Productivity and Procrastination

On this last day of NaBloPoMo, I share with you my insight today that there is no better way to get me to be productive than to put something I *really* don't want to do in front of me. Which sounds crazy, but trust me, it's not.

Today I *really* didn't want to read a 10 page memo about how Trump might or might not affect the economy, written by our chief economist at work. He's a brilliant guy, and I knew I'd be happy once I'd read his thoughts, but I just didn't want to do it. Mostly because I'm still trying to hide from the fact that is Trump. And because it's pure speculation, as we really can't know what he's going to do. It's informed and intelligent speculation, but can't I just stay over here with the blankets pulled up to my eyeballs and still pretend Trump isn't happening?

Sidebar: I actually had a dream last week where I relived the entire election night all over again. This better not become a recurring nightmare.

Anyway, I knew I had to read the memo, but I got SO MANY other little things done first. Recycled stacks of unread newspapers and took the bin outside. Filed a few things in the filing cabinet. Scheduled my annual eye exam. Registered Max for day camp. Activated a credit card. Took care of every other email I could in my inbox. And then I finally settled in and read the memo.

Sigh.

At least I got some things done before I was forced to contemplate an economy without immigrants. #immigrantswegetthejobdone

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And that concludes NaBloPoMo 2016. I'm happy to be done. I only missed one post, but I did my best to stick with it. Now you probably won't hear from me again here for weeks. :)

Out of Steam

It's day 29 on 30 for "post on your damn blog every damn day" month (#PoYoDaBloEvDaDa for short!) and I am out of steam. It was a long weekend followed by a long day and a long night and another long day and I've got nothing left for here. But we just got a large trade closed at work so that's some good news to end the day on.

I'm going to try to go watch some Sister Wives, if I'm allowed to control the TV. No judging. G'nite.

A New Era: Leaving the Kids at Home Alone

I can't recall if I've posted about this here before, but we have entered a new era in our family life, one in which we can leave the kids home alone. It's still relatively new for us, and not employed all that often, but it's been helpful. Like the hour tonight after I picked up both kids from school, and Hannah had a lot of homework, so she asked if she could skip the much-needed grocery run, and then I realized she could keep Max home with her too.

Not having to take both kids for an unplanned grocery run with no list after a long day of work, school, commuting, aftercare and play rehearsal? You don't have to ask me twice.

Well, that's not 100% true. I did miss their input and talking to them in the store. I *like* being around my kids, and they can be fairly helpful with shopping. But they needed the quiet time at home more than I needed them there with me.

I'm definitely not used to this new era. It didn't even occur to me that they would want to stay home, or that they even could. I'm sure there will be more and more times that they request to be left at home, and I'll be begging them to come run errands with me. But for now it just seems like a marked difference from a few short years ago, when leaving them home alone was out of the question, and so you'd think long and hard about whether a shopping trip was possible after a day like this one.

It seems that the one true constant in life is change.

Know Thyself

We left Ohio after dinner last night and stayed in Buffalo, which meant we were able to get back to Newton around 6 pm today. That worked well for me, as I was able to dive back in to all the things I'd ignored over the last few days, and catch up on some work before heading back to the office tomorrow morning too. I've been feeling stressed out about what I wasn't getting done, which is frankly ridiculous. I wanted to relax - knew I needed to relax - but instead felt anxious about what I wasn't getting done. I should probably just give in and get some things done every day instead of putting it off in the name of relaxation if it just leads me to anxiety instead. Know thyself, right?

I think I've also been anxious because Thanksgiving is the last "big thing" before the next "big thing," being Hannah's bat mitzvah. Okay, yes, the holidays are coming too, and both kids' birthdays, but I expect to be in full bat mitzvah prep mode during those weeks. It's scary to think about all of the things I'll be doing over the next seven weeks or so. Exciting things, but there are also lots of work deadlines to be met, and lots of regular life stuff that will need to keep happening.

