Stories with Sophie

As I've said before, I sit down with my writer's notebook every week or two, date the pages and write a prompt at the top. That way, when I sit down to write each MORNING, I have a prompt to get me writing immediately. I change it up once in a while. For example, yesterday I used Jen's word of the day for my writing. I laughed when I opened my notebook a few minutes ago and prepared to write--in the AFTERNOON , after the gentle nudge to share what we've written today. This is what I found. Procrastination. I've been great at it today. First, I read instead of writing this morning. Not a bad thing. I promised I would write after I read a while. But instead, I messaged some friends about a weekend wedding reception we've all been invited to. And that led to a conversation about my brother-in-law who has been in the hospital. All of which is important, but procrastination just the same. I went back to reading when I was done. It's a John Grisham

I should be CRANKY when my phone rings shortly after 6:00am I should be  CRANKY and pull the covers over my head  I should be CRANKY about not crossing things off my to-do list I should be CRANKY because I stayed up way too late on a school night But I'm not. My clothes are ready. My attitude's ready. And I get to sub in Art, which is fun and CREATIVE. Added bonus. I don't have to go in 'til 9:00am So there is plenty of time for an extra cup of coffee and Snuggles with Chloe.

Retirement. It could have been a lot harder to adjust to this if not for one special group of people. My former students. At times these past few months, I've felt a little lost. What to do with myself? I'm finding projects, purging closets, filling time. But about once a month, I'll get a text or a Facebook message from one of "my kids" and it seems to right my world again. It started right away in August (which was a great time to hear from someone) We had a great conversation about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and our school district. My first visit back to school was to see a student who just needed to talk to me again. For a while, I went back every couple of weeks just to visit with her and make sure she was OK. Now that I'm subbing, I see her more frequently, but she is handling her issues and doesn't need me as much as she did. And that's a good thing :) A text I received the other day began with "Hey M

Going back to school and subbing this winter has been good for me. Truth be told, I get a little bored once in a while, and getting back in the classroom is fun (and a lot less work than teaching full time). I love seeing my kids again and meeting some new ones. I get to see all my friends and catch up on all the school gossip. But I miss my room . The physical space is there, but the life I knew in it is gone. When it was mine, you knew when you walked in that reading and writing were important in that room. You knew by peeking in that students and their voice were valued. There was life in that room. Pods of kids were always about living, breathing, and learning. There are no signs pointing the way to Oz or threatening with flying monkeys. There are no speech folders cluttering the counters waiting to be put away. There are no books lining the walls, ready to be grabbed to prove a point or entice a new reader. There are no books in the chalk tray waiting to be reme

Let me just tell you.  This. Winter. Sucks. For a while after the lake, it was really nice and we could still go for walks and play out in the backyard. I love to run in the backyard, and chase that dang squirrel that lives in the tree and if I could just catch that cat that likes to hang out under the deck... Anyway. Then it got cold. Really, really cold and my paws hurt when I have to go out and take care of business. Even when the cousins came for Christmas we couldn't stay outside very long, and, trust me, we wanted to! But even though it's too cold outside, Mom and Dad play fun games with me inside. But this last week has been the worst one ever. THEY ARE BOTH SICK AT THE SAME TIME! How can that be? Now, no one plays with me. They just lay there, wrapped in their blankets, moaning like babies. Dad wouldn't even let me up to lay in the chair with him! Mom did though. I thought if I cuddled her for a little while she would feel better (dog cuddles make ev

Today's word is perfect. Reason. I cruised through the first 10 days of January, writing daily in my notebook AND writing a blog post. Sometimes they were the same thing. Other times, they were very different. But the important thing was, I was writing again. I had promised myself a little reward at the end of the month if I succeeded in writing every day (a new notebook!). And then the flu hit. I scribbled a few lines in my notebook last Wednesday, just enough to say I wrote. I skipped the blog post. Thursday I was so sick I didn't even shower, let alone write. The following days are a blur. Bed to couch. Aching. Feverish. Cough and sore throat. And to top it off, my husband had all this at the same time.  I knew he was really sick when he didn't go into work last week (he always goes to work!), nor did he run the snow blower when it snowed on Thursday (almost as shocking as not going into work). We made it through on canned chicken noodle soup a couple of days

School Sundays. Wake up Coffee Grading Planning More Grading More Planning Bed No fun I love Summer Sundays because they are relaxed and easy. Some are pajama days and lazy. Doing nothing but reading and enjoying the nice weather.  Others may find us golfing or going somewhere fun. Most find us gathering together in the late afternoon for friends, cool drinks, watching sunset and supper of some kind.  Since I've retired, Sundays have been easy, but kind of boring. There's not much to do around here in the winter. But this past Sunday, Greg and I headed to a sports bar in the area where two friends were playing music during the afternoon. It was perfect.  First of all, we love the music our friends play. I call it "Mom's Night At the Stereo" music. I can sing the words to every song. They make me happy. We also get to visit with the guys between sets and that too is nice. We talk about other friends, what's happening in the statehou

