Summer Rituals....

Well, as I noticed AFTER I posted yesterday, I switched my days around. I was so excited when I saw Michelle's Virtual Vision Board that I went and created one for myself. So today I am focusing on my summer rituals, and joining Big Time Literacy for the July Blogging Challenge.

Celebrating Birthdays is a summer ritual. (and blowing stuff up, which I posted about HERE.) My Mom, bless her heart, I have given her grief for many years for every single thing she did wrong, but she is a great birthday planner. Her perfection-driven OCD gets in the way a little bit, but she is really creative and goes out of her way to celebrate us kids. And maybe that is because for as long as I can remember, I have not been overjoyed by the anniversary of my birth. I tend to sulk and go to some dark places (which I didn't do this year.... yay). But it's a little funny (funny- ironic, not funny- haha) that I know that when my family asks me if I'm doing okay, they are not talking about "okay" in a shoot-the-breeze-talk-about-the-weather kind of way. They mean, am I okay..... So I guess the deal is that we all go overboard to celebrate Carrie's birthday to make sure she doesn't become suicidal. And reality is that my family isn't that powerful. If I start going to a suicidal place, no one can stop it. Dangit, here I go over-sharing. That speaks to the piece of this that says that writing is cathartic, and not the part that says that some things are better left unsaid. Well, I am not suicidal today. Maybe this is the time to write about it, acknowledge that it is the dark shadow lurking in the cobwebs of my mind/soul. *Okay* time to get back to the positive. Birthdays are good. My BB (belly-button) birthday was Monday. My AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) birthday is in February. I celebrate it every. single. year. Because I never want to forget where I came from, the hell I've been through, and where my life is today. I never want to take my life today for granted. I have spent some years trying to keep this part of me off of my education blog. But it is part of who I am. It makes me the teacher I am today and makes me aware of how important those relationships are. Also, having already been through hell, I am well-aware that just about anything that life throws at me today is a situation, and I can handle it. And that every little thing, is really just that, a little thing. I get tired of hearing of teachers grumble sometimes. But I also support what they are saying. We ARE underpaid and the expectation is high. But I've also worked jobs where I've worked a lot harder for a lot less money and it was never enough. I just worked, worked, worked. And no reward. Being a teacher is extremely rewarding for me. *rant over* I celebrate my bb birthday today because I really want to be excited that I was born and I have less grief over that fact than I used to. But July is also when my girls' birthdays are. Today, in fact, is the Redhead's birthday! She is turning 20 today. Can I really have a child that is an adult? Apparently. And the Punky's birthday is at the end of the month, the 26th, just two days after my sister's birthday. My nephew joined the first part of July birthday celebrating.... his birthday is July 8. We celebrated together on Monday. We are all just so happy he's in our lives. He is three. He came to us at 5 months old and only days before Christmas with the understanding that he would not be staying with our family, that my sister's family would just be fostering him. But miracles happen and he is now a part of our family. August holds birthdays in our family also. So summertime really is about celebrating birthdays.

This lil Punkin is turning 12 this summer.

Happy Birthday Red. (Hey look! Your hair is ACTUALLY red right now!)

Gardening. Summertime mornings are made for puttering around outside in the garden. Planting, transplanting, watering, and weeding.

Coffee. Everyday is a coffee day, as you know if you are facebook friends with me. But in summer I can actually sit around and enjoy the coffee I am taking in. I can leisurely drink my liquid cup of steaming love and browse the internet, stalk blogs, or stalk facebook, or write. Because it is now a ritual to join Michelle for the BTLBC.

Reading. For pleasure. I read voraciously when I am reading novels. And what I mean is.... my family knows they are on their own for meals and to leave me alone! And I know that sleep will come when the book is done.

Reading for betterment. Of myself emotionally and spiritually. Professionally.

Connecting/Re-connecting with family and friends. I love lunches with friends, spending the afternoon with my Mom, and meeting up with colleagues.

Pushing the limits to get in my classroom and work! I just want to be READY for next year. I never feel ready and yet, I am always ready. I can't wait to see those little faces. I miss my class family from last year, but I'm thinking about this next year as well.

Blogging Challenge: My Vision....

Today Michelle shared her "Virtual Vision Board" with us. I was SO inspired. I promptly got out the magazines and starting cutting and making a huge disastrous mess! Here's the link to Big Time Literacy, read about it and link up if you want to! Here's the instruction: "Hey friends! Today we're sharing Virtual Vision Boards. What I'm thinking is you would just put some pics of the things you want to manifest in your life. If you have a vision board, feel free to just take a pic of it and share with us." 

