So, you all want to know how I'm doing? How about I update you all real quick, using this meme I stole from Prince Charming is Dead...
I am: excited to meet my kids in just 12 short days!
I think: working 12-hour days is not a good long-term plan for avoiding teacher burnout.
I know: the coming year will be very challenging for me, both personally and professionally.
I have: too many unread posts in my reader. (It's freaking me out...)
I wish: I had more hours in the day, so that I could get lots of work done, get plenty of sleep, and still have time for fun and blog-reading.
I hate: MOTHS. They terrify me. But I successfully battled one in my room last night and emerged victorious. YAY!
I miss: my dad. Been thinking about him a lot lately.
I fear: that I'm not a good enough role model to serve the kids I'll be teaching.
I hear: Nichole Nordeman coming out of my laptop speakers.
I smell: my classroom. So far, teenagers haven't stunk it up, so it smells nice.
I crave: love.
I search: my heart, hoping to discover my true self there hiding.
I wonder: how many of you are actually reading all of this...
I regret: the mistakes and bad choices I've made, but I choose to move forward rather than linger in the past.
I love: the people in my life who make that life worth living. They know who they are.
I ache: to be a mother - to hold my children close and breathe them in.
I am not: as tired as you might think for working 12-hour days.
I believe: that love is the answer. (Thank you, Blessed Union of Souls.)
I dance: because it is a part of who I was born to be.
I sing: ALL THE TIME.
I cry: easily.
I fight: for what I believe is right.
I win: Taboo. ALWAYS.
I lose: my mind at least once a week.
I never: did my high school English reading. (Sssh, don't tell my students.)
I always: expected to be married by now.
I confuse: myself every time I try to think too far into the school year.
I listen: to people who need to talk.
I can usually be found: in my classroom these days.
I am scared: to fail as a teacher.
I need: help, support, and encouragement this year. (I will probably also occasionally need a stiff drink.)
I am happy about: where my life is going right now.
I imagine: where my life will be in five years, and I'm happy about that too.
So... how are you?
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STUFF TO SHARE:
Mojo gave me an award! (Forgive my girlish glee, but it's been quite some time since I was awarded anything in the blogosphere, and immature though it might be, I enjoy this form of validation. So sue me.) The Arte y Pico award winners are chosen based on "creativity, design, interesting material, and [contributions] to the blogger community." What does "Arte y Pico" mean? From the original site: "It will never find its counterpart in English, but if it HAD to, it would be something like, Wow. The Best Art. Over the top."So, uh, wow. That's a huge compliment - thanks, Mojo!
And now I have the huge responsibility of choosing 5 - and only 5, the rules are very clear - bloggers on whom to bestow the honor. My blogroll is FILLED with creative, well-designed, interesting blogs that contribute to the blog community. It's definitely hard to choose, but in the end, I'm going to go with:
1) moosh in indy.
Many of you (most of you?) probably already read Casey's wonderful blog. If you don't, you should. She is the one and only blogger I met at BlogHer who actually had to endure me YELLING IN HER FACE when we met. (She was totally gracious about, by the way, and merely responded by enthusiastically yelling back.) Her blog is sometimes funny, sometimes heart-breaking in its honest fragility. She is like me in some ways, only a way better version of me, I think. She may never even notice this award, because she's a very busy blogger, but she deserves it, and I can't in good conscience hold it from her simply because she's busy.
Go. Read her. (But not quite yet, 'cause you have to read the rest of this post first. And then leave me a comment because you love me. But THEN, go read Casey.)
2) Momology
This is one of my favorite photo blogs to follow, and not just because Nadia is adorable as her mother's favorite photography subject. Christine does a great job of weaving her stories around her photos, and her photos through her stories. She also is great about always commenting on other folks' sites, hyping up photo contests and bloggy carnivals in the community, which keeps folks like me a little more in the loop than we might be otherwise.
Plus, let's be honest: Nadia is adorable as her mother's favorite photography subject.
3) AMomTwoBoys
Meghan is one of my new favorite people in the blogosphere. ("New," in this case, equals "since Blogher, when I actually met her and began reading her blog.") She's just, well, awesome. She's funny, she's kind, she's genuine, she's delightfully imperfect. (And hopefully forgiving, since I just called her imperfect.) I love reading her blog with each new post, and I love being a part of her brainchild, AllMediocre. She created an exciting and vibrant group of bloggers who support each other in a community that can, at times, be pretty competitive. And then she went and let me be a part of it. Yay!
4) flutter
I know, I know, everyone already knows I'm half-mad with love for Christine Fluttercrafts. Or, at the very least, she knows, because I tell her ALL THE FREAKING TIME, until she's probably about reading to pass out from all the eye-rolling strain. But really? I just love her so much that I can't hold it in. She inspires me, and while there are many bloggers of whom I am a fan, there aren't too many I would flat-out refer to as inspirations for my life and who I want to be. It's a special gift, and Christine shares herself with the internet selflessly and lovingly. And I think we're all better for it - I really do.
