Copyright Bill Watterson, 1993

It’s seems silly, but this is something I try to live by. I’m not the only one either. I take Calvin’s words in the last panel to heart. Control the little things before you try controlling your life.

I’ve gone through my fair share of peanut butter and the past few times, I’ve been successfully at preserving the beauty of something undisturbed by human hands. I’ve left enough of the peanut butter top alone so it can stay until the end. It’s a test of willpower. I’ve also found that this is much easier to carry out when you’re the only person who has access to the jar. When you start adding more people into the mix, it gets harder and harder to share the opinion that the peanut butter needs to stay smooth. Not everyone shares your views on the seemingly unnecessary topic of leaving something alone.

But since I live alone now, with only two other people within walking distance who understand peanut butter, I have no trouble maintaining beauty in a jar of peanut butter. Or so I thought. Life threw me a curve-ball in my most recent jar and I’m trying to find a way to cope. Take a look:

It seems I’ve broken some rule or tread into uncharted territory. I did my best to dig up from the bottom, but the top decided it wanted to meet the bottom in the middle. It’s curious.

How would you deal with something like this? Sure, the beauty is still preserved on top but it’s sinking. The beauty is backing away from me. But why?

Not my best work, but for less than a day of work, not my worst.

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This year I decided to get into better shape again. I was in decent shape before I left for the Peace Corps, I biked every day and I lifted weights a few times a week. However, since coming to Ukraine I’m lost nearly all muscle tone I’ve ever had. It’s time to get that back.

How you ask? Push-ups, sit-ups, and dips. I’ve decided I’m going to do them every day and slowly increase the amount I do. In January, I’ll do ten a day. In February, I’ll do twenty a day. So on and so forth.

By the end of the year, assuming I can keep with it that long, I’ll have done 23,840 of each.

Once the weather gets nice again, it’s been snowing nearly ever day for the past week, I’m going to start running again. My IT band is all healed up and I miss feeling like I’m in shape.

This past weekend, we figured it out with the help of Google+ Hangouts (video chat supporting up to ten users at a time). Since it’s the middle of winter, I set up my apartment so I could smoke inside. This involved me closing off my bedroom, hanging a blanket over the door to the kitchen, and opening a window in the kitchen. It really didn’t make a difference because my apartment stinks still, but it gave me peace of mind.

Anyway, I’ve been smoking cigars and pipes on occasion for five or six years now. I like to think I’ve figured things out. But this past weekend made me question my beliefs because it was the first time I’ve thrown up due to smoking.

In my defense, it was the first time smoking in a barely ventilated room. The cigar also gave me the biggest buzz I’ve ever received. Maybe it wasn’t the cigar at all. Maybe it was the quesadillas I ate before smoking. But whatever the reason, I puked. I’m not ashamed. What happened, happened.

That puke session now makes two or three times in a row where I’ve puked and it hasn’t been alcohol related. I like to think I’m growing up. But at the same time, I have a nagging feeling that the fact that I threw up smoking a cigar like it was my first time makes me feel like I’m getting younger. Whatever it is, I thought you should know.

When home-brewing root beer using yeast and sugar to make carbonation. Do not decide that you want the drink to be sweeter after you add the yeast and let it sit for a day. You will have a fountain of root beer to deal with.

I would know.

During one of my peanut butter mashing madness parties, my landlord and landlady stopped by to collect my rent or my bills or to get paint, I can’t remember which. I apologized for the obvious mess in my kitchen because Ukraine has changed my sense of ownership in an apartment. They asked what I was making and I tried my hardest to explain what it was since it’s not found on the shelves here. I offered them a taste.

My landlady tried a spoon of it and loved it. I can still see her reaction. It made me happy because it suggested I wasn’t crazy for loving this so much.

