Meg Dowell Writes

Well, I have some good news, and I have some bad news. I’m leaving it up to you to determine which is which.

Even after my post on Friday, I just kept on writing. I did my English homework, messed around on Facebook, and wrote. And by the end of the day, I had exactly 13,964 words, way more than I needed. As I sit here now, though, I’m really glad I did.

I waited until the last minute to pack for my weekend-long trip, and was scrambling to get everything together at ten o’clock Friday night. I would be getting up extremely early the next morning, and I knew I wouldn’t have time then. I packed some outfits and books, and barely remembered to save my novel (and outline) on my flash drive before going to bed. The mistake came here. But we’ll get to that later.

So my mom shook me awake at quarter after six yesterday, which made me very sad. But I threw on my running clothes and climbed into the front seat of the car, and we were off. We drove 45 minutes to ONU, where we checked in, got pretty T-shirts, and headed to the starting line. I then, along with my mother, proceeded torun 3.1 miles around the campus I’m going to be living at next year.

Long story short, I survived. My mom won her age group (won’t tell you which one), and I ended up getting myself two Christmas presents—an Olivet sweatshirt and mittens. I also bought my brother a matching T-shirt, which was the start of my Christmas shopping for the day. But, again, we’ll get to that later.

Since it was only ten o’clock, we explored the campus (though we were starving). We looked around the dorm I want to live in, and a few other buildings. It was better than an actual college visit, because we got to take our time and see what we wanted. Then we went to Steak ‘n Shake. I’ve never eaten so much breakfast in my life, but it was amazing.

We drove to Decatur after that, where we did more shopping. I got an amazing pair of jeans, as well as all of my friends’ Christmas gifts (I would tell you what they are, but I have good friends, some of which read this blog. So I won’t). All of my shopping until April was then done, except for Evie’s birthday gift (it’s her birthday today—Happy Birthday!). So we went to Target and got the perfect gift. It’s amazing.

Then we finally got to grandma’s, went out for pizza, and came back, which was when I realized that I’d forgotten to save my documents as MS-2003s. So my grandma’s computer couldn’t open them. So I got zero words in yesterday.

But, you know, whatever. I’d much rather spend time with my family than hide in the basement and boost my word count, anyway. I’ve actually taken plenty of time just to think about where my story’s headed, in the time I’ve spent away from a computer. So maybe it was meant to be. All I know is, somebody’s going to be going through some major character development in the next few chapters. And I’m very excited.

Well, that’s pretty much all for now. Hopefully i can get some words in when I get home tonight. Good luck to all you fellow Wrimos out there! I hope you know you’re not alone.

Have a great one, and remember: running is good for you. Pizza tastes better at the restaurant. Be kind to your dysfunctional families. Come back soon!

Love&hugs, Meg