Rounding That First Quarter Bend!

17,000 words!

Those in the Know will be thrilled to hear that I have rounded that first crucial quarter turn in my sacred quest to deliver the great Canadian-American novel to the world!  It is a wonderful feeling to be nearly one tenth of the way toward my goal!

The other day when I passed the 10,000 word mark, I told Scott that I had completed 1/5 of my novel and he thought he could confuse me later by referring to that day's achievement as "20%" of the novel.  Naturally,  I brushed aside his smarty-pants joke.  It may be true that I am a complete dunce at mathematics somewhat mathematically challenged,  but I know one fifth when I see it and 10,000 words is definitely one fifth of 50,000 words!

Now, (oh joy!) I have almost doubled that number of words and am steaming my way slowly but steadily toward a solid tenth of the final product!  Or maybe it is 17%?  Oh well, who cares?  The point is that I am moving mountains here and this novel is really getting interesting!

We are having an unseasonably warm week and I, for one,  am loving it!  I spent the morning indoors wasting time, mostly taking care of important chores,  for the most part,  and chatting with Sven.  What a fine young man he is turning out to be!  He is enjoying college and has clearly benefited a great deal from our conversations.  I don't like to boast,  but TITK will not be surprised to learn that I have been a reliable counselor for Sven, particularly in matters related to mathematics and physics (which I naturally have advised him to avoid,  since everyone knows they make no sense whatsoever).  He will have no trouble excelling at his dream of a profession in architecture if he simply follows my example of combining exquisite decorating taste with a flair for dramatic design.  He was so grateful for my advice that he was speechless! I told him not to mention it.

I spent the early part of the afternoon sitting outside attempting to add to my word count.  It was not easy due to the turkeys who insisted on wandering annoyingly all over the garden.   I like nature as long as it stays far away from me as much as the next person but I find it incredibly irritating a little distracting when the local fauna decide to camp out in our backyard and proceed to make a great deal of noise!  Great Scott! What a lot of gobbling and clucking!  It is a wonder I am able to string a single coherent sentence together!  But, as Those in the Know already know,  I am one of those rare spirits who is truly at odds with nature at one with nature.  I am the soul of the natural woman.

Well, the sun is beginning to set, so it is time for me to prepare another healthy, nutritious and delicious dinner for my little family.  I never complain,  but the truth is that I have been finding it very annoying! a little exasperating some days having to cut short a fertile creative harvest in order to attend to boring old matters like putting food on the table for my hungry family.  I ask myself: why do people need to eat so much, anyway?  But never mind that.  Lucky for them  me,  my dear spouse decided to put together a spinach lasagna last night so that supper would be a snap tonight.  Obviously,  I could easily have produced a terrible wonderful frozen home-cooked dinner with my usual breezy flair,  but this is so much easier  nicer!

Tomorrow is Scott's and my wedding anniversary.  I must say,  some days it feels like only last month that we got married. Not yesterday,  as some people so pithily like to say ( obviously they are lying through their teeth) since we did move all over the place and produce five children in between our wedding day and today, but I think a month sounds about right.  We plan to go out for dinner at a little place near the riverfront.  Kiki and Dennis are coming in to take the boys out for Mexican,  so we can enjoy our anniversary tête à tête* without any worries.  I never cease to marvel at the thoughtfulness of my first-born.  She is so much like me!

Well, I must go and pop that pan of lasagna into the oven now and get the salad ready. I am really too good.

Good Day to All!

*tête à tête :  another sophisticated French gem from moi to you.  It means delicious supper accompanied by fine french wine.  Use it with my compliments.

Here is an old Anniversary photo:

22 Years