I’ve done it.
Not sure why, at this point. For the last four years, I’ve tried my damnedest to win NaNoWriMo, to just get to that crucible of 50k, and it’s never happened. The first year, I was just lazy. I tried it with Curtand, and it never got stuck. The next year, I don’t know — busy with work or some such thing. In 2002, I got pneumonia. That was a winner. And 2003? It seems a sign of senility, but I don’t know where the hell I was in 2003.
What I do know is that I’ve gotten better each year. Somehow, I’ve managed to put a few more days into each November trial, so the way I figure it, but the year 2026, I should be close to the mark.
Feels funny, having not written in so long. Most of my troubles, I’m sure, could be washed away with some practice. I was perusing some of the Fatherhood writing I did last year as Soph was coming around. I’m proud of that, that I have some documentation of her time with us as an infant — I’m sure it will be special to catch up with it all when she’s grown. And there, I’ve let her down by not keeping up with the last year. She’s amazing and deserves more from me there.
So, here goes something of an update: Kira’s still in school. She has just started her second year of her master’s program in speech pathology at Portland State University and seems to be loving it. It’s fascinating to see someone so perfectly suited for a profession; it’s hard to find that sort in marketing. Everyone seems to want to be something else. Anyhow, she’s doing well. She finally realized what it means to be “over-extended” and quit her gig coaching at the MAC evenings and weekends. Nice to have her around the house.
Sophie is still at Peggy’s during the week. She’s loving it, but it’s killing us. Timing is everything, and we’ll get her back on a better schedule over the holidays.
I’m not sure where I left off, but I’m thoroughly enjoying my teaching at the University of Phoenix. Now, here’s a group that’s gotten some undue bad press of late. Whatever the news says, the classroom experience here is fantastic. These folks are there for business. We’re headed into week 5, the last week of our public relations course on Tuesday.
We’re expanding into Calgary, Alberta come January. I’ve been building out our media plan for the city on a shoestring. It’s enormously frustrating at times watching my budget get devoured by cost-per-lead initiatives that don’t seem to deliver across the border. More on this later.
The folks are in Wales, Cardiff University, and Dad’s started school officially. Sounds like he’s loving it, taking classes in everything from news in the public sector to online journalism — Photoshop is on the calendar — kudos to him for stepping into it all again.
That’s everyone for now. Just coming back here has made me realize how behind I got on the site redesign. The header graphic is all out of whack, the sidebar is funny, and how in the hell do I use CSS to move the calendar element a few pixels to the right? I’ve got to write some music for an office presentation — or maybe just record “Christmas Time is Here” (Uber-classic Charlie Brown era goodness) — and make people happy that way. Oh, and I have some 28 papers to grade this week. Whatever happened to growing old on a beach, greying, bearding, and writing?