Fast forward to this past New Years when I took a trip to Poland. I found peanut butter easily in the supermarket and knew I had to buy a few jars of it. I bought two, one for me and one as a gift for my landlady. I stowed them in my bags and headed to the airport to return to Ukraine. I worried about the security check because I wasn’t checking any bags but the man who checked my bag let the peanut butter through and he even let a bottle of hot sauce which was over the 100mL limit through. It felt good.

But in Vienna, things changed. I had about 30 minutes to get from my arrival gate to my departure gate which included a passport and security check. I bolted from line to line. At the security check, the woman found my hot sauce and immediately told me it’s over the limit and tossed it in the trash. I let it go because it was over the limit.

But when she touched my peanut butter, when she touched my landlady’s peanut butter, things crossed the line. She told me it wasn’t allowed. At the time, I was convinced peanut butter was fine because as far as I’m concerned, it’s not a liquid (I later checked and the TSA specifically states peanut butter is on the no fly list). It holds its shape outside of a container. I started yelling, delaying myself in trying to save what was dear to me.  She had no sympathy. I had five minutes before my plane took off so I left her with a, “Whatever lady, you’ve ruined my day.” And she had.

Today, I had to drop my rent money off at my landlord and landlady’s apartment. Before I did, however, I noticed I had some homemade peanut butter sitting in a jar in the fridge. I quickly transferred it to a nicer container and I set out the door to deliver the money and what I considered to be far more valuable than gold.

She was delighted with her gift. She practically ran into the kitchen and started slicing bread so she could eat some of the peanut butter.

It’s nice to know that I can make something with my hands, something from my culture, and have it well received, even if only by a small audience, in this foreign culture.

It’s the truth. Anyone who wants to challenge it, I’m more than willing to be put to the test.

2011 is over and 2012 is here. I’m not going to suggest that this is the last year we’ll be alive because all that fuss about the Mayans is misinterpreted. They didn’t predict that the world would end, they predicted that a new era will begin. That’s how I’m going to look at things.

In 2011, I taught and traveled and interacted with a new community. I had happiness and hurts. I was reunited with friends and family only to leave them again. I found a cat and lost him soon after. I met with a very angry Marley. I longed to ride my motorcycle as I walked everywhere. I made peanut butter, vanilla, and sauerkraut from scratch (among other things). I wrote. I worked out. I improved myself.

Now in 2012, I’m looking forward to some things. For starters:

The Zawacki Center for Learning: This is the working title I gave to the English library I’m working on opening in my school. We have our funds, now we just need to spend them according to our budget.

My parents are coming to visit: They scheduled their airfare and they’ll be my first guests in Ukraine (unless one of you decides to come visit before April). Maybe they’ll get to visit The Zawacki Center. “Zawackis visit The Zawacki Center” the headline will read.

I will COS: COS means Close/Continuation of Service. It means I’ll be heading home to America towards the end of this year. The past year has taught me how much I love my home and how much I miss my friends and family.

Marley: I’ll have this ball of fluff in my arms once more and I won’t let go until she forgives me.

Start a new career: I’m actually looking forward to finding a new job. I’ve done a lot of research into what I want to do when I get back. If anyone knows anyone in the publishing industry, hook me up.

Publish my book: My plan is to have my book completed, edited and ready to print before June 1st (I have a coupon which expires in June that has created the perfect deadline for me). I’ll keep you updated on the progress. For example, I wrote a few PHP scripts today to help me with the editing process.

Drive: This goes along with COSing, but “I WANT TO GO FAST!”

Visit Lithuania: My heritage is half Polish, 3/8 Lithuanian, and 1/8 Italian. I’ve now visited Italy and Poland. This summer, I plan to check Lithuania off that list so I can start and finish writing my book based on my travels.

These are only a few of the things I’m looking forward to this year. If, for some reason, the Mayans are wrong and the world actually ends this year, fear not because Geoff and I have our survival plans ready.

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I met Tara back at the end of October. She was on a trip to find herself and to transition between lives. She and Jeramie were good friends back in high school and they decided to catch up in Ukraine. We had a good time together, despite Tara being a Gopher.

