I posted this photo on Instagram last week, and my sister asked if I had taken it at her house. Yes, I had. I hang on to the photos on my phone for a very long time. When I get bored, I'll scroll through the photos to see if one inspires me to play for a while. I'm not sure which apps I used on this one, but I loved how it turned out. With a few apps and cropping tools, it's easy to give a photo a whole new look.

If you thought you heard me sigh around 4:30 this evening, you probably did. That was when I walked out of the school and got into my car. I headed home for a week's vacation, and I am ready for it to begin.

I'd love to get into the attic and pull down all of the Christmas decorations this week. I want to have them ready as soon as the turkey and dressing have been eaten and the dishes washed and put away. Christmas is coming quickly this year.

Between attic exploration, eating delicious food, and getting ready to decorate, I'll be grading essays, too. While I enjoy seeing how my students progress with their writing, part of me thinks that teaching history or science might be a bit easier, at least when it comes to grading.

It's also time to see a few movies. Hannah and I saw Gravity last weekend. I always wanted to be an astronaut, but getting stranded in space would be scary to say the least. If you saw the movie, did you notice Sandra Bullock's toned self? Hmmm. I'm thinking it may be time to start exercising again. The Hunger Games movie comes out tonight, so that one's on my list. And The Book Thief. I read that book several years ago and wrote about it here. I definitely want to see the movie now.

There's nothing like having a few days off to relax and enjoy yourself. I'm definitely getting ready to do just that. I hope you have a great weekend and week, too!

I Thought of Cheryl and Pushed On

Have you read the memoir, "Wild," by Cheryl Strayed? It's about her quest to hike the Pacific Coast Trail - by herself - when she was in her 20s. She planned the trip pretty well. She had packed resupply boxes and left them with a friend to mail to towns along the way. She packed PLENTY of gear in her monster backpack. But in reality, she wasn't prepared for such a daunting task. Challenges pursued her relentlessly, yet she kept putting one foot in front of the other as she tried to reach her goal.

I haven't done anything quite that challenging, but I did have to pull from the book last Sunday when my husband and I went kayaking on a lake. Silly me did not wear sunscreen; I thought the chance of rain would keep the sky cloudy. And while we had a little head wind on our way to the other side of the lake, the tail wind I was expecting wasn't there when we made our return trip back to the dock. 

It was a big lake.
And I was hot.
And my arms were tired as I paddled my way across the lake.

That was when I thought about Cheryl Strayed and how she tackled that trail. Sometimes you have to dig deep and sometimes you have to dig even deeper to get where you're going. You have to quiet the voice in your head - you know, the negative one that tries to tell you that something is too hard or difficult to accomplish. Instead, you have to tell yourself that this, too, can be done.

My challenge was rowing across a lake. I got sunburned. Nothing else. But it still helped to think about Cheryl and how she propelled herself forward day after day.

If you haven't read 'Wild,' you might want to give it a look. You won't want the journey to end. I promise.

Here are a few photographs I took on my little kayaking adventure. (Oh, and while kayaking in a lake keeps the whole put-in, take-out car puzzle simple, I will never again take the flow of a river for granted!)

He was taking a photograph, too

His view:

I think he's developing quite an eye for this!


 

Blooming...

Just saying...

Maybe it IS your time to bloom!

I just finished reading one of those books that are just perfect for the beach.

You know the kind... Not a heavy read, something a little more fun and frivolous.

But it did get me thinking.... (shouldn't all books do that?).

The book, Jude Deveraux's "The Summerhouse," features three women

who all live different lives.

And then they get to choose a time in their lives to relive

and can even change the choices they made.

Rewind and start over.

We don't get to do that of course, you and I,

and I'm guessing that even if we could, we wouldn't change things.

But maybe, just maybe, we get too caught up in what has to be done each day,

and we forget what really brings us joy.

Our passions.

For art,

writing,

photography,

cooking,

or even moving

our furniture around.