So, it's Sunday night and I fully expect to be lying awake in a couple hours, staring at my ceiling and listing everything in my head. Because I really do know myself, after all.

Mocha

This is Mocha. She is making my resistance to getting a dog very low. 

Gobble Gobble

Easy

The road trip to Ohio is so much easier now. That's something to be very grateful about.

Anti-Semitic Imagery On Facebook

It's fairly typical for me to write something around Thanksgiving where I express gratitude on Facebook, for Facebook. Since joining the network many years ago now, I believe that on the whole Facebook has made a positive impact on my life, and I'm so grateful for the many people it has kept in my life.

But the last two weeks since the election have been brutal. Every single time I look at Facebook, I am confronted by Nazi imagery, shared usually by well-meaning people trying to share their shock and horror about it. And I definitely appreciate that. It's the right thing, to express shock and horror like this. But I can't look at it.

This shock and this horror is something I carry with me daily--and not just because Trump is President-elect. That the escalation in these types of incidents since the election is upsetting to so many is warranted and justified, but I've always seen it there. You may not have heard the stories until now, but they linger around me, always in the shadows, just beyond the frame of the happy picture.

So I'm really trying with Facebook. I want to stay informed, and to not lose connections with so many people I care about. But the constant barrage of imagery that I can't filter out is really hard to deal with.

Monday, Monday

Random thoughts on a Monday:

- I am so glad to be home right now. I've been fighting a cold for the last week, and though I am a lot better, well, I'm really tired from fighting it.

- I still haven't packed.

- Max went to urgent care for a possible broken wrist on Saturday, but we got the all clear on his x-rays after a second review tonight. Thank goodness, because, as said above, I am so glad to be home right now and not going to get him a cast somewhere.

- I updated approximately a zillion apps today, but my Blogger app is still misbehaving. Of course.

- I don't go in to the office again for a week. I'm working from home tomorrow as Marc has a conflict at work. Then, Thanksgiving vacation time for me. Yippee.

- I fell asleep watching "Saturday Night Live" on my "Sunday Evening Recording" and can't decide if I should bother watching the rest.

- I am planning to watch "Search Party." Vulture says it's one of this year's best shows, and I'm interested to see if I binge watch it or wait as the episodes unroll this week. It's a personal test.

Enough typing for now. How was your Monday?

Winning

"I love you."

"I love you more."

"No, I love you more."

"No, you don't. I love you more."

"No, that's impossible. Not possible. I love you more."

An often-heard argument in our house. Everyone wins.

How to Make White Chocolate Banana Bread

Step 1: Be receptive to almost-teenage daughter's upset feelings before 9 am on a Sunday.

Step 2: Get surprisingly emotional over never-known about family artifacts by 9:30 am on a Sunday.

Step 3: Face the usual Sunday drudgery of laundry, dishes, emails I can't answer and pestering Max to do his long-term homework assignments, plus the unusual added dimensions of packing to go away, putting away the air mattress, the fact that I skipped blogging yesterday, still lingering feelings over politics and always over Hamilton.

Step 4: Decide to bake white chocolate chip banana bread. Because the bananas aren't going to get eaten in that state, and there are leftover white chocolate chips from some other failed baking attempt and you need something good and positive to come out of this morning.

No Place for Hate

Here's the Massachusetts State House. Isn't she lovely?

I spent about 30 minutes there on the front steps today, during my lunch break, asking that our governor, Charlie Baker, speak out against the appointment of Steve Bannon and other frightening (thus far) men to senior positions in the new administration, and to guarantee that our state is a safe haven for all. I wrote a letter, which the protest leader is gathering with others and submitting to the governor's office, but I emailed mine in too.

I stood in the sun and chanted, "no place for hate, no time to wait" and "speak up, Charlie!" and "love trumps hate" with a group of a hundred or so strangers. Passersby joined us, stopped and wrote a quick letter, or honked their horns in solidarity. Two duck boats of tourists drove by, and I hoped they were all from red states, and they saw us spreading support for others.

