Welcome to day number nineteen of this year's NaNoWriMo challenge where I am now officially two days ahead of the recommended pace and not just one whole day and change. Not only that but I'm also still one entire review ahead of my SNL watching challenge. This almost wasn't the case as I almost had another slacker day thanks to another visit from my family.

I think my family confuses the fact that I hate surprises with some idea that I hate to be informed because rather than give me a proper heads up so that I can prepare and clear out my schedule, they like to wait until the very last moment to drop news on me as if they are trying to save me from any potential anxiety that I might have. 

I know this stems from the fact that when I first moved back to town, I was so depressed that I overreacted to any scheduling that was out of my control but even then it was the surprise aspect that triggered my annoyed reaction. All that I ever wanted was at least a day's notice in order to make sure that I was able to stay ahead of my work.

Yesterday, my oldest sister dropped by with my two nieces to join my mom and little sister to venture out to my little cousin's bridal shower. This was fine to me and since I didn't have to go but what I wasn't all that fine with was the last minute news that the nieces were staying behind for me to babysit.

I guess they were thinking that it wasn't a big deal because these kids are old enough to pretty much watch themselves and all that was expected of me was to keep my phone on in my space in case there was an emergency. Yes, this does make sense but I still don't know why they couldn't share this as the plan until they were almost heading out the door.

Thankfully, I was already a day ahead of schedule because I wouldn't have taken the news as well as I did if I was still chasing a schedule. Even if I were to just ignore the girls and work, I wouldn't be able to focus because I would be too worried about these kids seeing me as a horrible uncle who hides when they're around, or that they would get up to no good that would inevitably end up being my fault.

Because of this, I gave in to the idea of, once again, burning through the safety net that I had just finished creating. I'm glad that I opted to do this because it turned out to be a fun day with the kids which was never a real concern. Me and the little one swam in the freezing ass pool before joining the older one for a round of laughs at crazy YouTube videos.

By the time everyone returned, I was so burnt out that I thought I might have another lost evening where I lied down for a late evening nap, uncertain whether or not it would transition into a full-blown slumber the same way that I lost my last safety net.

Luckily, I woke a couple hours, and though I felt desperate to just roll over and go back to bed, I eventually forced myself to move around and eat a meal which gave me the energy that I needed to start part two of my day of writing. Realizing that Thanksgiving is just a few days away, I was working with extra gusto in my effort to get so far ahead that I can take turkey day off while keeping my safety net intact since I may need it to cope with the inevitable hangover caused by the traditional cheap whiskey and Stove Top Stuffing.

Now, thanks to my desire to pre-plan for non-normal days, I'm now clearly ahead of my NaNoWriMo to where I can take both Thursday and Friday off and still be ahead of the pace and just need one more backup SNL review and I'll be completely safe to play.

I can't wait because it's been such a long time that I've taken time off that I've planned for. It's going to be so nice to wake up knowing ahead of time that all I have to do is write my Daily Breaker posts, share the links and call it a day.

We'll see if I can pull this off. Of course, as always, I'll keep you posted on my progress when I check in again tomorrow with another daily update. Until then, good day and good luck to you and your projects.

Sincerely,

The Wicker Breaker

P.S. If you are reading this and playing along with this year's NaNoWriMo feel free to add fubunker as your writing buddy and I will buddy you back.