Since today will be my last Friday Funny until after the New Year, I thought I’d have fun by kicking things off with some dancing from one of my favorite Christmas movies, White Christmas.
Are you getting into the holiday spirit and shaking that booty? Come on, you know you want to…at least a little.
Hey, if Bing Crosby can do it, so can you! 😉
Anyway, as I mentioned, today will be my last Friday Funny for the next few weeks. With the holiday hoopla revving up, a two week vacation quickly approaching, and a mad dash to the finish line of my third draft, I need to take an itty bitty break from my blog. But don’t worry. I’ve decided to run a small feature while I’m gone:
My Top 10 2014 Posts.
Basically, I’ll be re-sharing my most popular posts from the past year (based on the number of views).
So, if you think about it, I won’t really be gone.
Glancing at my stats page now, I see my most popular posts include stories I’ve written, helpful articles I’ve found for Twitter Treasure Thursday, and some articles I wrote myself. So, you’ll get a little taste of everything.
I also have a dear friend who might do a guest post while I’m gone, so stay tuned for that special treat!
As far as life has gone the past couple of weeks…
Yeah, things have been on the frustrating side. I really can’t explain why other than I’m hitting a wall and simply need a break. You know, a vacation. A real one. Like, on a beach somewhere with nothing to worry about but getting a sunburn by accident…
Of course, there is no beach vacation planned, and taking a break right now is impossible. If anything, I need to work harder. My January 1st deadline is rapidly approaching and I’m only one third of the way through editing my novel.
Okay, I’ll admit it. At this point, it’s going to take a Christmas miracle for me to finish my third draft by January 1st. A combination of fatigue and diligence has slowed my progress way down.
However, I’m determined to finish it by January 16th, which is when the first round of the Short Story Challenge 2015 kicks off. I just need to stay positive and focused.
Luckily, I’m taking a week off of work starting on the 23rd, and besides celebrating Christmas and a few other holiday events, I have nothing planned, so I should have plenty of time to dedicate to finishing my third draft.
Don’t worry. Life hasn’t been all work and no play for me. A couple of weeks ago, my family and I took my nephews up to The Polar Express event at the Colorado Railroad Museum. To say it was magical would be an understatement.
We boarded a train with our tickets, had hot chocolate served to us by dancing waiters, and listened to The Polar Express read aloud. Then we disembarked and walked over to watch the actual Polar Express train arrive.
I don’t know how it happened, but as we watched the train chug along the track towards us with its steam billowing, it began to snow. Soft, perfect little flakes that hadn’t been in the forecast but decided to fall anyway in that moment. It made the entire experience surreal and unforgettable.
As we rode the train, we were entertained with various reenactments from the story, as well as a visit from Santa who gave my nephews a sleigh bell. We even had our tickets punched by the conductor with the letter “B” for “Believe”.
The entire event was amazing and will likely go down as the main highlight of this holiday season for me.
Well, time to wrap things up and get back to working on my manuscript! I searched and searched for a writing funny based on the holidays, but I couldn’t find one 😦 But here are some that will still hopefully give you a chuckle. Enjoy!
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Be safe, have fun, and try to relax more than me 😉
Jen’s Roundup
In case you missed my last few posts, here you go!
Music Monday – Superheroes – The Script
My First Writing Conference – Top 10 Things I Learned
Music Monday – Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Photo credits:
Why do I always make you dance with me on Fridays? Hmm, maybe I need to find a better way to celebrate the fact we’ve made it to the end of the week?…Or maybe not? I like dancing and this is my blog, so…
Yep, my decision’s made. We shall keep dancing on Fridays. Beware! 😉
Thankfully, I snapped out of my weary fog by Tuesday and got myself back on track…Well, mostly. You know, life. Stuff. Distractions.
Don’t worry, I didn’t eat my feelings or gorge upon ice cream all week…Just a lot of peanut M&M’s 😉
Oh, the joys of editing 😉
How was your week? I’ve spoken to a few of you in private about your progress with 
Brrrrr! Denver is freezing this week, everyone. Like, crank up the heaters, open the bathroom and kitchen cabinets, and constantly run the faucets–freezing.
Five minutes later…
No joke! The weather here is a tumultuous roller coaster. Sunny one minute, a blizzard the next. Within 24-hours, the temperatures can plummet 60+ degrees. That’s what happened this week. Last Sunday, it was a sunny and beautiful 75 degrees. By Monday evening, it was a snowy and freezing 15–and dropping. By midweek, Denver had nosedived below zero, with a windchill of negative 35 degrees.
Honestly, I looked like a walking, talking, shivering marshmallow as I executed Operation Save Car Battery on Wednesday. The repeated process went something like this: Step outside. Waddle, waddle, waddle. Unlock car. Fall inside. Flip ignition. Sit, wait, freeze. Turn off engine. Heave self out of car. Slip. Gain balance. Lock car. Waddle, waddle, waddle back into house.
Oh, I love this time of the year. 😉
Well, I won’t say it’s bad, but it definitely needs a lot of work. My characters lost their edge, the dialogue wasn’t as snappy, the plot got foggy, the actual writing sloppy…Ugh. I think part of the problem is I began working faster and less diligently as I moved along. I wasn’t perfecting my later chapters like I did my earlier ones.
I probably won’t be starting my third draft for a couple of days since I’m attending my first writing workshop tomorrow: the 
How was your week? How’s NaNoWriMo going for those of you participating?
Wriggle, wriggle, wriggle. Shake, shake, shake. Boop, bop, bee-boop!
