Red Pen Mama

Over at NaBloPoMo, the website, I have seen several questions in a number of groups about continuing in the spirit of NaBloPoMo — that is, posting every day, continuing communities or groups, etc.

I don’t know about the latter — I have gotten better at reading and commenting, and it is a trend I would like to continue for myself. I know I will not post every day, but I am going to aim for three days a week, probably Monday (recipe plus comments), Friday (photo!), and maybe Wednesday or Sunday (no theme).

I would also like to move off of WordPress, primarily because they do not allow advertising. And I would like to run some ads and see if I can make a little money from the blog thing. It’s not my primary purpose for this activity for me, but it would be a bonus.

I have liked this NaBloPoMo. It has been helpful to me, to my writing, to the rediscovery that writing is important to me. I’ve “met” some neat people I plan to continue to chat with (and I hope they with me) and, well, it’s added some structure to my life. Given me a daily goal besides doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen!

One more day to go. I better find a photo for tomorrow. In the meantime, maybe I’ll start thinking of the book I am going to write for next year’s NaNoWriMo!

And, because, really, I don’t know what else to say, here are a few things that I found that it would be lovely if you checked out:

The lovely and mysterious (to me) Niobe whose posts are succient and poignant and powerful without being full of words (unlike mine);
The almost always funny Chag (when he’s not funny, it’s because he’s being thoughtful);
And my girl from the ‘hood, Burgh Baby’s mom, who always cracks me up, loves the Steelers, and comments on my posts. God Bless ya. And Go Steelers!

But I have made a lot of friends and learned a lot about life with kids and without them, and I have been humbled and uplifted. November has been good for me, good for my soul.

Thanks.

This NaBloPoMo is quite inspiring. After looking around at several sites (and bookmarking them and adding them to my blogroll and vowing to become a better commenter), I have made some decisions about what is going to happen here this month.

First of all, themes.

1. On Mondays, I am going to post recipes. I am not a big foodie, or anything like that, but I do cook and I do eat and feed other people. (Wait, I don’t eat other people, I just feed other people. See, people, clarity in writing is vital. I mean: I do eat. I do feed other people.) Many of these recipes are adapted to suit my or my husband’s tastes (DearDR does not do green peppers, in any quantity whatsoever), and some of them are adapted from meat-based recipes to suit my vegetarian household. The first recipe is below.
2. On Wednesdays and Sundays I am going to write about my pregnancies and labor. And, yes, that is going to include my pregnancy and labor with, and loss of, Gabriel. I don’t ever tell people about my labor with him, so that will be a big first.
3. Fridays will be Photo Fridays (no, I am not going to spell it wrong, i.e. Foto or Phriday; I am a professional writer/editor when I do work, and I just cannot do it people. I will break out in a rash). I will pick the best photo(s) I take that week, or incorporate photos into a photo essay.
4. Tuesdays, Thursdays (including Thanksgiving) and Saturdays are free-for-all. Unless, of course, I decide throughout the course of this week to do something differently. It could happen. As many a disclaimer goes: “Things are subject to change without notice.”

Without further ado, here’s today’s recipe, which is simmering in my slow cooker as we speak. Er, as I write, anyway.

Adapted from the Fix It and Forget It Cookbook.

Sante Fe Soup with Melted Cheese
(comments will follow)

Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 lb. soy crumbles (I use Morningstar Farms)
Chili powder to taste
1 can corn, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
Tortilla chips

1. Saute garlic in olive oil. (All my recipes pretty much start this way. Even recipes that I find and try start this way. It’s how recipes start, unless you’re baking.) Add soy crumbles and chili powder to taste. Saute for about five minutes.
2. Combine soy crumbles and the rest of the ingredients (minus the chips) in a slow cooker. Cover; cook on high for 3 hours.
3. Serve with tortilla chips as a side or crumbled on top.

Comments: The original recipe (OR) calls for a pound of beef, browned and drained — if you swing that way, go for it. Also the OR calls for the corn and beans undrained, but I drain and rinse them on principle (too much sodium!). I usually do not use Velveeta, but I have to say I have made this recipe with regular old cheddar cheese (usually organic), and it doesn’t come out with a soupy consistancy. It tastes just fine, but it is very lumpy looking and the cheese separates. For the sake of this recipe, I have put aside my processed food prejudice and I’ve gone with the Velveeta. Do what you like, Mike!

Edited to add: Music and/or videos! They will have their own day, probably Saturday. Yeah, I’m going kick ass with this thing. I hope.

I have discovered a couple of women through NaBloPoMo who have started me considering a theme for this month of many, many posts. It is not a happy theme — but then, this is not always a happy weblog, right? Although I set out to be humorous, it seems to me that mostly I’m a little bitchy; occasionally I’m funny; and I mention my faith quite a bit. But I would hate to be lumped in with any particular group: funny moms, or Catholic moms, or whatever.

The two women are Birdies Mama and Niobe. Their blogs have moved me; their stories — which are a version of my story — have affected me. And there are many more women out there like them — like us. And I haven’t found them until now.

But I am hesitant to blog primarily about Gabriel, my stillborn son. One of the reasons — two of the reasons, I should say, are Monkey and Bun. I take such delight in them, such joy. Shouldn’t I write about that?

When I was pregnant with Gabriel and after we lost him, I wrote extensively in my journal. This was more than four years ago now, way before the weblog phenomenon. I also wrote “publicly” about him, as it were; at the time, I was very active in Pittsburgh’s poetry scene. I attended workshops and classes and had readings; I published. I haven’t done very much in that vein since Monkey’s birth. I wrote, read and published a number of poems that were specifically about my experience of Gabriel.

He has also been mentioned here, and of course at this very blog on the anniversary of his death.

But now I want to tell Niobe and Birdie’s Mama about him. And others, too, others that I am just discovering.

And, let’s face it, it’s better than bitching about potty training and/or frustrating times with DearDR. Right?

I am trying to get this button over on one of my side margins, but as self-evident as the instructions for doing that are here at WordPress, it still isn’t happening. Maybe someone has a suggestion? Guidance? Thanks.