And for the first time since November 8, I felt a little better.

This Girl

I forgot to blog yesterday, despite thinking of it several times, but this one distracted me with various middle school things. I totally enjoyed watching her and so many of her friends in "Law and Order: Fairy Tale Unit." And this kid, this Pig #1 pictured below? Not quite as innocent as she seems.

She's almost 13, you guys. THIRTEEN. How did we get here already? Wasn't she just dancing around her bedroom yesterday?

I look at these photos now, and they barely capture all that she is. I'm so lucky.

Blogging From My Car

Well, I've made it to the half-way point of NaBloPoMo, annual torture device where I post here every day, and I'm still at it. Only a few people who started with me have made it to this point (hi, Melisa, Jen and Vikki), but I know they've all been checking in and encouraging each other, and I'm on my own island over here, so in fairly proud of myself. Anyway, tonight I'm writing from my car, in between a quick trip to Wegman's and picking up both of the kids from their schools.

It's show week here, meaning Hannah's fall play, "Law and Order: Fairy Tale Unit" is this Thursday and Friday evenings, and she's had extra late rehearsals this week. She's playing Pig #1, as in "The Three Pigs," and has been remarkably chill about this production. Her costume was sourced from my closet, since it's all "street clothes with accents of fairy tale" and her pig is a bit of a tough guy, so she's borrowing a pale pink shirt and leather jacket of mine. And my black "biker" boots, which she seemingly took from me last year. She's only in two scenes, and she's been trying to set expectations on the low side, but I know I'm still going to love it. I can't get enough of my girl, on stage or off. But I think she's just looking forward to the next show, "Zombie Prom." Yes, that's a real thing. G-d help us all.

Max is taking an improv class after school once a week, but I think he misses being in a show. He's been pondering time and the meaning of life lately. I'm really not kidding about that. This morning he asked me, "if all my days are basically the same, what's the point of all this?" I pointed out that there are exceptional days, like when you go on a Disney cruise, but yea, life is repetitive. I don't think he appreciated my answer. I think he's a little bored with his life right now, solidly in the middle of the elementary school years. I need to find him some excitement.

Then again, I could use some excitement too. Of the non-Donald Trump variety, that is.

Oh, and I cooked again today. My eyes were bigger than my appetite though. I always take too much pasta.

Pasta with turkey meat sauce and lemon-pepper spinach

Uncommon Goods is Uncommonly Great (Sponsored Post)

Wearing my favorite necklace from UncommonGoods.com at Boston's Lawn on D

This post is sponsored by Uncommon Goods, but all opinions are my own.

I know it's only November 15, but based on the number of catalogs crossing our threshold in each day's mail, the holidays are coming and it's time to shop. Typically, most catalogs I get go straight into the recycle bin without much of a glance, but I always make time to look through the catalog from Uncommon Goods, and to peruse the unique gift guides on UncommonGoods.com.

Uncommon Goods is a company focused on sustainability in all that they do. They believe in creating a positive work environment, with health care benefits for most and fair wages for all, and are committed to treating their employees with dignity and respect. Their products are often handmade, recycled or organic too. The Tagua bib necklace I'm wearing in the photo above, which I've had for years and still never fails to earn me a compliment, is made from the Tagua seed out of Colombia. I bought it for myself for Mother's Day years ago, and it remains one of my go-to pieces.

I've also bought many gifts for family from Uncommon Goods, and they are getting ready for the holiday season with their really helpful gift guides. You can see the UncommmonGoods gift suggestions for women and UncommonGoods gift suggestions for men at these links. I've found their products to be well-made and reliable, and sometimes, simply fun. Enjoy and happy shopping!

What's for Dinner?

