Nanowrimo started this weekend, and I kicked yesterday off with a rousing 2300 words. I doubt I'll be able to keep up that kind of pace on a daily basis, especially since today so far I haven't added a word, and tomorrow I have to get on a plane and I am not foreseeing lots of time between then and when I return home (which will be after 10 at night) for lots of non-work scribbling. But hey, at least it was a great way to get the month started.

This year, unlike the last time we did this, we decided to actually take part in some of the pre-November festivities. To that end, we went to the Sacramento area kick-off party on Tuesday night, where we met another dozen or so people from all around us who have signed on for this insanity as well. Amusingly, one of them was someone I knew from my PernMUSH days, and one was someone Richard knew from years ago as well. We drank coffee and ate cookies and those of us who've done this before gave our best advice. We all introduced ourselves and those who actually had a clue talked about what they were going to write about, while those of us who hadn't yet figured things out that far (that would be me, in case you were wondering) just made vague babblings of genre and time period and left it at that.

I was inspired to write yesterday, but so far haven't been at all. I'm using cooking and cleaning as a delaying tactic, however, and it's working marvelously so far. I've done two batches of nut bread – two regular loaves and a half dozen mini loaves. I put together a faux meatloaf (a bizarre concoction of walnuts, bran flakes and cottage cheese that somehow works) and then, since yesterday we picked up a butternut squash while at Apple Hill (among other things), I decided to give squash gnocchi a try. Considering how much I hate squash, this was a big step for me, but they kept insisting it didn't even taste like squash, so I figured maybe it was worth a shot. After all, it was a good sign that at least I could *cut* the butternut squash into pieces, unlike the last time I gave squash a try. It was a bit messy and sticky and I apparently need a lot more practice making gnocchi because they looked a lot more like rather warty little dumplings. But looks aside, it was worth the try. This is a recipe we're definitely keeping – a good thing, since there's still half the squash left and I have no idea just what the heck I could do with it if this didn't turn out.