Did I make you proud, Dad?

I want to go to India because that’s where people go to find themselves.

-Sasha, 8th grade

You may remember that I had an advertisement in my old website design asking for donations to a grant I was working on. Well, with the new layout (which no one has commented on sadly) I forgot to add the advertisement back to the page. But that didn’t stop people from donating. In the matter of a few days, the remaining $1,415 I needed for my grant was donated.

I don’t know who donated all or part of that (I have a hunch), but thank you. I want to thank everyone who donated. Every donation made a difference. I’ll keep you updated on my progress of my grant from here on out.

Thanks again.

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Received this package in the mail today. It completely proves why your parents don’t even stand a chance up against my parents in a contest of coolness.

Contents include:

• An Angry Birds “Flippin’ the Bird” t-shirt
• A handful of instant coffee packets
• A jar of creamy Peter Pan peanut butter
• 12 of the best Uniball pens
• Crest Multicare Whitening Freshmint toothpaste
• Jiffypop stove-top popcorn
• Reese’s Trees
• Star Wars silly bands (I think these my sister added these)
• 14 oz. of cheese powder for macaroni and cheese
• Ground cumin
• Trader Joe’s Jalapeno Hot Sauce
• Legos. I repeat, LEGOS. (totally built the set before doing anything else)
• Two boxes of Jiffy brownie mix
• Two boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix
• A Charlie Brown Christmas book with the story recorded by my mom

Just try to beat that.

The past couple of months I’ve spent watching all nine seasons of Roseanne. I’ve learned a few things while being entertained.

First, a show needs time to prove itself. The characters need to be developed by the actors and vice versa. The story won’t be clear from the beginning but it will show up over time.

Second, comedians aren’t always the best choice for actors. Just because they can stand up on stage and crack jokes and tell stories, it doesn’t mean they’ll work well-being on camera.

Third, when the story finally finds itself, it needs to be guarded otherwise it will disappear. The best parts of Roseanne are the middle seasons. The beginning was shaky and the end just had me wishing for the real end.

Season eight had the best title credits and season nine had the best version of the theme song.

Finally, for me the best part of a television show is the last episodes. I like to see how the writers choose to tie up loose ends. I like to see how they change our notions about people and events and places in the show. In Seinfeld, the characters remained the same as they always did–being assholes. In The Wonder Years, we learn what happens to Kevin and Winnie after that fateful summer, and our hearts break. In both Friends and Boy Meets World, the gangs break up and go in their separate directions. In Roseanne, she writes off the last season as what would have been, not what was. We learn the truth about things that have been false the entire time. It hurts a little to know we’ve been deceived.

I’m both happy and sad that I’m done watching Roseanne because it was a good show and a bad show at the same time. I felt like I could relate to it because it was working class being working class. But the end took stabs at both working and upper classes and I didn’t like it one bit. In the end, it ruined the view we were given of a family just trying to barely get by.

If you’ve got nine seasons of television time to spare, I suggest watching Roseanne.

Novel Cover Design

First, I spent my weekend working at Camp Excite (our regional English language camp which we work on weekends and for a week during the summer). As seems it is the growing trend this year, we played dodge ball. I was nervous playing because I haven’t done any physical activity on my knee since I saw the doctor a month ago and I was afraid to find out if my knee hadn’t healed yet.

After a healthy game of dodge ball, and some other running games, I went to sleep with an uneasy feeling in my knee. I woke up, however, feeling fine. It seems that my knee has healed. I don’t plan on pushing it just yet, but instead I’ll wait until the Spring rolls around.

To further my physical activity, I found out that I will be dancing with the teachers on Saturday as a small part of the Winter Ball at my school. We have a choreographed dance–I’m not sure what the style is–and we’re practicing this week. I was also told that we’ll be on television. If I find the link with me dancing, I’ll make sure to post it here.

