Out of Practice

I've been a bad, bad writer. Writing, for basically the last year, has not been my priority. Now I'm trying to get back into the habit, and boy, is it hard!

I'm picking up the manuscript I'd pretty much abandoned around January. I've been reading, trying to immerse myself in the characters, the plot, the conflicts. It isn't easy. The closest analogy I can come up with is it's akin to not running for months, then trying to get back into condition. Already, I can see it's going to be a slow, painful process.

But I'm trying. And I'm getting there.

Slowly.

Painfully.

But I'm getting there.

Today's Post . . .

Is at Romance Worth Killing For.

FABULOUS SALE & CONTEST AT MBAM!

FABULOUS SALE & CONTEST AT MBAM!

Lots of prizes this week - all you do is make a purchase to be entered! Winners will be chosen to win a variety of print books!ALSO, from now until September 30, 2006, every purchase will count toward a drawing for an ebook reader! The winner may choose between an eBookwise, a Palm Tungsten E2, or an HP IPAQ rx1950!PLUS, you can enter the drawing without making a purchase by sending a postcard with your name, address, phone number, email address, and how you heard about MBaM to this address:My Bookstore and More2932 Ross Clark Circle #384Dothan AL 36301All postcards must be received by October 31st, winner will be announced on November 1st, 2006


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I'm excited!

Got an email from my editor yesterday.

I SOLD THREE MORE BOOKS!

Whoo-hoo!

HOLD ON TO ME, TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES, and HIS ORDINARY LIFE all have a home at Samhain now.

Today's Post (And My News!)

Is over at Romance Worth Killing For.

Note to Self

Don't let the DH help Monster #1 with his homework.

They take forever. It's 12 minutes to bedtime, and are they near finishing?

Noooooo.

Weird, Isn't It?

I have fewer preps this year, fewer classes, fewer students.

I have one more planning period.

You would think I'd have plenty of time.

Noooo.

I'm less stressed teaching-wise than I was last year (I was really spread too thin), but all the department head duties are kicking in. And, man, does that take a lot of time.

I did manage today to get all of my filing done (that's a task I rarely get to -- I'd end up tossing papers in a file drawer to keep them out of sight, then have to sort them at the end of the year or when I needed something.). I'm setting my classes up in our computer program now. I made emergency bathroom passes (I have to handwrite the info on those, or the kids try to forge them). Still have to set up my gradebook. Make a list of kids without access to a computer or a printer.

Finally got all the ballyhoo from this weekend sorted out. DH took care of most of it, since it was his payroll department who basically screwed my entire budget for the month. I have to do some math, but I think they still owe us money, although not nearly as much as they did.

I'm off to make a form parent-contact letter.

What are you up to?

I'm Alive

Which is a positive.

It has not, however, been a good weekend. I'm a total control freak, and this situation is completely beyond my control.

I have to wait until Monday to see how it will play out. So instead of relaxing and getting recharged for school next week, I'm wound tight, my mind like a hamster wheel.

Keep your fingers crossed that everyone who made a promise Friday keeps it Monday.

A Little of This and That

What I'm reading: Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Or rather, I'm trying to read it. I know it's a classic and all, but I'm at chapter three, I don't like Holden, and I'm not all that impressed.

What I'm reading next: Gerald Graff's Clueless in Academe: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind.

What I'm listening to: Rain, my windchimes and distant thunder.

What I'm drinking: Diet Pepsi. Is there anything else?

What I'm working on: Knocking out my teacher TTD list, waiting on Kristi to send me something to read!

What I feel good about today: My English department meeting went well.

What I enjoyed most today: Lunch with my colleagues at the coffee shop. Joe, your homemade bread and the veggie sandwich were incredible!

What I'm doing next: Putting the Monsters to bed.

Sigh . . .

There's this episode of Little House on the Prairie that haunted me from the first time I saw it. As the show begins, a litter of puppies are being taken from their mother (to be drowned -- Laura or someone saves them, I don't remember it all, just that first scene). As the wagon drives away, with the puppies in a gunny sack on the back, the mama dog watches fornlornly, a sad expression on her little doggie face as she realizes she'll never see them again . . .

Well, tonight I'm the sack of puppies, whining a little, leaving the mama dog of my summer behind, with its shimmering freedom, not to be seen again. (Well, not this summer anyway . . . 190 working days, and whoo-hoo! A new summer!).

I'm packing my teacher bag (which has served as my beach bag all summer -- it's very versatile!), making my to-do list, trying to decide what I want to wear tomorrow.

I'm very aware that I have to be up at 6:00 A.M.

But I'm excited, too. I'm loving the way our high school faculty seems to be finally coming together as a cohesive unit, with the addition of some fantastic new people to an already strong group. I've been waiting four years to see this.

But I wouldn't mind just one more day to sleep in, either.

Goodbye, summer!

Gather Ye Memories While Ye May . . .

Today was a good day. Busy, but good. I have, alas, only one more day of freedom after today, and I was determined I would not show up at school today. I needed to spend my Vote for Sonny Money, plus I wanted to hit Penney's sale today, check the goodies at Old Navy, etc.

So I spent the day with my best friend Pam. After she got her hair cut (and I read part of The Memory Keeper's Daughter), we hit Office Depot. Teachers were everywhere (hey, we got ten million dollars worth of Vote For Sonny Money statewide -- that's a lot of teachers!). We went to the mall, met her DH for lunch at Applebee's (quesadilla burger, yummmm!), went back to the mall.

We will not discuss how many bras I had to try on to find the right one, but find one I did! I bought several in that style. I hate shopping for unmentionables. Picked up three tops at Penney's, two sweaters at Old Navy. Then I spent the remainder of my Vote For Sonny Money at Waldenbooks, buying books for my classroom library.

Tried to take a nap when I got home. Didn't happen.

The Monsters wanted to go fishing, so the DH and I loaded them up and took them to the river. They fished for a couple hours, didn't catch anything, but it was beautiful and quiet. Had a nice conversation with the local DNR officer. Sitting, listening to the river whisper, watching the sun set into the pine trees across the water, was a really relaxing way to finish off one of my last two days of summer. Definitely one of my favorite summer memories.

What about you? What won't you forget about this summer?

Today's Post . . .

Is at Romance Worth Killing For.

Can You Say, "Awww!"

My great-nephew Porter with me, at my mom's. I think this was taken Mother's Day.

Still Here

I've been scattered lately. I thought maybe, in all the frenzy of Nationals and the resulting explosion of blogs (which are really fun to read), my absence would go unnoticed. However, Kristi says not so much. This is what I've been up to:

1) Unit plans. More unit plans.
2) Typing assignments.
3) Back-to-school shopping for the Monsters.
4) Took the Monsters and one of their friends out for the day, to lunch and to see Monster House. Loved the movie. Go see it.
5) Getting my room ready for school. Preplanning? Uh, yeah. I can't work on my room when there are other people around. Too many distractions.
6) Completing my application for grad school. I'm supposed to start working on my master's in Learning and Literacy *or* Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment in October.

You'll notice there's no writing up there. I'm hoping to do a major push and finish chapter three of TAGD this weekend. We'll see. I have two manuscripts I want to send to my editor -- she hasn't had a chance to look yet at the two I've already sent, but she promised to get to them next week, said to send these on.

What have you been up to?