Take That NaBloPoMo!

Completed! Finished, ended, concluded, finalized, accomplished, achieved, discharged, settled, done! Wrapped up, sewn up, polished off!

Thirty blog posts in thirty days. I met the challenge and made it my bitch!! (I think that's Shakespeare or maybe my Polish grandfather. I often confuse the two and their words of wisdom.) I must tell you all that I seriously considered leaving today's post totally blank-a tangible symbol of my conquering the beast and a statement of total independence. But could you imagine running the twenty-six miles and quitting with 385 yards left? Neither could I, so here I am today just like the previous twenty-nine. The Husband thought that I should extend the challenge to include the first day of December just to prove that I could go to infinity and beyond. A symbolic gesture if you will, to my new commitment of writing. I dismissed that idea out of hand if only because I really want to maintain control of this exercise and I wasn't going to let anybody dictate terms to me, not even The Husband. Besides that-I really need a break, at least for a day or two.

I already have given you a detailed post as to what I have learned from this daily blogging extravaganza, so I won't rehash. Just a few added tidbits leftover from the month have been percolating and need to be shared.

1. I read a great deal of really bad writing over the last thirty days. Really bad!  I don't mean amateur bloggers or would-be writers, either. I mean supposed professionals who do this daily and are compensated for their efforts. Journalists, freelancers, speechwriters, and their ilk all caught my attention this month simply because I was on the hunt for post ideas. The grammatical errors in our printed materials are abundant and spelling errors are common. Look, I don't profess to be perfect nor am I the grammar police, but I do know the correct usage for there, their, and they're. You would be shocked at how many out there do not.
2. I was pleasantly surprised at how many people in my real life wanted to "help" me with post ideas. I truly appreciated each and every comment, email, and conversation, but it became almost impossible to explain that the process for my writing is organic and builds upon other kernels; a process that only I understand. While some of those helpful hints found their way into a post or two, more often than not the essence of the ideas were amalgamated into something totally unrecognizable to the original offering. Please don't stop offering suggestions. I love and appreciate the help more than you all will ever know. Just don't get bent out of shape when I don't use each and every one.
3. I was unbelievably flattered when Blogher asked to syndicate one of my posts. Thousands of bloggers had registered for NaBloPoMo during the month of November and to have one of mine selected for highlighting on their main page was incredibly exciting. That particular post had a couple of thousand reads on their site and a couple of hundred more on mine. It was the first time that I personally felt the power of the interweb and all of its connectedness. Thank you to the people at Blogher for allowing me to participate in this manner and for believing that my scribblings were worth sharing. 
4. I loved discovering what my readers love. The recipe blogs were extraordinarily popular which stunned me. Our vegetarian lifestyle has been the butt of many jokes with family and friends. To discover that others actually liked our way of eating or at least were willing to try some of the foods we eat, was tremendously satisfying. I also enjoyed sharing some of my favourite female musicians with you all. I always knew that I was partial to the female voice in my music choices (Take that kol isha!) and I loved finding out that many of you were as well. Those Shabbat Music Breaks were amongst my favourite posts of the month, not just because they allowed for a pause in the daily writing grind, but rather because they allowed Shabbat to feel different from the rest of the week. I know that other bloggers fully refrained from posting on Shabbat, but for me that would have felt dishonest to my observance of the day. Those music breaks were a wonderful compromise. 
5. Finally, I am thrilled that I was able to see this challenge through from start to finish. There wasn't one day neglected and there wasn't even one day when I posted late. I haven't always finished what I started, but today I state categorically that I whupped NaBloPoMo's ass!

Thanks to all of you who have read, tolerated, offered help, and basically just supported my ridiculous little endeavour. I am not giving up blogging, actually far from it. I just need a couple of days to recoup and recover and then I will be back at it as the spirit moves. I hope that you all enjoy your Decembers whatever holidays you observe or don't.