I've always loved Independence Day - the actual holiday, as well as the movie. I've always been very interested in the history of my country and the Revolutionary War has a special fascination for me. I love to hear the stories of the struggling Colonials against the Redcoats, of George Washington leading his troops with a quiet strength.

I get tears in my eyes at the words in the Star Spangled Banner (even now as I'm thinking of them) and I love the sight of the fireworks over Sandy City Hall on a warm, dark summer evening.

I'm grateful for those people in the past who sacrificed so much so that we could have all that we have today. I just hope that we all take time each day - not just one day a year - to think about what we have and those who gave it to us.

One of this weeks subjects for my writing challenge is...What would you do if you woke up in another country and no one could understand you?

The same thing I do every day...repeat myself, get frustrated, then finally give up. I have a hard enough time speaking English =) If I had a dollar for every time someone couldn't understand what I was saying, I'd be richer than Donald Trump.

I'm trying to find the power cord to my ancient laptop so I can write from the privacy of my own couch, instead of sitting here in front of this machine.

I've decided that it's easier to be creative away from the monitor...I don't know if that's because I sit in front of a computer a day or what.

NaNoWriMo 2007 is almost over and I'm still at 5000 words. The goal is 50,000 by the 30th.

You'll never guess how I'm spending my Thanksgiving weekend =)

This is my 3rd or 4th year participating in National Novel Writing Month - or NaNoWriMo for short. (for more info go to www.nanowrimo.org.)
More to come!

I had a great idea for a story and things were going smoothly. I usually take ideas from real life and let my imagination go...fleshing out every which way the situation could play out. But then real life starts to mimic the story line...a little...and I get stuck.

It's hard to use my imagination when too much is going on in reality...which is why I write late at night when I'm tired and my brain is able to, um, slow down a little. I also get a lot of great story ideas right smack in the middle of my work day, which can be a little frustrating since I rarely (if ever) have a chance to write down the thought before it's gone. I email a lot of snippets to myself so that I can keep them for later reference...email other people a lot of stuff too, just to get some feedback.

I think about using dating and relationships for a story but everything tends to turn to Motherhood. And being single. And it's not so much fun to write about reality...it's too close to home.

Thank goodness for blogs, eh?