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NaNoWriMo 2023 Check In

I’m behind my 30,000 word goal, which is why I’m writing this post as a fallback instead of something longer and unrelated to NaNoWriMo. It’s still possible for me to maintain a pace that gets me done on time, but I haven’t been making as much progress in my free time as I’d like.

My biggest issue this year is that I’m still not allowing myself to write freely. I’m thinking a little too much in the moment, trying to self-edit, and not just getting a story out there that can be refined at a later date.

Yet I’m happy with the work I’ve done so far. I think I have the bones of compelling stories, and I look forward to coming back to them after this month is over when I’m ready to do some editing in earnest.

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2023 World Series Review

The Texas Rangers won the World Series in five games over the Arizona Diamondbacks, and by the end it looked as inevitable as the 4–1 victory shows. I was fairly neutral going in—I have some connections to the Rangers via the Twins, but felt myself rooting for the underdogs in Arizona more often than not—and so my hope, as always, was for a tense series that went at least six games. That didn’t transpire, and viewership was down as the matchup was panned across popular sports media, but that hardly matters to me.

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Our First Wedding While Married

Last night the wedding of Erin’s younger brother and his lovely now-wife. It was fun to participate in the process of wedding preparation from a new perspective—one where we have tangible advice to offer, a calmer presence from experience—only one year after our own.

This took form in a few ways. Erin saw how our coordinator worked through each little detail as we got closer to the date, so she made sure to do the same with the bride who had painstakingly planned venue decoration. I mainly acted as a role model to the groomsmen who, though absolutely great friends and nice guys, still end up a little immature for self-governance.1My biggest suggestion from the rehearsal: They have the opportunity to give Jeremy a hug or handshake as they approach the front of the ceremony. That’s a great chance that they should capitalize on. This also meant during decorating in the morning and post-reception teardown, I could yield my influence to direct their help.

We could more fully take in their ceremony, focusing on how it reflected their ideals as a couple. We’ve been to weddings as a couple and the ceremonies always make you consider your own relationship, but this time we could do so with the added dimension of having experienced precisely what they were feeling up there: nervous excitement bubbling on top a foundation of certainty.

It was a fantastic day and a raucous reception. I’m so proud of them and happy to have had the opportunity to relive some of the wedding process without the full weight of the pressure behind it.

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    My biggest suggestion from the rehearsal: They have the opportunity to give Jeremy a hug or handshake as they approach the front of the ceremony. That’s a great chance that they should capitalize on.