There IS......

Knitting happening! Bet you thought I've been forgetting all about knitting, what with all the stuff going on around here. About two weeks of Unadulterated Chaos and Turbulence, to be exact.

Let's see...I guess it was Halloween, actually. Busy times at the Museum, what with roaming around in the guise of Mary Hayes Chynoweth, Psychic Healer & Spiritualist. Also a couple of tours, participating in a reception for the teachers, in town for a conference and preparing for both. We also had some arts projects going - kiddies could make masks or design tombstones, that sort of thing.

In the midst of it all, I says to myself says I, "Donna's going to be at Barnes & Noble, and going there with Dr Who for a couple of hours of nothing' but sittin' and knittin' sounds like just the tab."

In case you can't tell from here, I am VERY near the end of the Dr Who scarf, and draping it all the way across the table AND all the way across the chair opposite was, might I add, very satisfying. There's a LOT O' SCARF there, ladeeez and gennulmens. It engendered some comment from passers-by, who seemed appropriately impressed with the sheer volume of the whole thing.

HOWEVER!! I must admit, although I'm proud of my knittifying, although I'm feeling a certain delicious anticipation as I near the completion of a truly major project, although I find myself wickedly chortling as I knit along......to be entirely fair and honest, here's a truth: Donna crochets - probably a lot better than I knit. She's made stunning doilies, with beads , that are eye-wateringly beautiful. But her Latest and Greatest are afghans (yes, that's PLURAL) that she's been making for various family members. Now, there are those who sort of pfaw and pshooey about crocheting. I am not one of those. I know how to crochet; I must admit, I have even enjoyed crocheting in the past. This is just my KNIT period. And Donna has been working on her current afghan about as long as I've been at the Dr. Who. FYI: she's using double strands and a pretty hefty hook. Further FYI: the girl is FAST ! And she is also very near the end of her current afghan project.

Let me just put it this way:

What you see here is a thick, chocolate-brown, waffle-patterned (as in "WARM") heavy (think about 15#, seriously) afghan . Actually at that point, it's Afghan with a capital *A*. Is that not a wonder of modern needle-plying? Whereas my scarf has overbulged my largest knitting basket, her afghan must be carried about in a laundry basket! True story!! Just wanted to give credit where due, and share with y'all a bit of something has me impressed four ways from Sunday - and then some.

That being said, I am writing at nearly 9:00 PM on Friday night, which is (as has no doubt not passed your attention, HALLOWEEN! My most favoritest holiday, and even as I speak, my talking book is filled with candy ("Oooooh, you're so SCARY" {cackle cackle cackle}) It looks exactly like a real book, and kids love it when we open it and it talks. Or....maybe not, but *I* love it when I open it.

My Evangeline is a perfect Halloween cat -- as a result, she traditionally spends the holiday enjoying a meditation in the basement, with Lilliane. They don't ever try to get outside, but I prefer knowing that we can hold the door open for the little tykes without worry. Evangeline is, by the way, my Familiar, my companion...much more than just a "pet" to me. I love Lilliane (although she is for sure Mr Dearling's good buddy) but Evangeline and I have one of those relationships. You catfolks know whereof I speak. 'Sides that, she's just so durn CUTE!

Anyway, as I enjoy the winding down of this, my most favoritest (October) holiday, I am here also announcing (as I have before) that, while I intend to post here at LEAST once a week, I may not be able to do more than that, because, Ladies and Gennulmens, in roughly ONE HOUR FIFTEEN MINUTES I will convert from being an enthusiastic knitter, contented museum guide, happy catmom, card-carrying SCBWI member, writer of children's SHORT stories and all around ME......to being (Harvey, a drumroll here, please)----

A NOVELIST! You know, like Anne Rice. Like Stephen King. Like Danielle Steele. A Novelist. Me. As I mentioned on October 12, I have registered for the NaNoWriMo , and therefore, at precisely 12:01 AM (now exactly 30 minutes away) I will Begin Writing my 50,000 page novel. I will complete this novel -- or so I anticipate -- on November 30 at midnight.

I am telling you this for the following reasons: 1) my writing here may be somewhat truncated, in spite of my best efforts; 2) I'm told that the fear of shame and embarrassment caused by failure is a powerful motivator; 3) I'm actually a little bit excited. Wish me luck, cheer me on...or heck, go ahead, laugh at me. I can take it.

IF I do, in fact that is, WHEN I successfully complete my novel, I will announce it here. In fact.....I believe I'll post my weekly word totals here. And I'll be honest (so if I fall behind, you'll know it).

I have laid in snacks for my first writing session: Almonette cookies, ham for sammiches....but best of all, mini-corn-dogs . Tell me THAT's not incentive! Tonight I mean to try to write for a minimum of two hours, hopefully three. I can make it up tomorrow when Daylight Savings ends anyway. (Look, I KNOW it doesn't work that way, nevermind!)

And as I wander off, I will leave you with an image of Extraordinary High Drama, a moment which, but for the existence of a thin pane of glass, would have ended in a scene of such carnage as to forbid my speaking of it here:

How's that for drama?