What a great weekend!

Karen and I had such a great time in Portland this weekend! All of my classes were great...some were brilliant! Although I spent more money than I had intended and we had some tense moments checking into the hotel, all's well that ends well. Heck, I even won 2nd place in a dance contest at the Friday night crop and was able to select a new Squeeze at the QuicKutz booth on Saturday! I plan on writing more about the weekend tomorrow, but I need to get to bed right now.

Future topics:

• Red Robin
• Quick Quotes Canvas Class
• Simon Sings
• QuicKutz Girls and the Dance Off
• Hanging Out with Karen
• Organizing My Craft Room
  

Portland CKC...Here I Come!

I just finished listening to the week 2 audio file for My Word and sent Amy S a quick note. This class, in addition to forcing me to make time to write, is giving me fantastic teaching ideas. My kids are going to work on Multi-Genre Research projects this trimester, and I'm formulating some new approaches as a result of this class...and it has only been one week!

I'm not going to take any more time to write tonight, because I'm packing for my trip to Portland tomorrow. Karen and I are going to have such a great time at the CKC and Friday night crop! My goal is to finish my "Learn Something New Every Day" album. Nothing like getting it done 6 months later! LOL!

How do I feel about books and reading?

Where do I begin? I'm an English teacher!

I think it is safe to say that I absolutely love books and reading. The only problem is that I'm an English teacher! It is so very sad, but I have little time to read for pleasure during the school year. Case in point--I have three sets of essays to grade right now, but I'm forcing myself to take a break so that I can do my "homework."

My bookshelves are filled with everything from Shakespeare to Star Trek. When we moved a couple of years ago, I forced myself to take many of my books to school for my classroom library. I love to read young adult fiction, and I always claim that it is research for teaching. I need to stay abreast of what's new in YA so I can recommend books to my students, right?! Honestly, I would still read it even if I wasn't a teacher.

One of my favorite YA series is Harry Potter! Although I think HP is still classified as children's lit. by the publisher, I find the themes and writing style far more advanced than that. I'm anxiously counting down the days (literally on my white board at school) until the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I can't believe the series is almost over; it makes me sad. Especially because I think Harry is going to die. I started reading the books in 1999 when I should have been working on my Master's project. I told myself that I would write 20 pages and then read a book; well, I wrote the first 20 pages, read the first book, thought about writing my next 20 pages but opted to read the 2nd book instead, briefly thought about writing...but picked up the 3rd book, didn't even fake that I was going to write and picked the 4th book up in hardback! I was hooked! I eventually finished my 100 page Master's paper, but that's only because there weren't any more HP books for me to read at the time. Since then I have become addicted to HP podcasts and movies, and have read each of the books three to five times. I spoke to my VP today about creating a HP Enlgish elective!

When I was in high school, my husband turned me on to the Dragonlance series. I have an entire bookshelf filled with those novels. I know I should take them to school, but I can't bear to part with them. Believe it or not, kids trash books, lose them, and--if the books are really good--steal them! I'm far too emotionally attached to that series to take the chance. For instance, I named my two cats and a houseplant after characters from those books! That reminds me of a brilliant show I heard on the DragonHearth podcast hosted by author Tracy Hickman. He and Margaret Weis were at Fort Lewis on a book tour last summer, and they met an incredible young man who was injured in Iraq. At the book tour, he credited one of the characters from the novels with saving his life and that of the other soldiers in his charge, because--when he thought death was eminent--he asked himself, "What would Sturm do?" He found the strength to survive from a character in their book, so he gave his Purple Heart and Bronze Star to the authors. It's such an incredible story!

I truly could go on and on, but I must stop here if I'm going to get any school work done tonight. Yet, I can't log off without stating that my all-time favorite author is William Shakespeare! I have read, re-read, studied, discussed, performed, and viewed his plays for years, and I never get tired of them. There is always something new to discover. If I was stranded in a spaceship and was only able to take one book with me, I would choose the Complete Works of William Shakespeare!

Rainbow Connection

Now that Romeo & Juliet is over, I'm getting back to my real life. I'm taking the "My Word" journaling class and am excited to be writing every day. I watched an episode of Craft Lab today which was all about creating an art journal. I'm looking at my lonely art journal and am really excited about getting back to exploring my creative side. I had wanted to take the BPS class about choosing joy, but I had no time due to the play. I'm definitely in a scrapbooking mood since it has been so long, so I was checking out Shimelle's site for more classes I can take and ran across this link!

I haven't seen The Muppet Movie since I was a kid, but I have to admit that I owned the record and listened to it all through high school! This is a photo of me during my senior year; 20+ years later, I still have that Kermit doll in my classroom! I haven't looked at this picture in ages, but I'm glad I decided to pull it out today, because it is in an old album and the photo was stuck to the page. I had to use Un-Du to get it off. It's a really good reminder to me to get the rest of my photos out of those albums.

I want to spend some more time exploring my "Rainbow Connection," because I have this vague memory of sitting in our darkened living room on 7th street watching this film. I'll definitely come back to this, but for now, I'll enjoy the video and my photo!

"My Word" -- 1 Answer

The second half of the prompt is to select one of those questions and answer it for myself. So, I'm going with #6!

