Friday, October 29, 2010

Friday's at the Piedmont Grille

On Today's Menu -- Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup

Just wanted to let you all know, yes, it was decreed on last night's local news an EF1 tornado dropped down in my neck of the woods Wednesday night. From where it touched down to my house is about a half mile as the crow flies. Because I'm so smaht (and watch strange tv shows) I figured out the tornado didn't touch the ground when it hit my house, it stayed aloft but still, whirled through the trees and hit the corner of my house and split itself in two -- to run along the side of the house and do damage that way and to throw spears into the ground in the front yard. Some of the sticks in the front yard were buried, point down into the ground 4 inches. Scary stuff man. I worked about 5 hours in the yard yesterday. Scared a bunch of people when I whipped out the ax. Of course, I looked like I just escaped Bedlam -- work boots, hiking socks, grubby dirty shorts, and a tank top with bleach stains. Let's not forget the crazy hair-do. However, it is Halloween.

I've been working on revisions. Argh! 'Nuff said.

I've also decided I'm not going to do NaNo. Too much pressure. Even though I've outlined the new story and wrote about 6k in backstory, I just don't have the presence of mind to sign up. I know me. I won't be able to do it, then feel guilty about it, then try and get 10k a day done to stop feeling guilty, ruin Thanksgiving and beat myself up that I couldn't finish. It's a nice dream but not for me. But Good Luck to those of you who do.

Thanks to all my new followers/friends. I appreciate each and every one of you and although I probably haven't followed you back or commented yet, please note, I'm not a snob and I'm not snubbing you, it's the writing. The writing comes first.

And to all my old friends -- sorry I haven't been around much, I'm in revisions and trying to finish up the short story for the anthology. I'm sure you all know how it goes. Something has to give and unfortunately it's always blogging -- much as I'd like it to be showering. Or cooking. Or dealing with school vacations in October. Since when do kids get a break for Halloween???

Anyway, Happy Halloween. Happy NaNo. Have a great weekend. Hopefully I'll have revisions done by next week and I'll be able to play on the blogs again.

26 comments:

Kelsey (Dominique) Ridge said...

You don't have to feel pressured to do NaNo. I think if it's fun, there's really no point in doing it.
Happy revisions. :)

Karen Baldwin said...

Ooooh! NaNo is still haunting me! BOOOOOO!

Laurel Garver said...

I also blogged about saying no to NaNo. Come be my buddy! :-)

Lydia Kang said...

If only the socks you were had been striped black and orange. That would have REALLY completed the bedlam look.
I can't believe that tornado kinda clipped your property. I'm so glad you are okay!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I understand! I'm doing NaNo next month, so I won't be around much in November.
And let the neighbors wonder about that axe!

Ann Best said...

Not long ago when I was living close to the D.C. area in Northern Virginia (I'm west and south now) we experienced the tail-end of a tornado. Uprooted a huge tree in the yard where we were renting, and scattered limbs everywhere; took off our neighbor's roof, and messed up another neighbor's grape vines. Split open a huge oak tree at the local baptist church around the corner. Scary stuff. Glad you and yours are okay!!

Keep writing. That's more important than blogging.
Ann

Melissa Gill said...

Gosh, I live in Kansas and I don't think I've ever had a tornado that close to me. I'm going to at least give NaNo a shot, but it'll probably wind up like most of my diets. Strong for a couple of days and then...

Anne R. Allen said...

Yikes. That tornado sounds way more terrifying than anything Halloween can scare up.

I second Dominique's comment. NaNo is for fun. If it isn't, don't do it.

Unknown said...

I'm not doing NaNo either. Gonna cheer everyone on this year from the sidelines :))

Have a Happy Halloween!!

Jennifer Shirk said...

I'm not a NaNoer either. But I'm excited for everyone who is. :)

Happy Halloween!

Bish Denham said...

I understand about revisions! I'm just really glad you and your family and your house came through relatively unscathed. (I'd love to see photos of the spears in the ground.)

Anonymous said...

I've just decided to scrap NaNo this year as well, so I understand totally. Other writing comes first,

And grilled cheese sandwiches and soup sounds delicious!

Unknown said...

Glad you weathered the storm.

I'm not doing NaNo either. More important things to do ... polishing my own novel for one.

Happy Halloween to you too, Anne.

PS. Watch out for that axe!

Liza said...

Glad that tornado didn't do worse damage. Good for you for NaNo. I'm passing too. My part-time job feels like working two days in one. It takes a day in between to recover...and...Thanksgiving for up to 30 looms. I'd like to give it a shot...but maybe in March or April when life is a little more manageable. And yea, I need to be working on revisions too.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I LOVE grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup! Thanks for serving them to us at your awesome grill. And tornadoes are scary.

The Words Crafter said...

Well. Now I know what I'm having tonight! YUM! My train was a few blocks over-yours was up close and personal. I am so glad it skipped you, for the most part. Four inches deep-dang!

Hmmmm, well, since you're on the other side of it, maybe you can file the experience away and use it in a novel....? I think I might do the same. Good luck with the revisions and I smiled at the image you created in my mind :)

Shelley Sly said...

Anne, I'm sorry I'm behind on your posts, but I just want to say that I'm so glad you and MB are okay! Tornadoes are scary... we've been having tons of warnings, but haven't had any closer than 1/2 hour away (however many miles that is.) Hope you have a wonderful weekend in spite of everything that's been going on!

dolorah said...

Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches is my favorite rainy day lunch. And, its raining here.

Good luck with the editing. I'm a weird one, I like editing and revising. I also have other plans for November.

Glad to see you survived the tornado. Scary to think about.

......dhole

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Writing should ALWAYS come first! Unless there is a tornado. Good luck, Anne! And I'm glad your property is mostly okay. That really is scary. :(

Erin Kuhns said...

I'd decided no Nano for me, but a friend is trying really hard to convince me--especially since I remarked on how I'm feeling a certain sense of Nano withdrawal and sadness about not doing it. Now I'm on the fence.

Good for you for recognizing that it's just not a good time for you right now. I'm hoping that whatever I decide, that it'll ultimately be the best decision for me.

P.S. So good to be back!!

Unknown said...

I'm not doing NaNo this year, either, even though it's always fun. I know I won't make it and I'm already stressed with work and we host Thanksgiving, so... better if I don't add to the madness and then fail.

Your tornado clean-up scenario reminded me of a scene in Misery for some reason. Does she go chop wood and come in with an axe? I can't even remember but it came to mind, lol.

Best of luck with revisions!!!

Talli Roland said...

Happy Hallowe'en and I'm so happy the tornado did not get you!

Unspoken said...

Glad to hear the warning dropped! Yikes!! happy Halloween to you and your little one :).

LARCHMONT said...

Glad the tornado knew better than to try to mess with you. Sorry to hear, though, that you had so much work to do cleaning it up. I guess it could've been worse. Thanks for the post!

Matthew MacNish said...

I love grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup! Like nothing else.

Lola Sharp said...

OMG! A tornado hit your house?! Holy shit. I'm so glad you're okay!

Using an axe is great at relieving tension when you're revising or querying. ;)

Also, I love grilled cheese and tomato sammies. Yumm.