Believe me, I DO make time for a lot of the fun things in life.
But there have been times in my life when I didn't do those things.
I wasn't writing, or drawing, or taking pictures of things that make me smile.

So, words of advice gleaned from Jude Deveraux's summer read:

Don't forget who you are.
Remember to enjoy what makes you, you.
and Bloom!

 

I escaped...

to Barnes and Noble for a little while yesterday. I've always found that I belong amid racks of books and magazines.... As I wander along, I touch a few book covers and hold some volumes in my hands, reading the back and skimming through a few paragraphs before placing them back on the shelf. I admit that I do judge a book by its cover. I love the texture and the feel and the images that were chosen.

I always find myself in the same areas of the store.... I browse the tables where 75% off makes it hard to resist buying something new. I scan the titles in the education aisle hoping for something new and inspiring. I take a peek into religious books, memoirs, and children's picture books, never sure what will capture my attention.

As a child, I had my own library system and would let friends check out my books. Each book had a carefully crafted check-out card in the back, and an index box sat close by cradling the cards that awaited reunions. I imagined owning my own book store one day. I imagined a seating area with coffee and cocoa close by. I imagined tables and racks of books and magazines, storytime.... I imagined The Shop Around the Corner from "You've Got Mail." I imagined a smaller version of Barnes and Noble.

When I was growing up, there were no independently-owned bookstores in my town. There were no Barnes and Nobles or Books A Million. Trips to a neighboring K-Mart helped me build my library.

Just now as I peeked into the green plastic bag, I smiled.... Good reading is ahead, although I will probably have to save it for spring break. I bought Sue Monk Kidd's collaboration with her daughter, Traveling with Pomegranates. As a mother nearing the 50-year mark, with a daughter soon to be entering high school, I'm sure it will make me stop and reflect on and savor the time I have with my daughter before college and work and a new family sidle in. I also bought a CD set of The Chronicles of Narnia. I've looked at this marked-down version for six months probably and finally tucked the last set safely under my arm.... It's a "just in case" purchase.... You know the kind; you don't really need it now, but you might one day. And the new issue of Somerset Digital Studio. It definitely inspires me to play with pictures and create.

But now, before Pomegranates, Narnia, or digital design, I have papers to grade and lessons to plan for next week. But the promise of what's inside the green bag lingers in my mind, the whisper of a favorite melody.

Stargirl....

I guess you could say that I'm on a literary kick.

Fact is, our school is ordering a class set of books for each grade level, so I've been scurrying around trying to decide on the best novel to read and share with my 8th-graders. I want something that gives me plenty to teach.... characterization, plot development, word choice, and theme while giving the students a good story to enjoy.

I may have found it with Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl.

Written from a teenage boy's perspective, this story weaves its message through a plot that focuses on peer pressure and the need teeangers feel to fit in and conform with their peers. Stargirl, the other main character, is a free spirit, who is more concerned with how others feel rather than what they think. Yet as the characters wade into their relationships with each other and with their classmates, they find that remaining true to themselves is more challenging than they imagined.

The story made me smile... and cry, of course. Don't they all? Yet I think it will soon become the new class set of novels for my 8th-grade classroom. Its theme of being yourself (and being happy with who you are) is one that I hope my students will embrace as they continue their journey into adulthood.

Although I can picture numerous activities to go along with the book, it only took me a couple of hours to read it. So, if you measure time by the seconds rather than the hours, you can probably squeeze this one in!

A True Time-Stealer....

What an amazing story.... one that moved me to tears and made me think again about the power of words and the power of the human spirit.

Over the past few years I've read several books that gave me insight into the lives of other people who lived in countries that faced brutality and death on a regular basis. Fictional accounts, yet historically accurate in many ways, these books made me more aware of the vast differences that exist in our world.

This weekend, with nearly 90 essays to grade, I kept stealing moments with The Book Thief. Essays lay on my lap, while The Book Thief remained on top, open to its story. As I stumbled through the last pages, I was in tears, wrapped in emotion so heart-breaking that it pained me to realize that this story could have been true of the children and adults who lived through the Nazi regime and the ally invasion that finally ended World War II.