A consequence of the fact that Marc is pursuing a certification in sacred music while still working full-time this year has been that I've been trying to help with dinners more around the house. This feels monumental for me, as while I've always attested that I *can* cook, but I do not enjoy cooking.

Raw meat is so, so gross. Especially if the bones are still in it.

No, I'm not a vegetarian, I'd just prefer to not be the one involved with dealing with it.

But now that we're past the craziness of the Jewish holidays and life has settled into a bit more of a routine, I've been helping plan more meals, doing the shopping and the cooking. And I have to admit, it's not as awful as I have always maintained that it is.

(I still haven't dealt with any raw meat with bones though.)

So tonight I picked up Max from aftercare and Hannah from play rehearsal and then cooked dinner when we got home, and cleaned up some simultaneously. It wasn't complicated, frozen tilapia filets with a separate sauce, and asparagus with Parmesan cheese. But everyone ate it, and liked it, it was fairly healthy and it didn't take forever and I survived cooking it and no one got food poisoning. And since we switched our roles, Marc handled the rest of clean up.

I still won't claim that I enjoy cooking - not by any means - but it's getting a little better.

Moving Ahead

Though I was sure I heard the record come to a screeching halt on Wednesday morning, somehow, life didn't stop happening.





In fact, that morning I woke up to an email that Hannah's art was going to be on display, with a small reception, that very same afternoon. Less than a day's notice.

Apparently, this was my second time to find out that morning that change is harder to come by than we think. The same lack of notice happened to us years ago. In 2012, I called the events surrounding that art show a "perfect storm."

We all grieve differently, but it's been really helpful for me to be out and connecting with others. At the Yavneh board meeting and Shabbat dinner. By entertaining Hannah's friends. At a breakfast with dear, like-minded Brandeis friends. At my friend's foster daughter's 1yo birthday party, where my friend told me the story of her mixed-race family being spat at a few weeks ago just a couple towns over (connecting, commiserating and strategizing over bad news counts too). And at a Byzantine music festival last night where Marc's Hebrew College chorus performed alongside various Christian groups.

I really want to keep connecting. I want to keep these conversations going. I want to make sure I don't just slip back to life in 2012, where pick up complications and logistics dominate my thinking.
That's going to be the real challenge for me, because honestly, pick up is hard. Dinner every night is hard. All of the everyday stuff of life can be really hard.

I think a lot of people who voted for Trump have been finding life is really hard, and feeling that the politicians who are supposed to represent them, who are supposed to try to make life a little easier for them, haven't actually had that happen. And their frustration and anger shouldn't be ignored.

So I'm going to keep talking, but I'm going to actively listen too. I'm moving ahead, but hopefully bringing more with me as I go.

Good Day

My every-other-year Brandeis meal

Breakfast with some of my favorite people. 

Watching a one year old taste her first cake. 

And tonight, live music including my husband's first performance in like 20 years. 

Not a bad Saturday at all. 

The Real Friday

It's almost sundown and this day has passed by much quicker than I anticipated. Probably because I let myself take a nap for a bit this afternoon, which is highly unusual for me, but so necessary after a week like this one.

I've got to get ready for Shabbat dinner with Camp Yavneh alums and campers, so I'll leave you with this fantastic "Hamilton"-inspired Adon Olam, the Hebrew song which can be sung to basically any tune ever invented. We sing this at the end of Saturday morning services, and I'm now campaigning to sing it this way at Hannah's bat mitzah. I may not win, but it's making me happy today. And mazel tov to Zoe - what a lucky girl to have this happen to her. I'm sure she's going to be on to great things.



From the video's description:
Cantor Azi Schwartz sings Adon Olam to the tune of 'You'll Be Back' (Hamilton) by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Zoe Cosgrove's Bat Mitzvah at Park Avenue Synagogue, October 22, 2016

Feels Like Friday

It's Thursday night, but due to Veteran's Day and the kids being out of school tomorrow, it feels like a weekend here. I'll be working from home again tomorrow, but Hannah has some friends over now, and one is sleeping over, so that means it's probably the weekend, right? Maybe tomorrow will be a quiet work day.

