Just call me Gumby

So I gave myself a little goal in getting my MS done in a timely fashion. Somewhere in the beginning of October I said, "I'm going to finish my novel by New Year's"! 

Yeah, that's NOT going to happen...unless I manage to hijack Santa's sleigh and fly myself to some remote island sans elves. You know, because there's always THAT option.

No, it doesn't look like my ambitious little deadline will be met (since I'm still a good 20,000 words from where I'd like to be). But you know what one of my New Year's resolutions actually is? 

BEING MORE FLEXIBLE!

So let's see, where does that leave me?

Finished novel? nope (and 99% sure that I won't finish by New Year's)

Packed for vacation? nope

Christmas shopping done? nope

Am I okay with all of that? 

YEP.

I will be out of blog mode until sometime after the holidays due to limited internet access. So in case I don't talk to you until then, I hope you all have a beautiful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas Jitters

And no, it's not from one too many Gingerbread Lattes from Starubucks.

I hope that you all can forgive me for being so slack in my postings as of late. Writer Wednesday didn't happen because I didn't feel like I had anything worth writing about - in my MS or here on the blog. I've had a really hard time just peeling myself away from staring mindlessly at the walls! I don't know what has happened to my mind as of late. 

It could be the anticipation of Christmas - all of the lists of who to buy for, when to buy it, and how many extra "in case I forget someone" gifts I should buy. Then there's the laundry and the packing for the trip home for the holidays that is inching ever closer to my realm of consciousness. Pair that with the overwhelming guilt I sometimes feel that we make this holiday so darn commercialized and forget the real REASON behind Christmas - but that doesn't stop me from buying! Oh, no! 

WARNING! WARNING! THIS BRAIN IS ABOUT TO SELF DESTRUCT! 

Is it just me? Have you felt this way too? 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not pulling a Bah, Humbug on all of you. It's just a little overwhelming to me at the moment. I'm sure the Christmas spirit will find me (and it usually finds me when I'm on my knees in prayer). I hope it stays with those of you that have it, and that it finds those of you who don't! 

Dear Santa

Hi, Santa. 

It's me, Beth. 

I know you're really busy with all the "who's been naughty and who's been nice" business (and for the record I've been REALLY, REALLY NICE). I just wanted to drop you a little note to say, "What's up?" and give you my Christmas list this year. I know, I'm a little old (In fact, you might remember that my birthday is Christmas Eve. No? Oh, then I guess it was just those people who enjoyed giving me my birthday/Christmas present all rolled into one every year. My mistake.). Anyway, I thought I'd give it a go, since the boys were doing theirs. 

So, here goes:

- Earplugs, because that's what every parent of preschoolers needs when forced to drive a total of 24 hours in the car with said preschoolers to visit family for the holidays.

- Another set of earplugs, you know, in case I lose the first set or decide to share with the hubby (highly unlikely though).

- New knives, since my old ones are getting kind of dull, and I'm thinking I might need to gouge my eyes out in hopes that I won't have to see how much weight I've gained over the holidays from eating my mother's irresistible cooking.

- An easy bake oven, because I don't like my grown-up oven...it's not easy, and I think it might hate me.

- An endless supply of new sponges, because mine just get really gross really fast, and I can't ever seem to find one that doesn't smell.

- For Tyler to potty train himself. I know this is a long shot, but I figured I'd ask anyway.

- Some new underwear, since my dog seems to really enjoy chewing up EVERY PAIR I OWN.

- A new dog

- A pony (because I've never gotten one, even though I've asked for one EVERY SINGLE YEAR, SANTA.)

Well, I think that's it. Thanks, Santa.

Love,

Beth 

It's getting a little TENSE in here

No, I'm not really talking tense in the high-strung, freaked out way. 

I'm talking about tense, as in past, present, future, etc. 

My novel is written in the present tense, but I find myself slipping into past tense every once in a while - and I'm not sure why! And my internal editor gets all "Hey, crazy lady, you're doing it again. Now go back and change all of that past tense crap you just wrote." And my disciplined I-will-finish-this-novel-if-it's-the-last-thing-I-do writer self gets puffed up and is all, "Hey, internal editor...SUCK IT!"

Does this happen to you? When you catch it, do you fix it? Or do you trudge on and fix it during the revision process? I already know what some of you (I'm looking at you, Katie Ganshert! ;p) would do, but feel free to chime in anyway!