I have a rule in my country studies class I have every Friday, the last lesson of the day (when it isn’t cancelled). More often than not, the kids would rather be somewhere else. Their minds are on the weekend. I foresaw this and proposed a rule the first day of class. I knew their phones would be ringing as their friends got out of class, so I made a deal. If their phones ring in class, I get to answer it. To seal the deal, if my phone rings in class, I’ll pass if off to someone to answer it.

Thus far, my phone hasn’t rang yet. But if it had, I would gladly have handed it over for someone to answer. More importantly, the students have received many phone calls–as I suspected. The problem is, when they hear it ring, their natural reaction is to silence it. I haven’t gotten to answer one yet. I came the closest this past weekend. But still no dice.

The best part is, is that the teacher in charge of the class love this policy. She usually sits in the back and works on other things while I conduct class. But she perks up when the phones ring. She’s started cheering me on, hoping that I get to answer.

That, my friends, is sharing cultural knowledge from the American classroom to the Ukrainian classroom.

Finally, when I was writing my bi-weekly newsletter the last time around. I started thinking about how often I write about drinking in them. Sure, it’s part of the culture here to an extent, but there is a line somewhere.

I spent the month of November working on being a better man but I failed to acknowledge some key aspects of my life that could use some work, namely where drinking is involved. I am not suggesting that I think I’m an alcoholic. I assure you, I’m not. I am suggesting that when I have a reason to celebrate, I can let things get out of hand. A drink too much here and there ends up causing problems.

My new path towards being a better man is to start controlling my vices. I’m not going to cut them out completely because I don’t think they’re completely out of control. I’m just going to cut back.

In December, I watch Christmas movies. Without fail, in early December I will watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and shortly afterwards, I’ll watch It’s a Wonderful Life.

These are two completely different movies, offering completely different values to live by. Charlie Brown turns out to be the biggest hypocrite but it doesn’t bother me. The made for TV special preaches against the overly consumer driven nature of the holiday season and makes a call for us to return to the roots of the holiday, the religion.

It’s funny to realize how much consumerism is involved in the Peanuts brand. You want to buy something with the Peanuts characters on it? Chances are, you can. A couple of years back, without any trouble my mom found a fake Christmas tree made to resemble the real one from the holiday special (I won’t even dig into that irony). We have a family friend who has hundreds upon hundreds of Peanuts ornaments because every year he rushes out to buy them from Hallmark.

I’m not saying that the Christmas special is any less special for these facts, I’m just suggesting that you watch it with a grain of salt.

That being said, if anyone is wondering what to get me for Christmas, I want real estate.

It’s a neat tool, but it got me thinking. Why do I care who I write like? I’ve heard arguments about why people try to resemble great writers. They’ll memorize passages of their work so their mind is ingrained with the rhythm and flow of words they used. That makes sense, but it’s still dumb.

I want to write something and I want it to sound like me. Before I die, I want to be able to put any piece of my writing into the website and have it say that I write like Danny Zawacki.

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I started the month with a few goals in mind. I wanted to take 30 Day Challenge to be a Better Man. I wanted to deactivate my Facebook account, at least for the month of November. I wanted to grow a mustache to support prostate cancer awareness. I wanted to write 50,000 towards my novel to finally win NaNoWriMo. And finally, I wanted to do 3,000 sit ups and 3,000 push ups in increase my health and physique. I passed this month with flying colors.

First off, today’s final task for my 30 Day Challenge was to get a straight razor shave. While I certainly would love to take part in this, I was limited in how I could. I certainly have access to a straight razor, there is an old Soviet era Drujzba (Friend) sitting in the drawer not three feet from where I am sitting and writing this:

The problem is, I can’t for the life of me get it sharp enough to cut through hair. I don’t have a whet stone with a fine enough grit, nor do I have any of the other requirements for sharpening it.