In the beginning, I found the book difficult. Written from the perspective of death, I kept wanting to move into the story of Liesel... I didn't care at first to read what Death had to say. But as I continued to read, I became one of the people of Himmel Street, and I stayed there until the very end.

The essays await, visits to you are still to come, but I wanted to share this remarkable story with you. Written by Australian Markus Zusak, it's a book you won't want to put down. Read it when you can.... and let me know what you think about it.

And The Sun Shone Brightly...

I confess. Yesterday when I needed to be cleaning up for our New Year's Day party, I kept sneaking into my office to read just a few more pages of A Thousand Splendid Suns. By doing this off and on over the course of hours, I managed to get half way through the book before our guests arrived, and I still had a decent home to invite them into.

Although I was tempted to sneak a few pages in during the party, I enjoyed our company so much, I was able to sweep the temptation aside. Until they left. And then I began to devour a book that absolutely stole my heart.

If you haven't read Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns, or his first international bestseller, The Kite Runner, you should put these on the top of your "To Read" list for 2009. For me, they were my daughter's world cultures textbook brought to life as I read about life in Afghanistan before, during, and after occupation of Russian and Taliban forces.

I fear that many Americans take for granted the wonderful opportunities and freedoms we enjoy. These two books are eye-openers. Although fiction, Hosseini bases many of the characters and events in the stories on real people and events that have transpired in that war-ravaged country.

I hope you'll let his masterful writing send you on a powerful journey into the hearts of Afghanistan and its people. You can also visit Hosseini's Web site, which includes videos of him discussing the books and his work to improve lives of Afghani men, women, and children.

Me, Quirky? Say It Ain't So!

Quirky might actually be an understatement....

Okay, I was tagged by Miruspeg and Mommy2Twinkies and had to come up with seven quirky things I do. Problem was, after counting seven I could have continued, but I decided to combine a couple and disregard the rest. No one wants to read that much about me!

1. To get the ideas rolling, I asked my daughter if I had any quirks. "Yes," she said with a snicker. "You read magazines from the back to the front." Actually, I don't begin reading an article until I get to the first page of the article, then I proceed to read it the way it was meant to be read. But she's right. I always start in the back and work my way forward.

2. When I worked full time as a writer, I would walk to the restroom and wash my hands before starting a new writing project. And if I got bogged down with the details... a/k/a a small moment of writer's block... I would take that little walk again and re-wash my hands. I guess I was clearing my mind while cleaning my hands.

3. Combo #1: I never let my tennis partner or opposing player change the score. If someone changed it, I always had to "straighten it up," before I could start playing again. And this "straightening up" had to be done with me never changing my grip on my racket.

4. I doodle ceaselessly while waiting for my computer to catch up with whatever I am attempting to do. Boxes, faces, letters, and words. You name it; I doodle it.

5. I organize the books in my home office by subject.

6. Combo #2: After taking my shower in the morning, I put my PJ's back on until I've finished putting on a little make-up and drying my hair. I also wear socks - always - while in my house.

7. I leave e-mails in my inbox... forever. It may soon runneth over.

8. And, although I was only supposed to come up with seven, I have to add one more. For a while I woke up at 3:16 a.m. every morning. Last night, I was trying to remember what time I used to wake up (thanks to another post). And although I knew it was sometime around 3 a.m., I couldn't remember exactly when. This morning I woke up, but kept my eyes closed for about a minute. When I opened them, it was 3:17 a.m. Then I remembered! 3:16 a.m....

9. Okay. One more. Just one more. After checking out the quirks of MCMGrad89, I had to add this one: I love tomato sauce, spaghetti, and even drink tomato juice. But I HATE ketchup. I won't even touch the bottle. Can't even imagine closing the lid. I don't, and I mean absolutely won't, touch ketchup.

I call these little habits "quirks." Please don't call them anything else!

P.S. I'm afraid everyone I know has already been tagged. It looks like the quirks stop here.