Somehow or another, Thanksgiving was two weeks ago and Christmas is two weeks away. There is a lot going on, and I am trying to savor the moments.

Speaking of savoring, November was an exciting month for me. As I referenced in my post of November 11, I spent a lot of time writing last month. Time that was measured in both minutes and words. As for the minutes, God only knows how many of them I spent sitting at my computer pounding out a first draft for my next novel. The words can be counted though, and according to Microsoft Word, I wrote 50,018 of them. (What makes it better is that when added to my prior writing, I now have a complete first draft.)

According to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo*) hierarchy, that makes me a winner. And if you’re a winner, you get stuff. That means I get stuff! Stuff I can purchase to show everybody that I’m a winner. I know, it sounds funny. But you better believe I have ordered myself a t-shirt that declares to the world that I won NaNoWriMo. Not only will I proudly wear it, but I’ll also happily confuse people about what in the world NaNoWriMo is. So, it’s doubly good.

And, I am not the only winner in our family. My 13-year-old grandson, Manning, plays Pop Warner Pee Wee Football and his team had an amazing season. The day after Thanksgiving they won their Division II Regional Championship.

Manning asked for a picture with him and his whole (present) family after his team won the Regional Championship. It was special to have cousins in town to cheer him on.

Do you know what that means to win a regional championship? It means they’re going to Disney World – specifically the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. There they have played two games against other regional winners and have smoked them. On Friday morning they will play in the Pop Warner Superbowl for all the marbles and ESPN 3 will even televise it.

I am so proud of Manning and his brother, Winston, too. Winston’s team did not make the playoffs this year, but I can tell you that both boys have practiced and trained so that they can be the best they can be on the field. It bleeds over to off the field as well. They are turning into fine young, albeit goofy at times, men.

Friday morning you can find me out at Disney rooting for Manning. I hope he wins! Of course, in my book he is already a winner. Well, not in my actual book, but you know what I mean.

The complex is huge. It’s like a city, and they really went all out for the kids.

*****

*If you’ve ever entertained the idea of writing a novel, this is a great way to launch those ideas into a bonified manuscript. Maybe you’ll want to join in next year. Here is the NaNoWriMo mission statement:

“National Novel Writing Month is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that believes in the transformational power of creativity. We provide the structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds—on and off the page.”

*****