Colorado Springs in on the list of possibilities but the COL will be higher than where we are now. Boise is a good idea that hadn't considered and we should look at. Utah has been tossed around as well. Unfortunately, we are very familiar with Lyme disease already. Twenty-six years for myself but not dx'd until ten years ago so it is chronic. Unknowingly passed it on to both of my kids. Youngest has had the hardest struggle with it. It has left her with a multitude of other chronic health issues including basically no immune system. Monthly IV treatments keep her as healthy as they can but still leave her vulnerable. She never gets a mild case of anything unfortunately. So, I think the Valley Fever aspect will have to play a part in any decisions we make. Thanks for the link to the map.

I think this is a deal breaker for me.😁 I am notorious for never driving the actual speed limit. Interstate-no less than ten miles over. 😉 I wouldn't be able to handle driving under the speed limit. 😂 Arizona is not sounding like it would be a good fit for us. The Valley Fever thing might be the real deal breaker. Doesn't sound like it would be a good thing for two already weak immune systems.

Wow. This is great info. Thanks Ladies. I'm definitely curious about the driving and driving in the rain now. Lol. Coming from a snowy area, I can't imagine how driving in the rain is difficult. 😀 I hadn't thought about the dry air causing nosebleeds which is already a probably for my son. And when his nose bleeds-it pours for several minutes. So this will be something we have to consider. I will also have to do some research on Valley Fever as myself and my daughter both have issues with our immune systems. I forgot to mention in my original post that we will have to have access to grocery stores that are very gluten free friendly. All three of us have celiac disease. We are hoping to take a vacation to AZ this summer to get a feel for the area. We have not decided where to explore yet.

@Pen Ordered Save the Cat Writes a Novel from Amazon today. My dd and I went out shopping this afternoon, and we stopped at Barnes & Noble. They never have the writing books I want but of course, they had Save the Cat. Lol.

Moving from our current state and out of the cold, midwest winters is a real possibility in the next two years. Arizona is one of the places we have discussed and are thinking about moving to. I really know nothing about Arizona except there is no grass and no humidity. If you have lived there or do now would you mind sharing all the good, bad, and ugly. Why do you love it or hate it? Where is the best place to live? Cost of living? Job market? etc... Thanks

I have been thinking about ordering Save the Cat Writes a Novel. Now I am going to have too! 😁 Can we compare notes and thoughts as we work through it?? Praying the bill was just lost in the mail and not stolen. That is a scary feeling. Couch to 80K is a podcast that I have heard really good things about from other writers. It is an eight week course for six days a week. Each podcast lasts about 20 minutes with 10 minutes of that time devoted to writing. I have made it through the first week. So far the writing has been very simple-just making lists to get the brain thinking. I think week two the writing becomes a little more challenging but it is still only ten minutes. http://www.timclarepoet.co.uk/couchto80kwritingbootcamp/

Oh no. Sorry to hear about the possibly overdue bill. I hope they will waive the fee for you. And yeah...taxes does not sound like fun. That will be part of my focus in January. I have several books on writing. So many that I feel overwhelmed with which one I should read first. I need to just pick one and stick with it. lol

Oh yeah. Duh...LOL

@Pen I added another thread titled "Writing after NaNo" for anyone interested in continuing and supporting each other. @Seasider too I'll get to your PM in the next day or two.

@Pen suggested starting a new thread for those of us wanting to continue writing after NaNo. I think it is a great idea to continue to encourage one another and learn from one another. Anyone know if there is a way to set up the tread so that we can receive a notification if someone adds a new post?? I plan on continuing. I did last year as well and was doing great until I took a break in April to prepare for my son's graduation and final track season. I was writing every day and totally loved it. Sadly after the break, I never was able to pick up that pace and get back to writing every day. I do not want that to happen again this year. I did sign up for another writing challenge called 365writingchallenge.com through a FB group I am a part of. Unfortunately, I think you had to sign up by 11/30/18. I will be continuing with my current WIP from NaNo. I am also working through the Couch to 80K podcasts which is eight weeks long. I would love to have a daily or weekly accountability partner if anyone is interested. Touching base with someone regularly and outlining my short term goals really helps me to stay focused and get more accomplished.

Congratulations @happi duck @Petrichor & @vmsurbat1! Awesome job everyone!

NaNo camp is in April and July I believe. Maybe one of those months would work better for you. Loving your stories is what is most important though. You can build on them all year and finish when you finish.

Thanks @Pen Now the hard work begins with rewriting & editing. 😀

I did it!! I'm a validated winner of NaNo2018! Woo Hoo (I really miss the dancing woo hoo emoji!!)

What about a fun, online interior design class? Has anyone found anything like this??

This is the intention that she will be the one selecting what she is interested in. I need a place to start and a variety of options because she has no idea what she is really interested in. I do know she would not enjoy anything math or computer tech related. I'm just looking for ideas that others have used and enjoyed.

Looking to add something fun and independent in January that requires little to no effort on my part. Does anyone know of any online one semester courses that do not cost a small fortune? I am open to any and all suggestions for dd16 (nothing heavy on math). She needs to explore some new things in the hope that maybe something will interest her. She likes animals, science, music, and history. But like I said, she needs to experience some new things. Thanks

Congratulations @Pen! I see you are officially a winner! Woo Hoo!! I should be over 40,000 at the end of today. I should make it to 50,000 with no problems but boy, my fingers and hands are really starting to feel it. I had the same problem last year too.

@Pen I see you figured it out and validated. Congratulations!!!!

Not sure what you mean. The instructions are directly from the Scrivener NaNo2018 template for Mac. It scrambles the text so it can't be read.

From Scrivener: To compile with scrambled text for uploading to the NaNo servers: Go to File > Compile… Select “Plain Text (.txt)” next to “Compile for”. Select “NaNoWriMo (Obfuscated)” from the list of formats on the left. (Note that this format is only available when plain text is selected next to “Compile for”.) Click on “Compile”. Make sure that “Append ‘.txt’ extension” is ticked in the save panel that appears, then save to your desired location. This will create a plain text (.txt) file with the letters swapped around so that it is unreadable, but which has exactly the same word count as your text. You can upload this to the NaNoWriMo servers to validate your manuscript without anyone being able to read what you’ve written.

I didn't have any problems last night or this morning. I use Scrivener so verifying is fairly simple. Good luck on compiling everything in to one document. Double check your word count before you send it just in case. Congrats on being so close!!

@vmsurbat1 Sorry to hear about your family emergency. Praying it is nothing to serious. Safe travels! Keep us posted.

@Pen I was just coming here to congratulate you on almost reaching 50,000! Nice work! I am trying to get back on track after three days of being sick myself. No plans on being done before Thanksgiving for me. 😊 lol

@vmsurbat1 Awesome! Tomorrow you should be able to hit the 25,000 mark yourself! ?? I'm going to try and get some writing while I'm at the dr's office today. I have yesterday and today's words to get done. I will try to spread out yesterday's over the weekend. I still need to work on my exercise as well. I heard on some podcast that I was listening to that 350,000 people will sign up for NaNo but only 15% will actually finish the 50,000 words and "win". Hoping we will all be a part of that 15% this year.