I'm a NaNoWriMo Winner!

Yup, that's right. I won NaNoWriMo! I beat the clock, the doubt, the self-deprecating mind play, and finally got my novel over the 50,000 word mark! I officially have 54,903 words to my book, an odd assortment of random scenes but also some good, fluent narrative in spots as well.
This by no means will be the end of it...I have so much work still to do! Like, for instance, finish the silly thing. But that can't be the end of the narrative...there's just so much I want Nola to accomplish! Then it will be on to Book Two, and Book Three, and...No Jillian, stay focussed on Book One. I'm just so glad to be at a point where what I've written is actually novel size. I'm really getting somewhere.
Spent today making my advent wreath...found some noble fir boughs and it looks lovely. Most importantly, however, it reminds me of the reason for all that we do this month, from concerts to gift-giving to baking like crazy for a special family get-together. Sometimes the commercial hubbub takes away from it all...I loved my time living in Germany. It was so...wholesome. Here, you can't even get through Halloween before the Christmas decorations start coming out in stores. Isn't there something wrong with that?
I'm dreading the start of the workweek...a few days away from school and I start to feel like myself again, instead of the stiff-necked humbug I must be in order to hold any kind of authority over my  students...some of whom have lately taken to telling me how to teach and that they don't have to do assignments they don't feel are "valid."
Ah yes...back to work.
But first? A good ol' Hallmark movie for a few more hours of fuzzy, all-warm-inside goodness.

Novel Word Count: 54,903