Day 9: NaNoWriMo and SBD, with some Christmas crafts thrown in for spice

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at Chez Murphy.  That doesn't mean that I have my tree up already, or lights twinkling in the windows.  It doesn't mean that I'm watching movies with my kids like Elf or Polar Express.  It also doesn't mean that I'm whipping up batches of cookies or wreaths of fudge, planning my holiday menus with care.  Nay.

What that means here at my house is that I'm busy making Christmas crafts.

I do this every year.  I blame my mother, who started me early down this road, making sequined ball ornaments for teachers, watching her crochet a baby afghan for the procreating teachers I had through the years.  So, in keeping with family tradition, I make at least half of the gifts that we give away.

Sometimes it's a scarf, sometimes it's a toe sock filled with dry rice and cloves to be heated up in the microwave to sooth those tense muscles.  Sometimes, it's a rag doll, or a doll quilt.

This year, I only had a few crafts to undertake.  Which is good, because between my full time job as a wife/mom, my part time job at the mall and the full/part time job as a wanna be writer, there was hardly any time to pick up a knitting needle.

So this year, I focused on my two nieces, living abroad in Germany.  Just about everything I've ever given them has been either hand sewn or knitted.  I like this, I hope that one day, they remember Aunt Kearsie as that Lady Who Made Me Cool Stuff That I Probably Just Drooled On Or Let The Dog Use As A Chewtoy.

For my youngest niece, I added to her collection of felt food and made these:

Felt utensils

A flipper spatula, a rubber spatula, a wooden spoon, a whisk and an utensil cup, to hold them all.  I might get crazy and add to this, it just depends on time.

Then, for my older niece, I found out she collects elephants.  Sooo, I sewed this little thing up:

Now back to our regular junk.

NaNoWriMo:  inspiration struck twice yesterday, which had me at my keyboard, tap tap tapping away.  I've just put my main character into the worst situation possible, which made my head hurt and I had to take a giant break where I watched the first episode of Conan on TBS and ate a leisurely lunch.  Now I'm back, refreshed, if not a bit sleepy from my Zucchini Lasagna, and ready to write some intense scenes.  Or watch a movie.  With my Snuggie.

South Beach:  Totally bored to death, but I lost 2 more lbs so whatareyougonnado?  Tonight, I'm making something uber easy:  Italian Chicken.  I'm just beating the tar out of a couple of chicken breasts and marinading them in Italian dressing, then cooking at 325 for an hour.  Boom.  

Hope your day is oisome. 

Day 2: NaNoWriMo/South Beach

Welp, folks, I managed to make it through one entire day of NaNoWriMo and South Beach.

As you can see I added a little widget thingy to help me keep track of my word count.  Because it's all about counting words this month.  Look over there -->  See it?

You may be wondering, why am I writing about NaNoWriMo and South Beach on this here blog?  Well, it's because I figure if I make my goals for both public, to all three of you who read this, then you three kind readers will help keep me accountable.  But if I do it alone, then it'll just be more room for failure.

NaNoWriMo:  I'll just be writing a few scenes today.  One of the beautiful things about NaNo is that they like you to fly by the seat of your pants.  And that's just the way I like to write.  It's a rush, almost, sitting here at my Mac, with nary an idea of what will come out as the result.  It's like verbal lip rings.  Daring and bold, and a bit risky.  I like it.  So I'll be writing lots of scenes, just to spit them out.  And then revise them later.  String them together.  Fix words and whathaveyou.  All in hopes it turns into a novel.

South Beach:  So I didn't cheat at all yesterday, despite the two giant bowls full of candy from my kids' trick or treating forays.  I would say I deserve a Klondike bar, but alas, they are not South Beach approved.  I did find a good recipe I'll share, because I can't bore you enough with my "day to day run of the mill shizz"  (Love that, Shelley!)

Baked Egg Cups

(I found this recipe on my Spark Recipe app on my iPrecious)

Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Spray cups of muffin pans with cooking spray.  I did all twelve.  Even though the recipe only calls for six.  I'm an overachiever. 

You'll need:

Ham slices (I used Canadian bacon instead, because that's what I had)

Eggs (I would use large eggs, not jumbo or dude, you'll be overflowing with eggs)

Salt/Pepper (I also used Paprika)

Cheese (low fat, 2% kind)

Chives (didn't use this at all, because I didn't have any)

After cups are sprayed, line cups of muffin tin with ham or Canadian bacon slices.  They will stick up out of the cups.  This is ok.  I used two Canadian bacon slices for each cup, overlapping them.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Take out of oven, crack open an egg and pour it into the Canadian bacon cup.  Break yolk slightly.  Salt, pepper, paprika.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs.  Add cheese.  I skip this part for myself, because I don't have to have cheese.  Call me weird.  Serve immediately.  Or, do like I did and put them in an airtight container so Hubs and I can grab one each morning, heat it up and voila!  Breakfast.  

Also, today, after I do my cleaning/laundry/blahblah/writing/music listening/Ellen watching I'll start making felt toys for my two awesome nieces.  I must get a head start on this because they are in Germany, so I must account for shipping.

I shall be using this picture as inspiration:

This is from the etsy shop royalrugrats and they make amazing felt toys, should you be in the market for such niceties.

Also I have one last locker hooking project.  I know, I know, you wish I'd shut up about locker hooking if I'm not going to do my tutorial.  I agree, frustrated friend. I shall get right on that, after NaNo is over.

Happy Tuesday.