Surprisingly, things have been okay at work since the election. That's been a relief. I'm probably one of the few people in investment management who cried over how their clients might react when I was crying over so many other factors as well. I still surprise myself that I'm in this business. At times it's hard to care as much as I do.

I'm excited for this weekend. We're going to a Shabbat dinner for the kid's camp tomorrow night, and on Sunday night I'm hosting a fundraiser for MediaGirls. I met founder Michelle Cove when I did a series of videos for JewishBoston.com a few years ago, and since then she's started this fantastic organization. MediaGirls is "a nonprofit organization that teaches girls how to strike back against the media message that their self-worth is based on how "hot" they are. We give girls the skills to critique media messaging, and make content that lifts up girls and women. We publish our participants' work on our blog, allowing girls to become part of the solution. Media, not girls, needs the makeover."

If that sounds like something you'd like to support, click here to donate.

And here's some of Michelle and me. Work-life balance, baby.

Numb and Sad

There's not a lot to be said today.

I've spent a lot of time crying, and am grateful it's a work from home day so I can process my feelings mostly alone.

I keep feeling like this is in some way a referendum against women like me. That the men and women who support Trump don't want women like me, and families like mine, to succeed. And I'm just a professional Jewish woman. I can't imagine what my friends with more labels that differ from "white, Christian male" are feeling today.

I know the right things to do and say. We will recover, and we will go high. But today, we cry.

Now We Wait

It's almost the end of election day. The purple pantsuit I wore as a testament to Pantsuit Nation is now in a ball on the floor (because OMG so uncomfortable), and my comfy slippers are on my feet.

I've made no secrets that I've been with Hillary since the beginning, watching her launch her campaign from a Connecticut parking lot. I wanted her to win so badly in 2008, when I was home on maternity leave with newborn Max and overly invested in primary season. I learned from one of the men who tried to help her shape health care policy during my time at Brandeis. I remember her saying she didn't bake cookies, and even then, I knew I probably wasn't going to be much of a cookie-baker myself.

I've donated to her campaign. I put up a yard sign. Checking my privilege, I wrestled with what more I felt comfortable doing, a topic I hope to explore more some day. I facebooked and tweeted countless articles, made sure my children knew why I was supporting her, and (hopefully) I was cautious about the feelings of others along the way. But I always made myself known.

So tonight we wait, and tomorrow, we work on healing all that this campaign has broken. There is still a lot to be done. But for now, comfy slippers. I hope Hillary has a pair to wear too.

Middle School Math

Hannah forgot her math homework at school. Through the wonders of technology, her friend was able to snap a photo of their worksheets and now Hannah is copying them by hand (because they were half-done, and she doesn't want it to look like she didn't do the work herself). And she is extremely frustrated. Apparently, "everyone already knows how to do all this because all of the other kids take Russian math."

She would really hate me if I made her take Russian math instead of letting her be in the fall play. So no Russian math, and more angst over negative numbers and early algebra.

I was awful at this stuff myself. I used to write "WATCH THE SIGNS!" in giant letters on tests and quizzes because I'd just assume everything was positive, all the time (you'd think I'd be more optimistic!). But she *isn't* awful at it, she's just learning something new and that takes time. And lots of reminders from her mom that math has been very good to our family, and to keep at it.

So I'm by her side, doing middle school math, after hours spent commuting, a high-intensity work day, fielding a call from aftercare that Max bumped his head (he's fine), picking him up from aftercare, cooking dinner and cleaning up.

At least middle school math is a little easier for me, the second time around.

Futzing

I just spent way longer than necessary futzing around trying to make something work on PicMonkey when I have no actual idea on how to do it. At least 90 minutes on something that in truth, no one would remember and most probably won't notice anyway, so now I'm giving up. It was silly to work at it for as long as I did, but I am proud of myself for cutting my losses and not sinking further time into the effort.

