Sunday Day 15

Day 15 of the Slice of Life challenge by Two Writing Teachers.

Today has been lovely. A bit of shopping, some great food and time with family.  All in all we've had a great weekend.

I am also exhausted.  Worn to a nub.

This will be a short post--just enough to say I wrote tonight.

Good night,all--

things to write about

Day 14 of the Slice of Life challenge by Two Writing Teachers.

Woo-HOOOO!  Look what I bought today!  So excited!

 

Daughter-the-eldest and middle niece and I went to a lovely indie bookstore today.  We picked up these two gems and my daughter is JUST as excited about her "young writer's edition" as I am about mine.  I foresee some fun this week in writing over the same prompt and then comparing our choices.  I'm also looking forward to sharing with my Teen Writers Alliance group when school starts up again after the break.

 

New books, cupcakes, coffee & family; a great way to spend a Saturday.

Thoughts on a Friday morning

Day 13 of the Slice of Life challenge by Two Writing Teachers.

It is early morning here in Deep East Texas.  I normally don't take the time to write in these quiet hours on weekdays but since this is looking like the best bet to get any writing done at all today, I thought I'd better take the opportunity! 

Today is the last day of school before our Spring Break. Tonight my girls and I will head down the road  to my mother's house, where we will meet up with my brothers and their families.  It will be late when we arrive--and I will have just spent 4 hours in the car with my kiddos after working all day, and I'm just not sure I'll have the brain power left to write anything vaguely coherent at that point!

In trying to give myself the best possible no-excuses writing experience while out of town for a few days, I've set up the bones of the posts already this morning.  I've created them and added the cute "Slice of Life" logo and the line that marks the day of the challenge.  I'm hoping that with these already made, they will stay on my mind despite all the noise the wild ones will be making. 

I love these memory-making weekends.  I love that my kids and my nieces and nephews love each other so much.  I love that the youngest of my nieces is a darling squishy baby still and I'll get some squishy baby holding time.  I love that my brothers and I will laugh and tell old stories and share things that even after all this time still make us howl with laughter while our spouses just look at one another and scratch their heads with wonder. We've tried to explain, to help them see the hilarity, but some things are only funny when you've lived them. I love that I'll have some early morning coffee time with just my mom and me. These moments are treasures. 

And I'll write.  I will take some time each day and I'll close myself up in a semi-quiet room and I'll keep this promise I made to myself.     

One More Day

Day 12 of the Slice of Life Challenge from Two Writing Teachers

Rambling thoughts on a rainy night.

One more day closer to spring break. 

It has been an incredibly hectic week and I am flat worn out. 

Murphy's Law over and over and over again.

Still raining.  Wondering if I should start collecting wood and gathering animals two by two.

Lovely assistant is VERY much missed when she is sick at home with a nasty bug. 

Did I mention hubby is out of town, too?

and baby girl had a school performance I didn't know about until two hours before it began? 

(where, oh where is the plain white shirt? no--you cannot wear high heels with your jeans. you are 5.)

and daughter-the-eldest had to be picked up at a special time from school along with her bestie so this mama had to leave work.as.quickly.as.possible?

and the Navy presentation was today?

The coke machine ran out of cokes.  RAN OUT OF COKES.

(yes, I know water is better.  yes, I did drink coffee all morning. sometimes a gal needs a coke.)

But...I made it through.

One more day.  

I can do this. 

As seen in the library

Day 11 of the Slice of Life writing challenge from Two Writing Teachers.

In all seriousness, there is never a dull moment in the library +  Not sure you could call anything "typical" either = this is why I love my job.

My library is filled to the brim with kids every morning.  Filled.To.The.Brim. Some of them are readers, and some of them are gamers, and some of them are both, and some of them are neither. 

Some of them are guys and some of them are girls and some of them are the very best of friends. 

Some of them are serious & scholarly and some of them are silly as can be. 

Some of them are graphic-novel crazy and some of them read only fantasy. 

Some of them come for the comfy chairs and some of them come for a safe place to hang out with their friends and some of them just want a place to belong.

They all belong. They all matter.  My library = Their library = OUR LIBRARY.

Genrefying

Day 10 of the Slice of Life Challenge from Two Writing Teachers

The genrefication is moving along swimmingly.  By the time I left work today I had completed two sections of the first bookshelf--which I realize doesn't sound like much but is right on target for the goal I've set for completing an entire side of each Fiction bookshelf per week. 

After much deliberation, I've settled on the following genres to label:

Realistic Fiction 

Fantasy

Sci-Fi

Mystery 

Adventure

Classic

Historical Fiction

Story Collection

These labels will be placed at the top of the book spine, and I have some secondary labels available for the bottom of the spine (these won't change the location of the book, but will just aid students in finding what they want within a genre section) of Sports, Romance, and Suspense. 

So, all the books will be labeled, have their spine labels changed to reflect the genre, and be changed in the catalog.  I'm also making sure to denote the series in the cataloging (ex. Need Chronicles, bk. 2) as I go along.  

My plan is to label all the books first, and then do the big switcharoo once I have a better idea the size area I will need for each section.  

It is a big undertaking, but I love being able to see the progress as I move along and the students have been so excited to know this is where we are headed.

Things I wish you could hear

Day 9 of the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge

Life is hard and wonderful and filled with uncertainty.  Every day I watch the students in my library as they find their way through it, and often think to myself, --I wish I could tell you this in a way that you would really hear it--- but more often than not I know that these are lessons we all must learn on our own and in our own time.  When the student is ready, the teacher will come kind of thing. Even with that knowledge, these have been on my mind to share so here are a few tidbits I wish they could hear. 

1. Don't ever make yourself "smaller" to fit into someone else's vision of who you should be.
2. Guys feel feelings just as deeply, they've just been taught by our world to suck it up in order to be a man.
3. Khalil Gibran wrote, "Let there be spaces in our togetherness."  These are wise, wise words for every relationship be it friendship or love.
4. At the heart of most anger is fear.
5. Be you.  
6. Everyone is carrying a burden.  Everyone. 
7. When in doubt, choose kindness.
8. Love isn't about control.  Love isn't about shutting you off from friends and family. Love doesn't call you names or hurt you.
9. Being "cool" isn't all it's cracked up to be.
10. Trust your gut.  
11. Loving someone doesn't necessarily mean you are meant to be together forever. That doesn't make what you have less real.  Summer doesn't mean the winter wasn't important & necessary & real.
12. Celebrate the success of your friends.  Their success doesn't take away from you--there isn't a scarcity of success; there is plenty for all of us to enjoy.
13. Apologize and mean it. We all screw up at one point or another.  Learn to own your mistakes and make amends.
14. Guys who only want you if you act ditzy don't want the real you.  This is exhausting and ridiculous.  Please don't fall into this trap.  
15. If you try to control your loved ones you will end up being resentful and angry.
16. You can't make someone love you and you can't change anyone but yourself.  
17. You were put on this earth to shine.  Don't hide your light under a bushel. Don't let anyone dull your sparkle.
18. When people hurt you, forgive them.  This doesn't mean you don't move forward, this means you feel your feelings and then you release them so you CAN move forward.
19. Do what makes your heart sing.  
20. You are important.  You matter.  YOU have gifts no one else can offer this world.  

Come to think of it, these are words I wish I could share with many adults, too.  Did I mention I need to remind myself of them often, as well?