excuses for not writing

I have taken a little break from blogging (not really on purpose) and since my current circumstances would love to let me go another full week before posting, I'm getting on top of this.

This is ironically perfect timing for me to be making excuses for not writing, since November has just started and along with being Movember, or No-Shave November, it is also National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I failed last year on day 1, but this year I've stashed a Moleskine in my purse and I'm shooting for the 250 words a day required of MiniWriMo, a Delaware Writers' Group activity. To be honest, I failed day 1 already AGAIN, but I've been writing in my head? I used to write papers that way in college. It counts, right?

So what are my current circumstances? I'm hiding behind the Delta baggage claim at MSP, waiting for my partner in crime/research/wedding attendance to pick me up after an orthodontist appointment. (I mean Liz, for those of you more curious readers out there.)

I'm back in the Midwest for a whirlwind weekend and mainly for a wedding tomorrow somewhere in Iowa. I'm planning a few quick rondez vous in N-field, one of them being my sister, who is eager to be my Ole host instead of the other way around.

My roommates and I were certain our schedules would clear up after the summer months, but that seems less and less realistic the more time that passes. In the last two weeks (since my last post) I have tasted 10-13 new pumpkin beers (yes, my roundup is forthcoming). I have roasted weenies. We had our first gathering at the not-so-new-anymore house, and filled the living room with great girls and ill-behaved cats. I went to the Fall Festival at church intending to chaperone a youth sleepover that no one showed up to.

The next afternoon I met two long-lost friends in Manhattan from two different past lives, and managed to hop one of the last busses out of the city before the whole city shut down in front of Sandy. (Props to the coolheaded Greyhound employee with stellar communication skills and a steady voice. Quote of the night: "My main priority is to get all of you out of my city." Oddly comforting.)

Then, I was trapped inside my house for two days while Frankenstorm raged outside; saw "Seven Psychopaths" which was pretty phenomenal; threw a couple of dresses and something soft to sleep in into a duffel bag and came here. It's been the good kind of "one thing after another." Mostly. I'm rolling with it.

So. Here are the weeks in a couple of pictures...