle tension. Writing as much as I do right now is probably leading to tightness and strain. I need to work on my posture and go walking more during the day.

Morning, Accountables! Last week of school before our week off. I need to put together this week's schedules later this morning, get the grocery list done, figure out what this week will look like, and start thinking ahead to what promises to be a fierce December for making anything happen. Sticking to a disciplined list of priorities and letting everything else go is probably what's going to work. But at least two of those weeks have no school scheduled, and I've got family lined up to take care of the boys while I'm working. At least that much is done.

I'm moving to Angi's house. She's got it going on! I'm putting together the grocery list, waiting for the boys to bring me their school books for scheduling, and drafting everything from my NaNoWriMo novel to a guide for surviving December and January.

Well, for me it stands for 1,000 words. Sorry. Writer jargon.

Oh, turkey sounds so good... We are just having leftovers tonight, whatever we can scrounge. I don't cook on Saturdays after work. I didn't plan to write today, but I'll probably squeeze in 1K or so and then do some reading. My sister bought me a book of short stories called Tabloid Dreams by Robert Olen Butler that I'm dying to dig into.