I have not blogged in a long time. November was supposed to be the month of writing, as in NaNoWriMo, and I think I did pretty well, all things considered. I did not, as I so foolishly thought on October 31, beat last year’s record by 42,000 words. But I did make it to 15,000, and I did have a lot of fun when I did write, and I do plan to keep up my crazy intergalactic chick-lit story on a roll.

I’m in awe of a few things – that I can write 1667 crappy words in just under 90 minutes, if my mood is right. That I could bang out 15,000 words in a month at all, and that my story really did take on a life of its own after a while. I had no control over which characters I was going to like best, or who’d blossom and who’d whither. It was a pretty fascinating ride.

I took a week off in the middle of November, and I thought I’d use the time to write, but I didn’t turn on my computer once. And you know what? It kicked ass. It was so, so nice to take some time to do other things. I ran errands. I cooked. I went to a shitty yoga class. I had lunch with my parents. It was fabulous. I didn’t even need to go away – getting out of the house to do some fun stuff was enough for me.

It also made me think, about what I like to do and what I want to keep on doing. That was the point of the week off, really, because I was about to lose my cool in many ways and needed to reevaluate before everyone else reevaluated for me. Not all my conlcusions involved work. I started to think about taking an art class, cooking more, and buying a pass for the yoga studio downtown.

I found a couple of good recipes, so one down, two to go.

This weekend I’ll probably buy the yoga pass. Because, really, why not? It’s $99 for 12 weeks, and it’s good for me. And I know it’s super-trendy, but man, I love it. I’ve written about that before. I love it even more now that I”m in decent shape, because it’s easier, but it’s also so much more satisfying.

And there – there’s another thing. I love being in shape. I’ve been feeling kind of blah about my routine lately – I mean, I feel fabulous after I go, but I need to mix it up. So mix it up I shall. I already have the mat and the logo-appropriate yoga wear, for God’s sake.

As for the art class? I’ve been inteviewing all these artists lately for an assignment, and every time I talk to one of them I come home and think “Painting! Yeah, that’s it! I’m going to take painting!” Then I talk to someone who loves clay, and I come home determined to overcome my previously horrendous experience with pottery. I think I have settled, though. I’m going to try drawing. I was a great little artist when I was nine. Unfortunately, I still draw like I did in the fourth grade. So maybe a little art education will be good for my soul.

Come to think of it, a lot of things would be good for my soul. It’s Friday, maybe a glass of wine is one of them!