I did, however, get a very similar experience by using a single bladed razor to shave, though I nicked the hell out of my face. I have a single bladed razor which I picked up at the bazaar. I use Sputnik razors just like my old host dad Vlodja used to do:

Here’s the result of the shave:

You may notice that I left the mustache. My month of growing it is up, so I certainly could shave it away but I’ve opted to keep it. I’m going to try for a beard next. We’ll see how long that takes.

Here’s the stages of my mustache growing over the past month:

 

As I mentioned a few days ago, I won NaNoWriMo with 50,045 words this year and promptly hung up my pen for the remainder of the month. I’ve been itching to get back to writing though. I don’t want the freakish calluses on my index and middle fingers to disappear before I start again. Today I played around with how I’m going to get all the words into digital form and found out how frustrating Microsoft’s speech recognition can be. I’ll give it another go before I give up on it.

And finally, I completed my 3,000 push ups and sit ups today. I’ll also be taking a break from these before I get back into them. It’s tiring. I don’t have a photo from the beginning of the month because I forgot to take one, but I do have a photo from when I began doing push ups and sit ups back in August. The bulk of my toning has come in the past month. Here’s the before and after:

The pictures might not show it, but there is a definite difference from then to now and it doesn’t have to do with my tan.

I will admit, I went onto Facebook once this month. I wanted to check a message that was left on my cat’s profile page on her birthday. When I opened the page, it looked clunky, old and ugly. I was on for less than five minutes. I have no desire to go back. I’m going to remain off of Facebook. If you really want to find me on a social network, I play around with Google+ from time to time, check out my profile and circle me if you want.

I think that about sums it up. I want to thank everyone for keeping up with me this month. I had a great time doing all of it, even if I might have complained from time to time about being tired. Do you have any more challenges you’d like to see me complete? Shoot me an email at danny@sassyhacksaws.com or leave a comment. I’ll be happy to take up new challenges.

Today’s task in my 30 Day Challenge is to conquer a fear. All day I thought about the fears I have. I could only think of the psychologically incurable ones. The claustrophobia, the fear of things crawling on me, the fear of falling off something. Everything else, I thought, I had already conquered because I try to live an adventurous life. I like thinking I only live once.

Then I read the article and started finding smaller fears that I can conquer. Fears that I want to conquer. Most of them seem to deal with the dating sphere. Unfortunately, I would like to be back in America to do so. A couple of months back, I resolved to get over my fear of asking a girl on a date, with the certain lady from yesterday’s task in mind and the advice that I should stop hanging out with women and start dating them. When I get back to the States, I will conquer this fear. But now, I’ll have to settle with trying to find a fear I can conquer in Ukraine.

You may have missed yesterday’s fanfare, so I’ll go about tooting my horn again. I won NaNoWriMo last night. I came in at 50,045 words and I called it quits for the month. My brain is dead. I have insane calluses on my middle finger and my pointer finger from holding my pen (did I mention I wrote all of that longhand?). I went through three pens and a notebook and a half. Today, I’ve already found myself itching to write again (maybe it has to do with the two marathons I wrote this weekend) but I’m not picking up my pen again until at least the 1st. I’ve earned the rest and I want time to focus on finishing my other November projects.

Going against what I said yesterday, I started a new book today. One of the teachers at school lent it to me. It was written by another American who visited Konotop some years back. While Konotop is only mentioned once in a brief chapter about a return trip to Ukraine, it’s interesting to read about someone else’s reactions to the country. I’m halfway through it already and I’m going to read some more tonight.

Today’s task in my 30 Day Challenge is to write a love letter. Alternatively, if you’re single like me you can write a love poem to woo that gal you’re after. I’m not going to do either. Instead, I’m going to write an anonymous like letter. If you’re the girl I have in mind, chances are you’ll know it. Sit back and be ready to have your socks knocked off.

Dearest [REDACTED],

Today, I may be five thousand miles away from you, but more than once I’ve caught myself thinking about how I like you. I considered counting the ways but I fear I don’t have enough paper to keep track. But I want you to know that I do, in fact, like you quite a bit.

