NASA lassoing an asteroid?

This month, NASA has announced plans to lasso an asteroid, so it can be parked near the moon, and a team of four astronauts can study it.  The purpose of the study is to see how to mine asteroids for materials and to learn more about the mineral composition of the solar system.  For this experiment, the U.S. is planning to spend 100 million dollars.

$100 million dollars to figure out how to mine and destroy other bodies in our solar system, when we have hungry children and homeless people right here that we should be taking care of first.  $100 million would go far to help resolve those issues.

We should be spending money on finding forms of sustainable energy right here on earth, before we start thinking of mining elsewhere.  They think about traveling out into space and colonizing other planets.  Why not take better care of the one we live on now?  We need to quit treating the Earth as disposable.     

I don't understand how we can have $100 million to spend for exploration, when we still have such a huge national debt.  Why isn't the money going toward that?

There are so many other immediate and more important needs for the money right here on Earth.  Why can't those people in Washington understand this?

Camp has begun!

Well, we're four days into camp, and I'm ahead of schedule.  I challenged myself to write 30k words this month, and I'm already over 5k.  Having the list of plot points that I wrote last month is really coming in handy.  I'm just writing random scenes from that list in whatever order I feel like it, and I'll fit them into the manuscript later.  I don't feel rushed or stressed this time, and I think the time I spent preparing for it was really worth it.  Of course, already knowing what the book was about and being familiar with the characters and setting help too.

The weight loss has really slowed down, but that's because I had several days of eating off-plan, but I'm back on target now.  It really does make a difference!

My sleep pattern has totally switched again.  I'm staying up all night and usually crashing in the afternoon and waking in the evening.  Not good for me, and it sure makes the day fly by quickly.  I wake up, and soon afterwards, everyone is ready for bed.  I'm getting good writing time in, but I don't want to mess up my health.

Had a dream the other day in which I was walking down the grassy median in a street pushing a cart, like a shopping cart, but different.  At one point, I "woke up" (in my dream) and was just standing there with my cart while traffic went by.  I truly hope that doesn't mean I'm going to end up as a bag lady!  I don't think it meant that, as the cart wasn't filled with my only belongings.  I had been shopping or was moving something from one place to my home/new home.

Still working on the map of the town in my book, but I did finish designing the block that her shop is on.  Trust me, it looks great :)

Back to work...

5 Days 'til Camp

Camp's coming up just around the corner, and I'm really looking forward to it, though I am a little stressed.  We can choose our own word count goal this time, and I'm going for 30k words rather than 50k.  That should give me some free time to continue the plotting and editing that I've been working on this month.  

When I began the book in NaNo 2011, I pantsed it.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, it means that I flew by the seat of my pants without doing any planning or plotting beforehand.  This time, I'm plotting.  It seems to make more sense, since I am now well-acquainted with the characters and the plot and basically know where I'm going with it.

I've filled many pages of my book journal with notes, to-do lists, character lists, and plot points that I want to hit and have been busy researching different topics for the book.  Research is wonderfully fun, but I can get lost for an hour at a time just learning about one thing, and I have to drag myself back to the work.

Our cabinmates have been assigned, and though I was able to get into a cabin with one writing buddy, the other one that I requested got sorted into a different cabin, but we have not abandoned her.  We've set up a group where the three of us can stay in touch through camp, which would be difficult otherwise, since we are all in different time zones.  It's great fun exploring our little world, and I look forward to exciting times ahead.

I have an almost full jar of coffee, boxes of Crystal Light Peach Iced Tea, a variety of herbal teas, and Russell Stover's Sugar Free Chocolate to keep me going through camp.  Now if I can only stock up on some Honey Crisp apples!

First 20 gone!

Just a quick post to say that I've had my first 20-pound loss and received my second NutriBear in my shipment the other day.  Yay me!

So, to celebrate, I went out and got a hair cut.  Well, I wanted the cut, but the main reason I went to the salon instead of having my sister-in-law cut it, as usual, is that I love having someone else shampoo my hair.  It's awesome!  When I was working and was having a bad day, or bad week, I'd make an appointment for a trim, when all I really wanted was the head massage...I mean shampoo.  It's like ordering pizza when all you really want is the Coke Zero but are too lazy to drive to the store.  Yes, I've done that too!

The other good news is that I'm happy with my new cut :)

Actually, I'm down 70 pounds from where I was several years ago when I was at my heaviest, so I'm going in the right direction, just have to keep at it!

I'm stressing a little about Camp next month, there's just so much work that I need to do before then...but it will get done.  I've requested two cabinmates, and hopefully we'll all be placed together.  

Lost a little

In spite of having a week without being able to get to the refrigerator (due to kitchen refinishing) and two birthday dinners, I did manage to lose several pounds!  It should go a little faster now that the impediments are gone.

I've tried everything on the NS diabetic menu that doesn't include red meat and have come up with a nice selection of meals that I will order again.  My favorite breakfast is still the Turkey Sausage and Egg Muffin.  I add a slice of cheese for my Power Fuel.  Red Beans and Rice are my favorite lunch choice, a little Tabasco sauce heats it up nicely.  The Roasted Turkey Medallions with Mashed Potato is my favorite dinner.  It's like having Thanksgiving several times a month, minus the stuffing and pumpkin pie.  