I'm really enjoying subbing this winter. It keeps me in the loop at school and in touch with kids. I've also met some new kids that have quickly become favorites. Some of these new kids don't really know me and they don't know how I deal with things. But they are learning. And I'm learning to ignore certain behaviors. I know that many teachers in our high school are battling cell phones. But it's not a fight I'm going to engage in.  I didn't when I was working full time and I'm really not going to now.  I have found that asking students to put them away or turn them face down when I'm teaching is/was enough. Kids get it if I say I need their undivided attention for a few minutes. When I taught, I did have a basket they could put them in if they thought they would be tempted. Some did for awhile but most handled the cell situation appropriately. And quite frankly, there are bigger battles to fight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have loved this house since we sat on the dining room floor in the waning light sunlight of a summer day and it whispered to us. "Welcome Home." Wrapping it walls around me like a cozy blanket on a cold winter's morning, it loves me as much as I love it. Every creak is familiar. I can walk through the rooms in the dark and never trip. The doors stick, the steps are too narrow, there's still some walls with 60's paneling, but I love it. It's showing it's age now in the wrinkles in the walls and the grime that's going to take a lot of elbow grease to clean off the cupboards. But these walls hold lots of memories. Memories that make me laugh and smile, and yes, they also make me cry. If these walls could talk they would share with you our excitement at owning our own home and the boys reminding us that now we could get a dog. It would tell you about the nights the boys snuck up the stairs and the fights we had as a family. If these walls co

While I love the holidays, I also love January when life returns to normal. Peaceful. Calm. Introspective. I've spent the week returning my house to its pre-holiday normal. I've switched a few things around, changed out pictures in the frames, and sucked up a few cobwebs (Really. Shouldn't spiders die in the winter?). And I've been writing. Nothing major, just notes in my notebook that have turned into blog posts every day. It feels good.

Every year my January goal is to eat less and move more, because, let's face it, the previous two months are killer on being healthy. By January, I need to remind myself to get back to sensible living. Also, it's cold here---really cold. So daily walks outside are not possible. At least not for me! The eating less/healthy part is easier to get back into. The cookies are gone (thanks to the grandkids), the candy is almost gone. I did hide a few pieces or it would be gone too. But a piece of chocolate a day is mentally healthy, so I'm OK with there being some around. There are now greens and vegetables and fruit in the fridge. My husband is on board with finding some healthy recipes, so we're good there. It's the moving more that is my downfall in the winter. Being retired means I can sit in my chair with a blanket drinking coffee as long as I want in the morning.  Before I know it, it's 11:00am and I still haven't gotten dressed or moved at all exc

I started a list this morning of the things I am looking forward to in the coming year: Traveling: I don't know where we'll go, but I know we will start planning some trips soon The Eagles concert in March. Although we've seen them before, this is a group I could see a million times. Lake time, of course (Only 100 more days until we can open the cabin) I don't have to worry about snow/cold days anymore! Which means I don't have to worry about making up snow and cold days anymore! A midwinter trip somewhere And then I realized that what I'm really looking forward to is the  that being retired brings me. I now have the freedom to: sleep in or get up early work or not work read all day or be productive scrapbook or write travel or enjoy my home clean my house or close my eyes I'm loving this life of no schedules--the ability to take off on vacation or a shopping day in the middle of the week is awesome. I love choosing when and

"I WANT TO WRITE, BUT MORE THAN THAT, I WANT TO BRING OUT ALL KINDS OF THINGS THAT LIE BURIED DEEP IN MY HEART. ~  ANNE FRANK ~ I retired. I quit writing. Actually, I quit writing before I retired. I'd think about blog posts. I'd try to get started. But that inner critic kept telling me that others had written it before, my thoughts weren't relevant, I had nothing to add to the conversation. And when I did retire in May, it was easy to tell myself that no one would want to read the thoughts of a teacher no longer in the classroom. I'm not sure what is motivating me now, but I know I've spent the last couple of months preparing to start again. I've started a Pinterest board for Blogging and Journaling . I've dabbled a couple of times I've pulled out a new notebook I've scheduled my writing time in my calendar I've removed blank pages from my notebook Yes. You read that last one correctly. I removed blank pages. Well, maybe

Each year I wait, and each year it happens. A word comes along that I know will guide me through the coming year. And, usually, it comes through a phrase that I use as a mantra throughout the year. 2013: Nothing Without JOY 2014: Live ALOHA 2015: Life is about BALANCE 2016: Concentrate the mind on the present MOMENT 2017: DISCOVER I was playing around with words throughout December. Created a Pinterest board. Read quotes I had earlier pinned. No word, no phrase really jumped out at me. But I was patient. For a while, I thought my word would be enjoy . But the word never really settled in my soul. I want to enjoy my life now, the people in it, the fun things we are doing. But still, it seemed a little frivolous. But I was patient and kept looking. And then this meme came across my Facebook timeline: And one word jumped out at me:  APPRECIATE And, as always, I looked up the word: To recognize worth, to understand situations, to enjoy, give thanks, to acknow

By last January, I knew that I was headed for retirement. And while I was excited and fairly ready for it, I also wondered who I would be if not Mrs. Day. What would I do? How would I fill my days? I used my One Little Word for 2017,   DISCOVER , as a way to figure out the next chapter of my life. At times, I didn't think I was really discovering much of anything , but when I sat down to think about it, there were a few discoveries along the way: Love comes back to you when you put it out in the world. Remembering is fun , but appreciating the moment is important and gives me more memories to look back on. There is life beyond teaching, although I am a teacher at heart. Sunday nights are a lovely time to watch movies, read a book or doze in the chair under a cozy blanket. Tuesday at 11:00am is a great time to go grocery shopping! There are books I haven't read in this great place called a library. They let me take home books for free (as long as I bring them back)