Monday’s Pen to Paper: What the heck is NaNoWriMo?
I’ve had friends in the past who have written first drafts of their novels by being a part of NaNoWriMo. I never quite understood what it was and have shied away from doing it, but this November I decided that if it can help me get my first draft finished sooner, why not give it a try.
National Novel Writing Month is put on by a non-profit organization to encourage writing. For the month of November, thousands of people write like crazy, working to finish their novels. The NaNoWriMo website helps writers to track their word-counts toward a goal of at least 50,000 words.
I’m excited to be on board this year, even if I’m a little behind with my word count (It’s day 2 and I’m still at zero). But not for long, from now on, it’s one day at a time until I’ve got a finished novel!
If you need a boost to get your writing going, it’s not too late! Join me for the ride. Go to NaNoWriMo, sign up and get writing!
WRITING PROMPT#1: Start your novel.
WRITING PROMPT#2: Carla stood up and threw her pen across the room…
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Patience
I played basketball with a group of high school girls at open gym this week. A great workout for me, and whether they liked it or not (between my huffing and puffing) the girls got some coaching. Not super serious coaching, more encouragement and reminders, but I just couldn’t help myself. Once a coach always a coach.
“Nice look.” “Sweet Pass.” “Stay between your man and the basket.”
I’d set a screen away and make them think about movement away from the ball. Remind them, and myself, to stay low, jump to the ball, block out. As much as I don’t like getting old and being a little out of shape, not being able to do what I wanted to do, exactly when I wanted to do it, emphasized for me how important patience is, as a player and as a coach, because it’s not always easy to do things right.
There is a lot to learn on the basketball court. You have to move the ball up the court by dribbling and passing and run different offenses and defenses. It takes tons of practice to get it right on a regular basis and even with practice, with the repetition and reminders of how the game is played, mistakes happen.
So if you are frustrated with your play on the basketball court (or with your writing, or your production at work, or your ability to stay in a yoga pose, or anything in life) remind yourself to be patient. If you are a coach and you’re not happy with how your team is doing, assess the weak points of the team and make sure your drills work to strengthen those weakness, but understand that it will take time and remind yourself that your players […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Reminders of this Precious Life
I love fall. The crisp air, the change in the color of the trees, the different angle of light that is cast by the sun in the cloudless sky. The urge to hunker in a bit, to drink more tea, to connect with myself again after the frenzy of summer. These are just a few of the things that I love, yet fall is one of the most difficult times of the year for me, which honestly, kind of pisses me off.
I can be out walking my dogs and breathing in the cool air, minding my own business, and be brought to tears. It has been many years since I lost a loved one in the fall, but as you may know, there is always a place deep inside one’s heart where there is sadness, along with the happy memories, when someone you love dies. A scar. A wound that heals over time and allows you continue living, but a scar nonetheless.
So every once in a while, sadness will sneak up on you. You might have to bite your lip when you hear a certain song or smell a certain smell. I often feel a tightness in my chest when I smell fresh-cut grass. And there is just something about the fall air that gets me. That beautiful clean crisp air is the same air I breathed the day I lost my fiancé. The same day that I thought my life was over.
But my life wasn’t over and I learned that it was okay to allow myself to feel the pain and use that ache in my heart as a reminder of how precious life is. It is the fall, and the conflict it brings within my heart, that continues to […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Offense sells the tickets. Defense wins the games.
Sonya Gaubinger Elliott – Eastern Washington University – 1987
A quote that has always been a driving force in the way I play basketball, and coach basketball, is, “Offense sells the tickets. Defense wins the games.” I LOVE defense. I love playing it, and there is nothing better than coaching or watching a team that plays intense and cohesive team defense.
Personally, I was not born a good shooter, which may have something to do with my preference for defense. But even as my shooting improved with practice, my defense is what got me into the game, and made things happen on the court, and I always had it to focus on if my shot was off. You can always play tough defense if you’ve got heart and hustle. And when you play tough defense, it will spread like wildfire to your teammates. And when each and every player on a team is working together, it is a beautiful thing.
When you’re on the court make sure to put as much, or more, energy into the game when you are on the defensive end of the court (or if you’re a coach emphasize defense), because if the other team can’t score, the final score will of course, be in your favor.
Meet Sonya
Meet Sonya
Sonya Elliott’s memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman’s Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy after she and her fiancé were hit by a train. She blogs about writing, basketball, and life and is currently working on a Young Adult Novel and a Non-Fiction Coaching book. Stories of her career as a fashion model are woven through her memoir, as both the Soloflex and Easy Spirit Shoes commercials were filmed during that time period, and this unique and intriguing business continues to be a part of her life.
Sonya played basketball at Eastern Washington University and was a starter for the Big Sky Champion team that went to the 1987 NCAA tournament. She coached for almost 25 years and was voted Seattle Times Coach of the Year, Seattle Officials Women’s Basketball Association Coach of the Year, and twice voted Metro League Coach of the Year. She loves the game of basketball and is thankful, not only for her husband and kids but for her ability to continue to get back on the court.
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Monday’s Pen to Paper: Distraction and the Social Media Madness
Our lives are filled with distraction. Now it comes at us 24/7 by way of social media. Look around you. How often do you see people staring at their phones as they walk, drive or even while they’re in conversation? Are they fully engaged in life or are they disconnected and living through the lives of others via social media? Don’t get me wrong, I’m on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Linked In and I enjoy catching up and seeing what my friends are doing. And I post for work and to update my friends and family. But when I’m looking at social media, more often than not, I get annoyed because I know there is no way I can keep up with all the data coming in, all the pictures, the videos, and the updates, yet at times, I waste my time […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Comebacks and Life
It sucks being hurt. It’s been a while since I’ve had an injury that kept me off the court for more than a month, one that I can’t tape up and fight through, but this last month has been different. I pulled the muscles of my rotator cuff, and I have been nursing a sprained wrist, so I can’t play basketball and I hate it. I really shouldn’t complain because my daughter is rehabbing a torn lateral meniscus in her knee and she is a college athlete who was looking forward to her sophomore season, I am just an old mom who likes to play the game. Still for both of us, it has been difficult to be injured.
I have recovered from worse injuries in my life. A shattered right arm which included a torn rotator cuff for one […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Old Man Strong
There is something to be said for experience. When I play basketball these days, physically I can’t keep up with the girls who are half my age, but there are times I still feel strong. Not in the way that I pull down rebounds or run the court, but in my knowledge of the game, my understanding of what makes a winning team. When my son can’t get the upper hand wrestling against my husband, he complains, “It’s not fair, you’re ‘Old Man Strong.’”
Old Man Strong = Experience.
My husband is a three-time state wrestling champion and a former college athlete. He has muscle memory and more important a history and knowledge of how to use his body. A different but very real strength that is often more powerful than the ability to lift more weight.
Why am I telling you all of this? […]
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