Do you remember the day we met? I do. It was the first week of class, sophomore year. A mutual friend introduced us before class. I was an ass. I ignored you, I had other things on my mind. I’m sorry for that because I wonder if an opportunity was missed. I don’t think we talked to each other more than a word the rest of the semester. You disappeared and so did I. Then, seemingly by chance, we reconnected. In 17 characters you sent out a plea to the world and I answered. The rest, as they say, is history.

That first time we truly spent time together, I was as shy as I was when I was thirteen and around girls. Something about you made me nervous. Something about you made me lose my words and not know what to say. Today, I have more to say to you but I still get that feeling of butterflies when we talk. I don’t get it with other girls, just you.

I like the way we can sit and have coffee together and we don’t have to say anything for it to be a good time. I like that I have to work to get details out of you. I like that when we share a coffee, or a dinner or a walk I know that I’m with the most beautiful girl in the room. I like your mind and the wit it produces. I like how your philosophy in life is different from mine, but I don’t mind. I like that you can share your worries about life with me because it makes me realize that I’m not the only one who worries about these things.

When I am around you, I’m a better person. When I’m not around you I ask myself if you would approve or not because I want to be a better person.

I carry the only note you ever wrote me on the card you gave me before I left. I carry it because I want to keep you close to me. To remind me that I don’t need to speak to enjoy someone’s conversation. I carry it to remind me that there’s a girl in this world who humbles me with nervousness. I carry your card because every time I take it out and I look at the beauty of your handwriting, I’m reminded that it’s only a small fraction of the beauty that makes you, you.

I hope that when I return from this life five thousand miles away from you that our paths will cross at least for a moment so once again I can be the envy of everyone around.

I want you to know that I like you.

With all my like,

Danny

That ought to do it.

Here’s a quick breakdown of my progress:

Now I guess I just have to finish writing the novel.

It’s actually starting to look less creepy. I’ve decided once the month is over, I’m going to start growing a beard to complement it. I’ll shave one last time on Wednesday, post the picture and then it will be facial hair abandon for a few months at least.

Remember when I said I had a goal of writing at least 10,000 words this weekend? Remember yesterday when I said I wrote 7,722 words? Remember that goal of 50,000 words? Well, I haven’t reach the goal yet (though if I could count blog posts towards the count I’d be done) but I’m damned close. I’ve written 12,269 words this weekend so far. I have only 1,659 words left to write. The end is in sight. I need to average 415 words/day over the next four days to win this thing. I’m going to try to get it done tonight. That’s only four pages in my notebook and I’m at a part that’s vital to the story, therefore interesting to write. Granted, winning NaNoWriMo and finishing my book are two separate things. I reckon I have about 20,000 more words to write before this whole thing I’m finished with the first draft (don’t forget about the roughly 7,000 words I wrote before November). I’ll keep you updated.

Today’s task in my 30 Day Challenge is to start a book. I don’t fall in the demographics of men who need to read more. I read plenty. Check out my reading library if you don’t believe me. In the total time I’ve been in Peace Corps, I’ve read 46 books. Every time I get a moment at school to read, I do. I set an example for my students. I tell them to read and then make a point of being seen, reading. I’m not going to worry about starting a new book today. I’ll try to finish the one I’m reading this week.

Only twenty push ups and fifty sit ups left to do today. After that, only three hundred of each left this month. But who’s counting?

I am awesome.

Today, with the aid of a full night sleep and two cups of coffee, I wrote 7,722 words towards the novel. I am completely caught up from the past five days where I only wrote about 400 words. I’m also over 3/4ths of my way to my weekend goal and I still have all day tomorrow to write. With any luck, and a little determination (and probably two more cups of coffee), I’ll be able to hit 50,000 words tomorrow. I only need 6,206 more.

