#DWHabit . How I Procrasitinate

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 book entitled The Whistler, by the way. A perfect quick, easy read for procrastinating. I did manage to get up and throw some laundry in.

At about 11:00am, I finally got dressed (Oh. The life of the retired), and then met a former student for lunch. Lunch was awesome. We ate and chatted for about an hour and a half! There's nothing better than checking in with my kids.


When I got home I sat and visited with my husband for a bit before he went to work. We talked about important things like what to fix for supper. I watched a little NCIS and played a couple of Facebook games. Then I saw the check-in post.  OOPS! I still hadn't written! I thought maybe I would write about lunch today until I opened my notebook. And then I knew, just knew, I had to write about how I procrastinated today.

#SOL18 . #DWHabit . Cranky

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.

Celebrate: The Graduates (and a few of the Almost Graduates)

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 Mom". One of my speech kids--and I was school mom to him--was just checking with me about a book we read in College Prep Lit. Another former student wanted to quote it in a paper he was writing and couldn't remember the name of the book (It was Night by Elie Weisel).

Last week a favorite student tagged me in her Facebook post because she decided to use a One Little Word this year. She and I are going to have lunch next week. I can't wait to catch up on her world.

And, of course, there are my kids still at the high school

• A, who squeals with delight every time she realizes I'm subbing in one of her classes
• L, who pretends he hates it, but just followed me on Instagram
• B and R who give me the best hugs whenever I'm in school
• K, C, and J who asked if I would still write letters of recommendation for them, even though I'm retired
• And all my formers who are still writing. They send me links or share them on Facebook. I love that they keep their blogs up.

A special shout-out to my colleagues who ask for me to be their sub when they have to be gone.

I'm learning to APPRECIATE this time in my life. I think I'm going to refer to them as my Rock Star Years.

Not My Room Anymore

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 remembered.
There are no books in the basket resting until a new reader finds it.

There are no books.

It's a Spanish room now and I'm sure learning still happens. It just doesn't seem to have the vibrancy it once did. Or maybe, it's just my memories overshadow the reality.

Chloe Writes: Winter Sucks

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 everything better). Then maybe we could play. But Mom wouldn't even throw the ball. Like how hard is it to throw the dumb ball?

Geez.

So, all I've done for the last week is lay around. I keep trying to get them up, but it hasn't worked very well. Finally, yesterday, there was some activity around here. I think they might be getting better! Mom chased me up the steps a couple of times and Dad let me come up in his chair.

But it's still too cold to play outside :(

#DWHabit . REASON

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 and easy to throw together meals in electric fry pan. Toast and hard boiled eggs became gourmet meals.

Throughout this, it was simply too hard to write. A pounding head and burning eyes do not lend themselves to writing of any kind. I had to give myself permission to not write. I couldn't worry about it. I couldn't worry if others thought I was quitting again. I just had to sink into my blanket cocoon and take care of myself.

But today seems better. The fatigue is still there, but it's manageable. Our appetites are normal again and hubby just headed up to work. Slowly life will get back to normal.

And today I can write again.

#SOL18 Summer Sunday in the Midst of Winter

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 statehouse and music. There was another old friend there that we don't see very often and a visit with him is always a treat. He filled us in on happenings in his life since we last saw him and enjoyed the music with us.

Later we headed home to Red Lobster leftovers and a night watching the Golden Globes. The day was spent relaxing and enjoying friends. A Summer Sunday in the midst of winter.