There is so much to love about my mom, that I don't even know where to begin. She has given me unconditional love since the day I was born. Even during those teenage years when I didn't deserve it, she was there for me. She was willing to let me move in with my biological father after I ran away in high school. Whether she was making the greatest sacrifice a mother could make or simply calling my bluff, it was at that moment that I realized how much she loved me. That's the day I started turning my life around. It took me awhile to earn back her trust, but we have been the best of friends ever since. She was even the Matron-of-Honor in my wedding!

Yet, the question asks me to pick the thing I love the most, so I'm going to narrow it all down to the way she treats me on my birthday. Frankly, I've always felt that the birthday of a child should be a day celebrating the mother...she is the one that did all the work. :-) Yet, my mom makes me feel like the most special person on the planet on my birthday. When I was little, she made and decorated the cutest cakes for me...one to take to my class party and one for my birthday party with friends. She let me choose the dinner menu, which was always steak and potatoes. Even when the family was going through lean times, my birthday celebration was never lacking. In college, she sent me care packages on my birthday with gifts and homemade cookies; even when miles separated us, I was Queen-for-the-day. I'll be celebrating my 40th birthday next month, and my mom is outdoing herself this year! She is taking my sister and me to Chicago for my birthday weekend!!!!! She is trying to get tickets for Wicked and Oprah. Since it is my celebration, she is even willing to give me up for a few hours while I visit the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.

So, what do I love the most about my mom? I love the way she expresses her love by making me feel special. I love that she is proud of me. I love that she is able to love unconditionally. I love that she is my mom!

"My Word" -- 10 Questions

The topic for today is to make a list of ten things I would ask one of my ancestors and then choose one question to answer myself. I thought a lot about who I would want to ask questions. Would I choose Grandma Hazel whom I loved so dear? No, I was lucky to have many years of quality time with my grandma. Although I would love to relive one of those days spent watching Days of Our Lives, eating junk food, and playing Scrabble with her again, I know that she will always be alive in my heart. So, maybe I would talk to my dad who died too soon; we had so much unfinished business. I spent a lot of years working through all that, and I've come to terms with it all and have learned to forgive. That was such a valuable lesson that he taught me, so I think I'll choose someone I never had a chance to know. I'm choosing Grandpa Robbie.

1. What made you want to become a judge?
2. What was the most interesting case you tried?
3. Did you ever regret any decisions you made?
4. Did you love all of your kids the same?
5. Or was Bobby always your favorite?
6. What did you love the most about my mom?
7. What did you find funny?
8. Did you smile much?
9. Laugh often?
10. Was it the stress of your job or of your life that caused your heart attack?

"My Word" Week 1--Assignment A

The first assignment for the week is to look at my oldest album and analyze my journaling. I created my very first album in the late 90s and it was completely devoted to my "kids"! These pages tell the story of how we found and eventually decided to adopt the cats. These pages feel like ones I created when I was in high school! The text is in shapes and wraps around the photos. I probably thought it was cute at the time, but now it annoys me because it isn't easy to read. I did add a bit of emotion to the story as we adopted them right around the time my Grandma passed away, but it is lost in the "creative" shape of my journaling. I got over that fairly quickly...of course, I just stopped journaling throughout the rest of the album. I have one page that has the penciled in journaling guides that are still blank. I started my bad habit early in my scrapbooking career! LOL!

By looking at these pages, I've come to the realization that I haven't scrapbooked about my cats in about 8 years! I take hundreds of photos of them...especially with my new camera...but those photos remain on my computer. They are getting older, and I don't want to lose the stories of the things I love about them. It isn't enough to simply have the photos, I need to remember the details, because I know they won't be around for much longer. Honestly, I thought Tanis was going to die a few months ago, so I need to get on top of this right now! The good news is that I bought some cute cat paper from CTMH, so now all I need to do is print the photos and start telling the stories of my "babies"!

Once more unto the breach...

In December, Neal and I made a deal to blog each day; the goal was to be more creative...I failed! LOL!

If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. ~ C.G. Chesterson

Well, if that is the case, then perhaps I succeeded brilliantly! I heard this quote today in the class lecture for the BPS My Word workshop. This workshop is what is inspiring me to jump back into blogging. As many blank journals and partially used composition notebooks I have at hand, I'm fairly confident that I will write more and more often if I type my entries. So, here we go...even though I'm starting the class a day late! ;-) So, my assignment is to respond to one of the quotes that Amy S e-mailed to us.

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath

Self-doubt is the worst enemy period. I've dealt with this a lot in my life, and I still struggle with it a bit today. Although I don't spend as much time comparing myself to others as I used to, those thoughts of inadequacy tend to surface from time to time. Instead of using it as a motivator to get better, I shut down and either eat or sleep...or both! I need to learn to channel those negative thoughts into something constructive. Yet, it is so much easier said than done.

For instance, JC's daughter, D, just auditioned for the musical. She has a great voice, is a talented dancer, and a creative young lady; yet, she let her self-doubt get the best of her at auditions (in her opinion). Instead of attacking it with confidence and energy, her nerves took over. I know she was cast in the show, but I don't know if she got a major role or not. I'll find out on Monday. The point is, here is someone who should have all the confidence in the world, but she doesn't. We can all build her up by pointing out her strengths, but, in the end, she is fighting against herself.

This is the battle I've been engaged in all my life. I do well for awhile, but then I sabotage myself and end up miserable. I have opportunity every day to express my creativity, but I let life get in my way. It's not self-doubt all the time, usually it is laziness. So, this is where I need to work it out. I'll begin with the mundane, and eventually I will delve into the realm of creativity. The added bonus is that I think this course will also make me a better teacher!