My week went well. Just busy-busy, as usual, and filled with lots and lots of writing. I suppose I had two big highlights:
Yes, my friend knows me all too well. And she knows one of my favorite YA series is 
Yeah, when I saw my respectable score, I laughed out loud. I was so shocked! I’d expected to see a big fat zero next to my name. To see anything more than that was…well, laughable. However, as my shock has worn off, I have felt more and more proud by the results. I guess this proves you should never give up and you should always try. Even if you think, “Political satire? What the heck is political satire? How do I–What do I–What?” Don’t throw in the towel. Just go for it!
Me too, Tim. Me. Too.
How was your week? How’s NaNoWriMo going for those of you participating? Are you staying on track? Getting ahead?…Falling behind (ahh!)? Just remember: it’s still early in the month. Even if you’ve fallen behind, you have plenty of time to catch up. I was behind by 10K around this time last year, and I managed to get my stuff together and knock it out. And you can too!
…And now you’re mine.
But I feel like this:
Halloween is one of the only reasons I embrace the autumn and cooler weather here in Colorado. I just love everything about it: Scary movies. Candy. Spooky decorations. Candy. Silly costumes. Candy. Apple cider. Candy… 😉
Yes, those are official Frozen pants. If you look at my knee, you’ll see Elsa performing her icy magic.
Me with Olaf (aka, my nephew). He wouldn’t let me out of his sight all evening. “Elsa, where are you going?”… “Elsa, take a picture!”… “Elsa! Elsa! Elsa!” It was adorable and funny.
Oh well. Tis the life of a writer, right? It’s not always orderly, pretty, or necessarily comfortable.
Are you tired of the Hocus Pocus gifs yet?
Okay, okay. That was the last one. Promise!
How was your week? Anyone have any fun plans for Halloween? What/who are you dressing up as?
So, is it just me, or did every day this week feel like Friday? Seriously, each morning my alarm clock went off, I thought, “Yippee! It’s Friday–No, wait. It’s not. Not even close. Beepity-beep!”
I was very happy when I woke up this morning and realized it was Friday–for real. Woo-hoo!
If I keep up this pace, I might finish my second draft by November 1st. Which means I’ll have two months to edit a third draft. Which means I just might have a presentable draft done by my deadline of January 1st.
Okay, my costume won’t be nearly as glamorous as Elsa’s, but people will get the general gist–er, hopefully.
Like the last round, I needed to use the story I wrote for 
How was your week? Busy? Calm? Do anything goofy and silly? I know many of you are preparing for NaNoWriMo. How’s it going? Are you ready for it?
Yay for Friday! I say we all take a moment to celebrate and dance it up…Come on, dance! Shake that booty, wriggle those hips, and stomp those feet!
Okay, okay. Enough dancing…for now. 😉
Yeah, trying not to panic too much.
Hey, a writer’s gotta do what a writer’s gotta do, right?
I did take a break last night to decorate my house for Halloween–finally. I’ve been putting it off because 1) I’ve been so busy, and 2) I really, really, really did not want to go into my crawl space to get my bins of decorations. You guys, it’s ca-reepy down there! Dark, dirty, spidery.
I know, I know. I’m ridiculous. No need to tell me. I’m fully aware of it, haha.
How was your week? Have you set any goals for your own work? How many of you are participating in NaNoWriMo?
So, I don’t know about you, but this week flew past.
On the forum, there’s an unspoken rule: If someone reads/critiques your story, you should read/critique theirs in return. No, not everyone does this, but most of us consider it a basic courtesy.
It’s like people freaked out I wasn’t going to be seeking out stories like I normally do, so they made sure to read and comment on mine so I’d read and comment on theirs.
I made it over halfway through the stack yesterday, so hopefully I’m able to finish things up today!
Now, to be honest, I think most people are probably being nicer with their reviews than usual. Most everyone knows by now how much I dreaded writing a political satire and how little faith I had–have–in my story.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. 😉
How was your week? Anyone else finding themselves buried in piles of work?
So, to be perfectly honest, I spent the majority of my week doing this:
Daydreaming. Pondering. Staring off into La-La Land…
I spent all last weekend hermit-ing it up to regain my footing and get back on track with my manuscript–which I did. Phew! Better yet, I sent my beta reader new chapters, and her feedback was positive. Her exact words were: “All I can say is WOW!!!!!!!!”
I’m hoping to send her one more chapter before tonight, when the 2nd round of the 
Seriously, if I get political satire, I’m doooomed.
How was your week? Anyone have fun plans for the weekend? If I finish my writing contest early, I might crack out the Halloween decorations and gloom up my house a little. Of course, that means I’ll need to enter the dreaded Crawl Space of Spiders…Nope. Forget it. I’m not decorating this year 😉
Seriously, TGIF! I haven’t needed a weekend this bad since…Well, I can’t remember. In one word, this week was rotten. Things started off great. I had tons of momentum and motivation with my manuscript, I was in a happy mood, and everything seemed perfect in the world.
Both work and my personal life were crazy busy. Plus, I hit a couple of emotional speed bumps along the way that transformed me into one giant hot mess.
What makes it all the worse is when my brain is screaming, “WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!” along with all the other chaos, and I can’t–literally. Every spare moment I had this week was interrupted by life.
I’m sure some of you have felt this way before. Or, at least, you can understand how it might feel. Most of the people in my life don’t. They assume writing is something you can turn on and off.
Thank God the weekend is here and I have no plans but to write. I’ll be locking my doors and telling anyone who calls or texts me:
Yeah, I’m ice cold like that.
How was your week? I hope not nearly as stressful as mine. Have any fun plans for the weekend? Or will you be hermit-ing it up like me?
Jen's Pen Den 
