Bud Is Back and NaNoWriMo News

My sweetie is back after a week long much needed vacation, and by golly, what did we do?  Eat supper and fall asleep on the couch!  We are fans of Desperate Housewives, oddly enough, and have missed the last three weeks.  Bud's parents kindly tape them for us, and unfortunately, we were able to watch only one last night before Bud's lids started to get heavy, and he was out for the count.  I quickly followed.  I decided since he had experienced the trauma on vacation of having to  eat tater-tot casserole (I've never had it, and never will!), he should have a dinner that I was sure he hadn't had while gone:  caesar salad and shrimp scampi.  He loves to eat the shrimp on slices of baguette, so he can soak up the sauce.  An ice cold beer completed the meal.  And I cooked the shrimp just right--finally getting the hang of that.


Bud hates tater-tot casserole; a painful memory of repeat casserole dinners throughout his high school years.  I can't make a casserole for him, cause he just won't eat it.  Now, my family is not from Iowa; we are from Chicago.  My parents were both born and raised in Chicago, and tater-tot casserole is, I think, a very rural Midwest kinda thing. I come from the land of polish sausage, corned beef and cabbage, and beer.  So, we never had tater-tot casserole, or tater-tots at home.  I love me some tater-tots, with lots of ketchup and salt.  But never ever on top of a casserole!  I had a great giggle on Bud's part, imagining the horror he felt when presented with that dish for supper.  And he said it was a mixture of ground beef and veggies in a soupy sauce, which must have caused shudders to run down his spine.  But being the gracious and polite guest he was, he ate it.  Poor baby.  This has set back my attempts to feed him a casserole for at least another ten years.  Dammit!  And I've got some really good recipes :{

Tater Tot Casserole

On NaNoWriMo news, I have hit 25,000 words!  Holy Crap!  I love the weekly pep emails participants get from the organizers, because they are a good reminder to keep going and toss in a bomb to shake things up.  I'm trying to move things along, and I hate to create trauma in my character's world, but I'm thinking I may have to introduce someone bad who has only the wrong intentions.  My character is making progress in her quest to have a better life, but we all have set backs, right?  Even make believe people.  And I already know how it's going to end, just not sure how the road will lead me there.  I did have thoughts the other night that I should have written a completely different story--doh!  A ghost story for kids.  But it's too late, so I'll just have to shelve  that until next year.  Bud reminded me, of course, that I've only got 14 more days to go, and to kick it into gear.  So I will endeavor to type until the keyboard smokes, and I have finished before November 30th.  I found out that I will probably have to type over 50,000 words, so when I send it in for an official word count, I have a word cushion.  Apparently, not all word counters are equal.  I would have a cow, a sheep, and a pig if I missed my count by a few hundred words.  I would have failed my mission, but be the proud owner of my own little farm.  Moo  Baah Oink