Why It's Okay That I Didn't Win NaNoWriMo This Year:

- 14,500 (29%) is better than zero.

- I made myself write A LOT, which really helped work me out of a rut.

- I made/encouraged Brian to write a lot, so ditto for him.

- Having the LDSP Christmas story contest deadline this month was totally not fair. It took me hours to polish up submission-ready stories, hours that could have been pumping out many thousands of raw, unpolished story. Plus, she didn't even give much of a heads-up about this, so there wasn't much time in October to prepare. But, I'll quit my whining. I'm glad I emerge from November with two finished stories.

- 11/30 was the first day all month that my kids actually napped at the same time (they've been tag-teaming it all month, which means no mommy break time).

- Even just the participation badge is pretty spiffy this year, so I'm glad I at least tried!

- I won the last two years in a row (2011 and 2010), so 2:1 is pretty still pretty good.

- It's 12/1 and instead of burned out, I'm on a roll. I'm ready to keep my goals going this next month (and hopefully the month after that, and the one after that...) instead of feeling like my brain is fried and I have a million projects/chores I have to catch up on. I feel so energetic and free!

- I have a reason to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo in the summer. Twice a year is too much, but now it will be a chance to make up for my imperfect November.