Because it's daylight savings and already getting dark and I slept poorly despite having the bed to myself and I've already done enough today and there is still probably more left to do and Google lets things be only so easy but not entirely easy and I'd really rather go watch the latest episode of "This is Us."

I'll get back at you another day, PicMonkey.

Max and Me

Being home alone with Max has meant we've gotten some quality time in together, but I also caught some time alone.

Pavement Coffee, near Berklee

I took him for a haircut and out to dinner last night, and then he put up with me falling asleep at 8:30 while he watched a movie beside me. Then this morning we got up early and took the T into the city so he could attend a music festival at Berklee College of Music. He spent the morning playing the bucket drums and ukulele, folk dancing and singing, while I checked out a very hipster coffeehouse for breakfast and had some pad Thai for lunch. Meals out alone don't happen often, so Thai is real treat for me.

I picked up Max after lunch and we headed over to the Christian Science complex just a few blocks away, which houses the publisher of the Christian Science Monitor. I wanted to take him to see the Mapparium (please click on that for images--you'll want to see it), a spherical glass globe room with a bridge through the middle, frozen in time as the boundaries were in 1935. The globe was commissioned to depict the global focus of the publication. It's fascinating to see the beautiful artistry to the glass panels, but also to see how the world has changed, and try to decipher country names many people have never heard of before. The acoustics in the room are also fun to play with, as voices bounce around and you can hear whispers from strangers on the other side of the room. It's only a 20 minute tour, but Max was totally entranced. Before we headed home, we went inside the Christian Science church as well. The organ pipes were unbelievable. Max took an extra reflective moment there, probably happy for some quiet after a loud and busy morning. Then we made one last stop in the city, at Guitar Center, where Max has picked out what he's sure he wants for Hanukkah this year: a new acoustic guitar.

Max at the Christian Science Center

It was fun to spend some time in the city together, but also fun for me to spend a little time exploring on my own too. I can see Marc and me having more time to do that again in the not-too-distant future, as the kids seem to be spending more and more weekend time away from us. Maybe we won't be limited to our usual suburban spots with a little more time to explore.

Today? Really?

As someone obsessed with my calendar, I'm always looking ahead, plotting things out and theorizing about how life is going to unfold over certain especially busy times. That leads me to feel a sense of discombobulation when those dates actually arrive, and I find I question myself with, "Today? Really?" It's like my mind can't comprehend that enough time has passed to actually be here, in those theorized moments.

This weekend is one of those. When Hannah got the invitation to attend a camp friend's bat mitzvah in Connecticut, we thought about how it might be able to work out. We thought about seeing if other locals could join her. Emails were sent, plans were made, RSVPs were sent, and somehow they're leaving this afternoon to have this weekend away. Hannah's excited, of course. But I'm left asking, "today, really?"

I first noticed this tendency in myself on June 21, 2002. I was up early at home in Ohio with my family, and getting married in two days. The "Today Show" was just coming on, and it started with its usual "today is" and the date. "Today? Really?" This date that I'd been planning towards for the past 13 months wasn't just some date on a hypothetical schedule anymore. It was real, very real--and amazing and terrifying and exciting.

But not something out in the future anymore. It was present, and all-too-soon to be past.

Vanity Fair Proust Questionnaire

Lindsey from "A Design So Vast" recently published her answers to the Vanity Fair Proust Questionnaire, which she said provides answers to some of the "minutiae" of life. I love minutiae myself, so I thought I'd take a stab at answering these too.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Back pain. Something I know all too well. 

Where would you like to live?
I really like where I live now, but eventually I'd like to live someplace where snow removal isn't a major concern.

What is your idea of earthly happiness?
My kids singing "The Cup Song" together in the backseat of the car. 
 
To what faults do you feel most indulgent?  
Harboring high expectations.

