Updated NaNoWriMo numbers at the end.

I originally posted the following on Facebook, but it was coming across like a sad cry for birthday wishes. Certainly not my intent. For some reason, this seems the appropriate place to lay down these words and perhaps cover with a nice warm blanket.

Thank you, friends. We all need in our lives a moment when we feel a little sparkly-special. It’s really still ok to have some sort of childlike expectations for birthdays. Remember when it was, like, the best day of the year?! And all great things were to happen on your birthday?

That’s calmed down for me, but even now I look forward to cake and some form of deep-fried vegetables. Great things.

Let’s overshare for a moment, shall we? And by “we” I mean “me” because you’ve all been clamoring for access to the deep recesses of my mind. And also this is my monologue and I’m going to enjoy the moment.

I’ve been reflecting on recent events and also my sense of place. More than usual (and that’s a lot), I’m feeling quite “too” these days, — either as in “excessively” or, perhaps more kindly, as in “as well.” It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a thing. It makes me who I am and gives me a voice and a sense of straddling worlds. Good for humor, even better for inner-thigh stretching.

I think that feeling – which is hard to pin down because it’s toffee-sticky and I’m wading in it, trying not to eat my way out – means something. But it doesn’t have to. I’m writing about it. We’ll see if that brings meaning. I hope at some point in the future it is crafted into something funny. Or at least purposeful in a way that doesn’t make people want to gag.

Maybe it just stays in the draft folder, which is, I think, where too much of our lives end up. My goal for this next year is to polish more of my life into something better resembling a completed draft.

Which is all just to say that I am lucky to know you and receive your good wishes. I hope to use them well.

Have some cake and carry on.

And now the numbers.

Day 11 Stats:

• Essay: “Errant Blue Lines” 1684 words
• Essay: “Because Of Course There’s Pink Eye” 365 words

Daily Word Count: 2049

Total Word Count: 28,865

Day 12 Stats:

• Essay: “Because Of Course There’s Pink Eye” 384 words
• Essay: “This Year Thanksgiving is the Fourth Thursday in November”   1145 words

Daily Word Count: 1529

Total Word Count: 30,385

Day 13 Stats:

• Essay: “When the Tooth Fairy is Your Family’s Financial Advisor” 107 Words

Daily Word Count: 107

Total Word Count: 30,492

Day 14 Stats:

• Essay: “When the Tooth Fairy is Your Family’s Financial Advisor”   278 Words
• Essay: “Birthday Stress for Ten Seconds”  1341 words
• Essay: “This Side of the Table” 2575 Words

Daily Word Count: 4194

Total Word Count: 34,686