Today’s task in my 30 Day Challenge is to take the Marine Corps Fitness Test. I have to opt out of this test on doctor’s orders. I injured my IT band recently and my doctor told me not to do any running until the Spring so it has enough time to heal fully. Also, I don’t want to humiliate myself with the low, low number of pull ups I can do. Sit ups are something else though because I’ve done those every day. I’m going to guess my score for the test would be somewhere around 190. Which puts me in the second class. I’ll time my sit ups later to get a better idea.

Alright, time to watch a movie and then head to bed so I can finish my novel tomorrow and maybe call my mom.

I only wrote a few words today, but the weekend is before me and I cleared my schedule for nothing but writing. With any luck, I’ll reach my goal of at least 10,000 words this weekend.

Push ups and sit ups are caught up with. I’ll admit, I’m looking forward to having a break from these when the month is new. It’s tiring and my endurance is waning.

Today’s challenge in my 30 Day Challenge is to start a debt reduction plan. As it stands, I now have about $20,000 in student loan debt. Peace Corps allows us to tie that up in a nice pretty box while we serve and then to place that box on the deferment shelf. Peace Corps also allows us partial cancellation on Perkins loans for the amount of time served. Each year I serve, I cancel 15% of my loan. If I continue my service for four full years, I can cancel 70% of my loans (years three and four allow 20% per year for cancellation). Unfortunately, my Perkins loans are only a small part of my debt.

At the moment, that’s all my debt and now there isn’t much I can do about it. I have some money in my bank account but I’m planning on using that for travel and vacations. However, when I finish the Peace Corps I will get $7,425 as a readjustment allowance to use as I will. Plus, I have another chunk of change of similar size tied up in a CD. Coupled with the Perkins loan cancellation, I shouldn’t have more than a quarter of my debt to worry about when I get back (though some of that readjustment allowance is going to keep me going as I transition into a new career). With any luck, I’ll land a high paying job and have the debt paid off in a month. That’s totally doable for a man of my stature in life in the current economy, right?

Finally, I spent most of the day at home today because I had work being done on my apartment. Peace Corps requires that any volunteers living on the first floor have bars on their windows installed as a safety measure. While I won’t get into the silliness of me living in this apartment for a year without having them (not Peace Corps fault or choice), it’s nice knowing they’re finally installed. I had dreaded having them because I thought I’d feel like I was living in a jail cell, but I was wrong. Take a look for yourself:

I may or may not be using my window as a dry-erase board. Also, I may or may not have been given five keys for the lock on the door.

Chew on that.

Happy Thanksgiving! I love this holiday because it’s a holiday where all you need to do is eat and then sleep. No gifts. No travel. No getting dressed up. No work. Take that every other holiday.

I made some corn casserole to bring to our mini-Thanksgiving dinner in Konotop. I also made corn bread. I think we’ll have a good time, even though we don’t have turkey.

My schedule today changed more times than it didn’t. At one point it looked like I wouldn’t be home until three and then I ended up getting home a little after noon. Tomorrow lessons have nearly all been eliminated for me because I have to stay home while someone comes to install safety bars on my windows. Hopefully I’ll be able to focus enough over the sound of the drilling to work on my novel and play catch-up. I’m not sure this weekend will be jam-packed with writing as I really want it. We’ll deal with that when the time comes.

Today’s task in my 30 Day Challenge is to play. Some people will tell you that I will be forever young. I’ll tell you that I never want to grow up. I love to play, but I think even I forget to do this from time to time. The past year I’ve caught myself, on many occasions, wishing I had a big box of Legos to dig through and build stuff with. I wanted to play. For my birthday, Jeramie got me a small set of knock-off Legos and I’ve played with those today. What’s more important is that the article detailing what it is to play includes storytelling. It’s the creative aspect and I’ve tried to do it everyday this month. I’ve already hit my half hour quota for today’s task but I’m going to try to do it some more, while I play with Legos.

Time to go wrangle up some Thanksgiving dinner.