5) Velveteen Mind
Yet another fabulous lady who created something awesome and then let me jump on board with it and her. Megan launched Blog Nosh Magazine, where I am a lead channel editor, as you might notice from the button over there in the sidebar. I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I never read Megan's own personal site until after I was already working for her at Blog Nosh, but once I did, I never looked back. She's a busy lady, but I can certainly understand that, and I appreciate when she finds the time to update her blog and let us all know how she's doing. Plus, I totally passed her a note during one of the BlogHer sessions, just like we were back in high school. Not only did she not give me the "what a dork" look, but she actually giggled at it. 'Cause she gets me, and that means a lot to someone like me.
Congratulations, ladies! You are all very deserving of this award, so take some time today to bask in your greatness for a little while. :)
For all you reading, if you could choose one of your OWN favorite bloggers to receive this award, who would YOU choose? Come on - I know there are folks I haven't discovered yet, and I want to find them! You know, so I can add them to my reader and then ignore them completely as I get more and more swamped with work!
YAY!
18 comments:
Because you said GO HERE and I am crippled with a need to do as you say, here I am. You are so immensely sweet, unbelievably genuine and I am so glad that we met through this crazy blog world.
My reader scares me too. I am so tempted to hit "mark all as read" on each and every one and start over, but I doubt that would actually help. And moths? WAY creepy.
Teachers rock. I'm prepping for a new year too (though my "kids" are probably a lot older than yours, given that the youngest are 18 and the oldest are senior citizens, but I still call them my "kids"... just not to their faces). And you? You rock, so no worries, this year is gonna be awesome.
Congrats on your award. Well deserved!
Moths freak me out, too. I think it's the furry-ness of them. Except Luna Moths. Those are cool.
Ha! My verification word is isplsr. I is pleaser. Apt.
Absolutely well-deserved for you. I adore your blog and you.
Your passing that note to me at BlogHer was a highlight. No kidding. It was so unexpected and when I realized who you were, I was beside myself. And then you asked me to lunch!
Totally love this meme and thank you for passing along this award. I'm in such good company!
And, yes, I swear that I'll write on my blog more. That's sort of the whole point of Blog Nosh Magazine and then I don't even do it myself. Free time is in my future and I'll be devoting it to you. And whoever else reads my blog. (but shhhhh, really just you.)
It's no more than you deserve girl. For your writing and your photography both -- but mainly for just being you.
And I decided that having a Y-chromosome and kids that are already grown didn't mean I couldn't help Blog the Recession... Maybe it'll make somebody's life easier. So count me in.
Good luck with school. And, Blog Nosh is fabulous. And, if you get stressed over your blog feed: hit clear.
Wow, like 75% of your answers are things I would have said (crying easily, singing all the time, expecting to be married by now, etc.).
And yeah, my reader constantly has too many things in it.
Good luck with school! There is really no way to avoid the 12 hour days...though it does get better eventually. I still have a few weeks before I go back, and I'm already up every night thinking about school.
Wow, 12 more days until school starts! Good luck ... and thanks for the new blog suggestions. A couple of my favorites and a couple new to me.
I'm glad you "stole" the meme, your answers were great.
Congratulations on the award! Very appropriate and well deserved.
Great meme, I might have to borrow that too soon...
You are going to do a wonderful job this year and you will find love and then get some children.
It will happen. If you let it.
OK first of all I totally hate moths too, which is weird because I have no problem with snakes or spiders or any other creature but moths freak me right out!
Secondly, I think you are going to have an absolutely amazing year as a teacher this year. I honestly, truly, can't wait to hear (read) your stories because I just know it is going to be a year of such growth and challenge and fun and excitement. Finally, I am, sadly, not enough of a blogger to be able to recommend many others, but I do love that you shared some of your favorites!
i'm holding off on "marking all as read" until this weekend, in the hopes that i can catch up on (at least SKIM) most posts and have a fresh start next week.
and as for fearing that i'll fail as a teacher, it's a FEAR. it's not a BELIEF of what i think is actually going to happen - i BELIEVE i will be a good teacher. but the fears, no matter how irrational they seem, sometimes creep in. and yes, the fear of failure is there, in the back of my mind. thanks for all the confidence, though. :)
Lara, you're an excellent teacher if what I've read here is any indication. You just keep doing what you're doing.
And I'll keep doing what I do... which lately seems to be consoling grieving friends. I'd gladly pass on the job if the universe would quit dumping on the people I care about.
I really don't know how I missed this when you posted it. Thank you. You deserve this award for certain, and I know you are going to be amazing this year.
Thank you, as always for your kindness and your genuine love. I adore you.
Look how sweet you are! I'm all on cloud nine and stuff. I don't even know what to say you're so nice.
So, uh, thanks? THANKS I SAY!
From one teacher to another, good luck with your first year! Have a wonderful time, and be sure to sleep a lot and drink lots of water. Other drinks are great for Fridays too!
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