I spent half the day shifting my manuscript notes from one journal to a new one, so I'll have more room to write in it.  In doing so, I came up with a whole raft of story ideas (including some for a different book) and research topics.  Spent a while researching Victorian shop windows, Victorian women's clothing, mullioned windows, and natural hot springs (for another story), among other things.  Wood crafting is next on my list.

Everyone is ramping up for Camp NaNo next month, and I just realized how much prep work I have to do this month to get ready.  This year we can set our own word count goal, but I'm hoping to get the full 50k again.  I have five books on my TBR list for this month to fulfill the March mini-challenge on Goodreads, and I would like to finish them all before Camp begins, since I won't be able to do much reading next month.

A commercial on TV said that the average adult only remembers 40% of the day before.  If only!  I think I'd be happy with that.  This growing older thing can be a real pain.  I make typo's when I'm handwriting things, and I insert completely wrong words that make no sense in my emails.  How can "isn't" change to "what"?  I think my brain synapses are fried.

On a very happy note, I ordered a pair of pants last week that arrived yesterday, and I've lost enough weight to need pants two sizes smaller, so I sent them back today.  Yay me!

Books Read February 2013

Annino, Barbra

• Opal Fire 

Fiction.  Stacy Justice struggles with her witchy heritage as she helps her cousin figure out who torched her bar.  Stacy doesn’t realize that she, too, might end up as a victim.

Arlington, Lucy

• Every Trick in the Book 

Fiction.  Lila has her hands full helping out with the Book and Author Festival in charming Inspiration Valley, when she suddenly finds herself embroiled in yet another murder, this time of a woman who looks just like her.

Barrett, Lorna

• Bookmarked for Death

Fiction.  Tricia, owner of Haven’t Got a Clue mystery bookstore, finds the guest author at her book signing deader than a doorknob.  Can she solve the mystery without putting herself in the firing line?  

Bartlett, Lorraine

• One Hot Murder 

Fiction.  Katie Bonner is hard at work trying to keep the Artist’s Alley afloat.  She needs a new HVAC system to fight off the summer’s heat wave, but without any spare money, there doesn’t seem to be a solution in sight.  At least not one she’s willing to accept.

Birkett, Dea

• Serpent in Paradise

Non-fiction.  Account of author’s stay on the isolated South Seas Pitcairn Island.

Burke, Kealan Patrick

• The Turtle Boy 

Fiction.  Novella of a young boy who goes for a summer walk with his friend only to find incomprehensible horror.

Challinor, C.S.

• Christmas is Murder 

Fiction.  Rex Graves is invited to spend Christmas in an isolated English manor hotel.  When he arrives in the midst of a blizzard, he finds himself in the company of several other vacationers.  Expecting to spend a quiet holiday, they are plunged into a mystery when one of them is murdered.

Christian, Glynn

• Mrs. Christian:  Bounty Mutineer 

Non-fiction.  Fascinating history of the Tahitian wife of mutineer Fletcher Christian, with whom she colonized isolated Pitcairn Island, and for which she gave women the vote, written by a direct descendant.

Connolly, Sheila

• Buried in a Bog 

Fiction.  A young Bostonian finds herself in a small village in southern Ireland after making a promise to her grandmother that she would visit the land her family was from.  Almost at once, the body of a man long-dead is found in the local bog, and Maura might be the next victim.

Galenorn, Yasmine

• Haunted Moon 

Fiction.  13th book in the wonderful Otherworld series.  Camille and the others take on Gulakah and the undead as their battle against Shadow Wing continues.

Karp, Larry

• The Ragtime Kid 

Fiction.  A young piano player seeking his fame and fortune travels to Sedalia, Missouri to study ragtime music with Scott Joplin.  Arriving in town, he stumbles over the body of a slain woman, and so the mystery begins.

Lummis, Trevor

• Pitcairn Island: Life and Death in Eden 

Non-fiction.  History of the mutiny and the early days of life on Pitcairn Island.

Marks, Kathy

• Lost Paradise: From Mutiny on the Bounty to a Modern-Day Legacy of Sexual Mayhem, the Dark Secrets of Pitcairn Island Revealed

Non-fiction.  Heart-wrenching account of the 2004 trials of the 13 men charged with sexual offenses against underaged girls on the, supposedly, idyllic tropical Pitcairn island, famous for being the stronghold of the mutineers from the Bounty in the 18th century.

One project completed!

The last two days have been non-NS days.  This whole week has been so bad!  Saturday, we went out to eat dinner for Mom's birthday at King's Hawaiian Restaurant and Bakery, the same place my cake came from.  It was great, and I ate too much, even though I brought home half my meal.  Most of it was meat, which I'm not used to eating, so I made sure to also get some fruit dairy in.  

I spent the weekend working on the lap afghan I was making for Mom and finally finished it Sunday evening, just in time!  She loved it :)
Here's a pic:

It came out really well.  Have left over yarn of the lighter green, so I'll make Tyger a kitty blanket.  Then maybe he'll give me MY blanket back.

I got into a good rhythm while working on the afghan.  I'd crochet five rows then take a little break and drink some water followed by several minutes of walking in place, then I'd go back to crocheting.  Have to get some movement back into my day!  I'll be using my shake weight and exercise DVDs to help get me back into shape, and watching the scale go down is a real motivator.

Didn't get any writing done at all this weekend, but I did some research and made some good plot notes.  All the hours of crocheting gave me plenty of time to think.