So, the official final count for this year was 22,610. And even though "we're all winners," in someone's book, in my book I'm bummed that I couldn't do it.
Still, I attacked an interesting idea, and got a little traction, and that was something. I figured out that I'll never finish 50,000 if I worry about spelling and spacing, and that was something. And one of the kids hit her word goal this year, so that was something, too.