Fereshteh, NaNoWriMo-er Extraordinare \(^-^)/

What a wonderful way to document the year gone by… I will be able to look back and see that every day, for 365 days, I had a reason to smile. =)

I suppose this is day one! =) Here goes:

♥

I helped my children set up a “slumber party” (complete with games, movies, treats, etc.). They had so much fun, and fell asleep happy. Even though we’ve all been ill recently it was a delightful Friday evening. =)

♥

I have wanted to do this for a long time, and I even have the postcard ready to send. However I’ve wondered if anyone will recognize my handwriting (it’s fairly distinctive, I’ve never met anyone else who writes in the same style as I), and if so, what are the chances of my convincing them that it was not actually my postcard? I could just choose not to send it, to not participate in postseceret at all, but I feel that if I my postcard is chosen to display, it might help others who have been in the same situation and have wondered if they are alone.

Am I alone in being wary? Has anyone else wondered the same thing, worried who might recognize their postcard? I suppose I could cut the letters out, but that seems to make it less personal to me. This is something that I have told no one, ever, that I had planned to take to my grave. I do not want the moment of my unburdening myself of this awful secret to be lessened by it not being divulged by my own hand.

All of this worrying will not keep me from sending it, I just need to gather my nerve first.

Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to help people who are hungry, however were it not for the word game I would probably get discouraged. As someone who counts rice as a major staple of most meals, 10 grains really is not all that much. 200 grains is not all that much either. That’s why I try to donate at least 1,000 every time I stop by this website.

One thing bugs me to no end though… I cannot seem to reach 500 grains without getting a word wrong, sometimes two or three. I usually get to 450 or 460 without missing a single word. Then, for some reason, it is always around there, I get my first word wrong.

Don’t ask me why this irks me as much as it does; I haven’t a clue. Perhaps it’s my obsessive nature when something pertains to language. Perhaps it is because I love a challenge, and it has been awhile since I have been able to really challenge myself at something. Most likely it’s a combination of the two.

I also love seeing something come from all of my years of choosing books over television. Many of the words above level 30 are words I do not know, however having read enough to be able to recognize root words in a long, complex word, or being able to look at the prefix or suffix and say, “oh, this means something that pertains to visual output, and that means something that is filtered, so…” I thereby understand what the word means. It is such a beautiful feeling… and I think it’s awesome that this website provides a sort of instant gratification in return for the good deed done.

So my goal is to reach 500 (then 800, then 1000) grains donated without missing one word. As I continue to try, I will write down the words that I miss (along with their meanings) so that I will be able to remember them.

The website is FreeRice, and they will donate 10 grains of rice per word that is correctly matched with the meaning. I highly recommend everyone stop by just to give it a go. =)

For 500! WooHoo!