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction? Who are your favorite characters in history? Who are your favorite heroines in real life? Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?  
It was this series of questions that made me want to NOT do this quiz, but then I thought my answer here is kind of interesting after all.

I don't really have any.

Maybe Meredith Grey, of Grey's Anatomy, but that's because I've watched her for so many years mostly. But it's hard for me to choose because there is good and bad in everyone, and whenever I think of of someone, I can't invariably say I love everything they've ever done, fictional or not.

Your favorite painter?  
Jackson Pollock. And not just because of his last name. I had this up in my office until they replaced all my walls with glass and turned it into a fishbowl.

Jackson Pollock's "Convergence"

Your favorite musician?  
Early Counting Crows. I can't say I've kept up with them much over the last decade.

The qualities you most admire in a man?  
Compassion

The qualities you most admire in a woman?  
Compassion. Because I'm not sure what gender has to do with this question.

Your favorite virtue?  
The ability to let things go. I'm not good at that.

Your favorite occupation?
I once wanted to be a playwright.

Who would you have liked to be?
A singer on Broadway. Maybe someday.

Where I Live

Lincoln Street in Newton Highlands

Today is one of my work at home Wednesdays, which I told you in a recent post that I've just begun having after years of working from home in a very chopped up way on Tuesdays. So far, I've really been enjoying these Wednesdays, with a longer stretch of quiet time at home where I'm able to do some deeper thinking about work stuff with fewer interruptions. It's been really good for me.

But just like my Tuesdays, I've been using my Wednesdays to get some errands in, and today was no exception...except that it was a particularly lovely fall morning. Okay, yea, the leaves are off all of the trees in the photo above, but that didn't matter. The temperature was perfect for a few walkable errands in my village center. Yes, village.

This morning I was able to go to the dry cleaners, stop at the post office, have a yummy breakfast burrito, buy a baguette for dinner at the local bake shop, and get a manicure all in about 90 minutes, on foot. Which is extra good, because our car, as Marc described it, decided to dress up as Frankenstein on Halloween by getting a bolt lodged in its tire, so I'm without access to a car today.

I love feeling so accomplished by 9:30 in the morning. Then I was able to dive right in to work when I got home, without all of those things nagging over my head for the rest of the day. Or, um, week, as can be the case when it comes to taking in the dry cleaning. ;)

Another #NaBloPoMo

So, Busy Since Birth seems to be barely alive. I've posted only 17 times so far this year, which is pathetic. But like almost every other blogger I've ever encountered, it seems to be getting harder to sustain this (non-paying) medium, and the psychic payoff for doing so is minimal. This March will be 10 years of blogging though, and I am committed to at least hitting that milestone, even if I barely make it to first base.

Oy. A sports metaphor. I'm really sorry about that. Too much time pretending to care about sports at the office. Though, since we're here now, go Tribe! (My Cleveland is showing.)

Anyway, it's another NaBloPoMo, which translates to "bloggers cajoling other bloggers into writing every something every day for a month because we think it's good for us until it actually drives us insane." I've done this a few times now, and those last few days of November are PAINFUL, but the month overall is fantastic. I do feel better when I make time for writing every day, and as my post count this year shows, I haven't been feeling my best this year. Definitely not enough moments of nacho happiness.

I'm still project-less. I mean, Hannah's upcoming bat mitzvah is a huge distraction/amazing thing, and I have some volunteer things that start up soon, but I'm still missing my Having It All Project/Listen To Your Mother side gig that's mine, all mine. I keep waiting for inspiration to strike, but I have yet to find it at the bottom of an episode of Real Housewives (though I'm really digging Siggy on RHONJ, anyone else?). So I am giving myself until mid-January for the idea to just come to me, and if it doesn't by then, I will find ways to actively seek it out.

And in the meantime, a little NaBloPoMo never *really* hurt anyone, right? Here we go.