It's NaNo Time Again!

So National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) starts up again in 24 days. And I want to try it once again.

What's wrong with me? I've tried for three years, and the farthest I ever got was half way to goal. I couldn't do it last year when I was pregnant and building a house on top of my job and usual pile of "other stuff to do." This year I'm a new mom and we'll probably be moving sometime during that month, which means packing, unpacking, and cleaning two houses rather than one. Oh, and I'll virtually double my commute once we move. There's no chance that I'll finish NaNo this year. No chance at all. And, yet, I don't know how to do Thanksgiving anymore without also trying desperately to write a novel and failing miserably. That's what Thanksgiving means to my insane little brain.

I'm trying to think about it like this weekend's Chicago Marathon. You get everything all ready to go, and then Mother Nature brings you record-breaking high temperatures and people keel over trying to reach the finish line. Why would anyone choose to run a marathon anyway? It sounds like torture. But isn't that what NaNo is, too? You decide you're going to give it all you're worth, and then life deals you a hand that interferes with your progress, but you keep on pushing ahead until you keel over. Just in time to start your Christmas shopping.

So, yep, I'll be doing NaNo again this year. But this time I have no visions of sugarplums dancing around the words "The End." I just really want to see how far I can get.