NaNoWriMo 2015!

As some of you know, and many of you don't, November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short.

I am super stoked to begin next week.

I am going to be working on the second draft of my story. I'm hoping to complete the book by the end of November and start asking some people to read/edit it for me. If you're interested in doing so, please let me know. I already have a few people who have volunteered.

I have started looking forward to this every year. I've done it the last two years, and it's been really fun for me. I enjoy setting goals and achieving them. The first year, I barely didn't make my goal, and last year I did. I'm hoping to finish the whole draft this time.

I've been trying to finish prepping for my second draft while I wait for November to start, but I'm chomping at the bit. I want to get going. Grig told me I could, but I told him I didn't want to mess up my word count.

If you are interested in writing at all, you can go to the website http://nanowrimo.org/dashboard, and set up an account. It's not necessary to do so in order to participate, but they help you keep track of how many words you write a day. If you're the kind of person who likes to write and talk to other people who are interested in writing, you can also find out who else is in the area and when they're meeting.

Personally, I don't go to any of the meetings, because my husband is the best writing buddy I could ask for. We bounce ideas off of each other for our various stories and we have a pretty good time. We usually both end up getting excited about each other's stories and ideas.

However, if you don't have a spouse or friend who enjoys writing as much as you do, my cousin, who hosts these meetings in her area, find them very enjoyable.

So, yeah. I'm pretty excited about it. It might mean I miss a blog here or there, but I'm hoping I can do both. I mostly am planning on writing late at night or early in the morning. It's very difficult to write while Kevin is awake. He tends to demand my attention and he doesn't take naps.

We'll see how it goes.

This is the official NaNoWriMo logo.

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

If you ask anyone who's spent even a smidgen of time around me lately, they would probably tell you that I'm pretty excited. Tomorrow's the big day!

We are driving an hour and a half to pick up our new puppy from my aunt's home. I think our home has been about puppy-proofed (though I guess we'll find out for sure when he gets here).

It's been nearly a month since we've last seen the little guy, so I'm sure he's changed a bit. I was talking to my aunt on the phone yesterday, and she said our puppy is usually the first one to greet her when she goes outside, so that made us pretty happy.

We went to her home a few months ago with a very definite type of puppy in mind. The puppy shouldn't startle too much at loud noises (since we have a toddler), it should be curious, it should be friendly, fairly calm, and submissive. To our delight, more than one of the puppies fit this profile!

The mother was very friendly and calm, though I was surprised by just how petite she was. I'm used to Dakota's build, and this beautiful little mother was so delicate!

Our puppy's mother.

My cousin was pretty funny. He kept telling us, "You can have one for free! Take it with you!" We told him thank you, and we wanted to take one, but they were still too young. He then informed us that they had started eating solid food. His mother then explained to him that they still were drinking milk, so they still needed to stay with their mother.

When we saw the puppies, I was thrilled. Secretly, I hadn't really want just a black and white border collie. They're cute, but I like a little more color variation...and variation I received:

I love his coloring.

They were perfect. Now, if only they would fit our profile.

As we were examining the puppies, I made my elephant-impersonation, which if you haven't heard it before, can be quite startling. Two of the puppies were hiding, so they were ruled out of our choosing, one of the puppies took off running, and two sat still and didn't seem bothered by the sound at all.

We determined those two were in the running. They had similar markings (a.k.a adorable), so their look didn't affect the decision. One was a girl and one was a boy. I was more inclined toward the girl (I'd never owned a boy dog before), but Grig kind of fell for the boy. Both were friendly and laid easily on their backs (a sign of submission), but the girl fought it just slightly. I decided to step out on a limb and agreed to get the boy puppy (if we were going to get one). At the time, we still weren't sure, because we wanted to have enough money for vet bills and things.

Having decided which puppy we would take if we were going to take one, we took some pictures so that we could look at them while we were thinking about it. He's cute from all angles:

 Of course, the most important thing was that he got along with Kevin. Kevin had just woken up from a nap, so he wasn't too enthusiastic about it at first. However, he warmed up to it.

Do I need to say why I love this picture?

Grig and his two boys.

I'm so stoked! Tomorrow morning can't come soon enough. There are a few things we need to finish in preparation, but over-all, I think we're prepared. I've spent the last couple weeks deep-cleaning my house and we moved all the books and bookshelves to our room so they won't get chewed on. I just have to hide the computer chords (and finish the dishes) and we're good to go!

I think.

We went to the dog park last night with Dakota, and there were so many puppies there! It made me a  little crazy. They were really cute, and Kevin did really well with them. I think he'll warm up to the idea.

Dakota also did really well at the dog park. She usually likes puppies and bonds well with dogs that she's introduced to when they are young. Hopefully the pup won't bother her too bad. We're going to try to make sure he leaves her alone when she's had enough.

She is old, after all.

We think they kind of look alike too, down to the heart-shaped mark on the forehead.

I'm going to be a bit outnumbered by boys, but I'm getting used to that. At least I still have Dakota.

Wish us luck!

My neighbor is getting one as well, so we're actually driving back with two pups. She still has two more (I think they're both girls) if anyone is interested. Let me know ;).

Preparation for a Dog

Kevin and what will become his new dog

In the year 2000, I got a puppy.  She was an adorable little ball of fluff.  I loved her and trained her to the best of my abilities.  She turned into a pretty good dog, with one or two minor quirks.  She is terrified of thunderstorms, and turns destructive when they are around.  She also was taught by our other dog to run away from home.

This dog of mine grew older with me, but when I had to leave home for college she remained there.  She has been cared for by my younger siblings and they've done a good job.

However, her last caretakers are getting ready to leave on missions, and so Grig and I, after some thought and prayer, have decided to have my ancient 13-year-old dog come and live the rest of her life with us.

She's in really good shape for her age.  She's a border collie/Australian shepherd cross.  We expect her to live a few more years.

Last night, we went out and purchased a dog crate for her to live in.  I'm going to have to crate train her for when we are gone so that she doesn't ruin our apartment.  I'm not expecting too many problems, because I know her, and I know how good of a dog she is.

However, she's never been an inside dog before.  This will be a new and wonderful experience for her.  I think she will especially like not being out in the winter.  She's getting too old for the extreme cold.

The nice thing about bringing an adult dog into our home is that I get a chance to experience having an mature dog before I try to house train a puppy.  My dog is unlikely to chew on the furniture or have accidents in the house.  She has grown up around kids and is a wonderful kid-dog.  She also already has a lot of things, is up-to-date on shots, and comes with dog food.  That will certainly help the expenses. 

I'm looking forward to her coming.  Actually that's a bit of an understatement.  I'm STOKED about her coming.  However, I'm also a bit nervous.  I know it's going to be more work for me, but I'm up for it.  Change, in general, always kind of scares me at first.  It doesn't matter what it is, any big change makes me kind of nervous.  Even when I'm looking forward to it.

So, we're finally getting a dog.  It's just one that's already mine.  Isn't life whacked?

And wonderful?