Balancing life and NaNoWriMo

Whew. I'm back. I didn't mean to go away, but my modem crapped out last Thursday and they couldn't send a tech with a new one until Monday night. That's right, I spent all weekend (including a snowed in Friday night) without Internet service. This meant no Netflix, no Hulu, and -- more importantly -- no blogging. Sigh. It was a rough few days, but I made it.

Anyhow ... let's get on with it.

The first time I successfully completed National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), I was living in a small town far away from my friends. I would work, workout, and write. That's all I had going on in my life.

These days, it's a little different. I still have three jobs, I've been keeping up with my workouts, and I also have a pretty active social life. Here are a few things I've been up to this month:

Attending a baby shower for my bestie, Ashley.  

Baby S is due at the end of December, and I can't wait to meet her.

Watching a lip sync contest at a local bar. 

It was a blast, though I disagreed with the judges' choice for the winner.

Completing my eighth race of the year.

Attending a blind beer tasting event where I won two growlers!

Going to hockey games ... and becoming a very big Iowa Wild fan.

Taking and passing an exam for work. 

It's the first of about a handful I'll need to complete to move up.

Seeing Trans-Siberian Orchestra live!

It was an unbelievable show of music and lights.

Spending time with my favorite people.

All of this ... and yet I'm still progressing with my NaNoWriMo project.

I wish I could tell you it's been easy. But it hasn't.

I've always been someone who needed a block of 4-5 hours to sit down and write. But if I waited for that, I'd never have time to write. Instead, I'm having to take advantage of some smaller blocks of time. I've taken my laptop to work and written during my lunch hour. One day, I went to a coffee shop after work and wrote for 90 minutes before my favorite fitness class. I'm learning that an hour here and an hour there really adds up. And, honestly, I tend to be more productive in those short bursts because I realize my time is at a premium.

But I didn't want to give up all the fun things around me just to work on my novel. I mean, I get some of my inspiration from the world around me, so I need to be out in it.

*****

Current word count: 40,031
I didn't write at all last night, and I probably won't get any writing done tonight because it's Christmas decorating night. (Click here to read more about why I decorate on Nov. 24 each year.) I still feel confident about my ability to finish though.