Wow. Has this year flown by or what?! Here we are already a week into December and since I was writing furiously last month, I’ve been lax on posting. So let’s catch up on what’s been happening.

National Novel Writing Month

As I wrote last week, I successfully completed NaNoWriMo on November 28. My final total was 50,100 words. And it took a week for my hand to recover.

So what’s next? Well, I wrote a novel, but it’s in complete chaos. I may or may not edit it. I haven’t decided yet if I’m treating this year’s writing as practice. Or if I actually want to try to make this into some semblance of a novel. I’m leaning towards putting it in order, cleaning it up a bit, and letting someone read it. But that won’t happen until after the holidays. So more on that later.

The important thing is I did finish. In 9 years of participating, this is only the second time I’ve “won” NaNoWriMo. And I still haven’t done anything with the first novel I wrote. So . . .

Whole 30 Round 2

As I wrote back at the end of October, I decided to do a second round of Whole 30. The first round I lost 8 pounds and 2% body fat and that was without any kind of working out other than walking.

After round 1, I did start working out doing basic strength training moves at home with my 5-pound weights. As that got easier, I moved into the gym and have been lifting consistently more weight.

So Round 2 ended right before Thanksgiving. And the results . . . drum roll . . . I lost 11 pounds and 2% body fat! What does that mean? This time I lost a bit of lean muscle in addition to fat pounds. In other words, because of my increase in exercise, I really should have eaten more. But I never once was hungry.

Round 2 overall was much easier. I kept many of the eating habits I established during Round 1 – primarily, I’ve kept my sugar intake down. So this time, no headaches. And at the end of Round 2, I can honestly say I feel even better.

While I have reintroduced grains, sugar, and dairy back into my diet again, I’m still trying to keep those to a minimum. And I will say that it is hard for me to eat more than a bite of sweets. I had s’mores and hot chocolate last weekend and felt almost immediately sick from all the sugar. So I’m keeping sweets to a minimum. And since sweets are my downfall, that is all sorts of good. The challenge will be getting through the holidays.

Not Not Drinking Coffee

My blog prior to this one was called Not Drinking Coffee—I had a whole post about my years of trying and failing to drink coffee. In short, I always found coffee too bitter. I ended up making it more sugar and milk than coffee, which defeated the purpose. So eventually I gave up trying to drink coffee.

But now, after 40-something years, I have started drinking coffee. Since detoxing from sugar (thanks to Whole30), I now actually like the taste of coffee. Now lattes have become my chocolate/sweet substitute. Although I’m pretty sure that me liking coffee might be a sign of the apocalypse, I will recommend the eggnog latte at Starbucks.

Dating at Forty-Something

And my last bit o’news is that I actually broke down and created an online dating profile a couple months ago. I swore I’d never do online dating again. Just goes to show you that you should never say never. But D.C. has a rather decent dating pool, so I’ve been on several dozen dates. But they have ranged from Why did I agree to meet this person to Hey, I kind of really like this person and there might be something there.

Dating at forty-something has been refreshing. It’s not nearly as hard as it was at twenty-something or thirty-something. I think a lot of that has to do with really knowing myself and being comfortable with who I am. I don’t feel the need to go over the top with trying. They will either like me for who I am or not. I make no apologies. I am who I am. And quite frankly, I’m pretty awesome. So if they don’t see that, well, then I don’t really have time for them.

Overall, I’ve had a blast. It’s been a long time (7 years) since I actively dated anyone. And I admit, I never get tired of being taken out to dinner and complimented. That never gets old.

And who knows? Maybe one of these days I’ll actually settle down and get married. Of course, I think that really will be a sign of the apocalypse, so I’m not counting on it.

What’s Coming Up

I have so much going on in December! Last Friday, my friend AM & I kicked off December by going to see the National Zoo ZooLights (where we had the s’mores and hot chocolate and then almost instantly regretted ingesting all that sugar).

The rest of December is going to be just as awesome. Here’s what else is already on tap:

• Drinks at PX, one of 2 speakeasies in Alexandria
• Walking through Georgetown to see Georgetown GLOW
• A day trip to NYC with AM to do all the cheesy Christmasy tourist stuff PLUS we’re getting boozy ice cream
• Attending the Shakespeare Theatre Company‘s production of Twelfth Night
• Hot Cocktail Night at Captain Gregory’s, the other speakeasy in Alexandria

I’m still narrowing down what I want to do on NYE. First, I need to confirm a date, but I’m hoping to do one of the many, many masquerade galas or one of the dancing parties. So many options. And then, well January is my birthday month so the awesome will continue into the new year.

So stay tuned for what happens next.

Tell me, how was your November and what are your holiday plans? What fun things are you doing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.