Here is a picture of my office floor after I completed my board!! 

notice my helpers

I have a bulletin board in the office that I covered with fabric that I love. It was full of a hodge-podge of stuff. So I streamlined it to be the things I really want life to be about. And a few specifics.

So.... here I go in no particular order (please channel Ryan Seacrest using his American Idol announcement voice)....

The butterfly. My daughter colored that and gave it to me. It represents two things. Okay, 3 things. Gifts. Cherish the gifts from children and loved ones, no matter what they are. Transformation. The butterfly starts out life hard and ugly and despised. Who likes, protects and cherishes the caterpillar? And then she/he creates a chrysalis, dies a sort of death, stays in limbo, and then emerges again triumphant and beautiful. Relaxation. I have jumped on the coloring bandwagon and it is truly relaxing and helps my mind slow down and stay calm.

Some things are hard to see. To the right of the butterfly is a squirt bottle that says "better life." I thought it was hilarious. I want to just squirt some spray in the air to get a better life. But we all know that a better life is never that easy.

A couple years ago I made the "Attitude of Gratitude" plaque in the center. I was fun and whimsical and I always thought I'd take it school and hang it in my classroom, but you can see that it has never made it there yet.

Someday I want to own a farm. I want to be a hippie-farm-mom and grow my own food:  keep chickens and cows and grow my garden and plant fruit trees. I want to live a natural life-style without GMO's (sorry, my farming family, what Monsanto is selling is not all goodness and light) and pesticides. I want an abundance of pets. One day I will have this. And a quaint little farm house where I roam barefoot and tie-dyed.

I didn't put a $ figure on what I want in regard to prosperity. I almost forgot to put any sort of financial focus and that is good I think. It's not all about the money. But on the other hand.... I am tired of living day to day, week to week, and paycheck to paycheck. I would like to make a living wage. I am not sure yet what I consider that to be, but as I find my way I will define this more and more.

NOTICE. I want to notice life around me. I want to notice the good in the world. I want to notice places where I can make a difference and make a change. I want to notice my children. I want to notice people who need encouragement. I want to notice. 

I am ashamed to say that I did not remember my one little word for this year, and yet.... it is still in play today. My OLW for 2016 is Momentum. I want to keep the good in my life going and continue to learn and grow and gain respect and acceptance and change and expand and improve. So far, it is getting gooder and gooder. Life is good today and it just keeps getting better. One of my friends always says "gooder and gooder". He's a super smart man, an engineer, and so it's not a slip, its intentional. And there are few of my group of friends that have adopted this saying and say it often. 

Dream Big. Next to the dreamer, sleeping in the soothing lavender color that I love so much. One thing I know would improve my quality of life is good old-fashioned care of my physical body. This is not just one thing. It is better sleep habits, finding the balance and becoming physically active (love the warrior pose), and to eat better, more whole foods, less processed foods and more raw foods (salad, vegetables, fruits). 

CLEAN. Oh man.... on so many levels. My house has not been CLEAN for several years. For the last two for sure I just have not cared or been able to find the motivation/interest. But I have been begun a focused work this summer, even though I have been fairly slow, I am making progress. I want to stay CLEAN from alcohol and drugs and the dysfunctional thought patterns that swirl around in my head that would bring me down. Being CLEAN (for me) is more than not using drugs or alcohol, it is a mindset, a change in thinking.... moving away from my twisted and self-centered thoughts. I want to live CLEAN. As mentioned above. Less processed foods, more healthy foods and less medications and more physical healthy choices. CLEAN. Living simply. More is sometimes just more. Less is not always better, but sometimes it is.

Miracles. I want to learn to wait for the miracle to happen and not give up. On people. Career. Kids. Students. Colleagues. and the list goes on. 

Passport. I have never obtained a passport. I want to. I have been saying this for 5 years. So it is the time to "just do it." And then I want to use it. I am not super adventurous. (Fear vs. fearless.... see yesterday's post). But I think I would like to go on a cruise sometime. And I know this is not out of the country really, but I want to go to Hawaii someday. I have thought about maybe teaching in a tropical place someday. 

Cement Shoes. This is significant from the book Fostering Resilient Learners. It talks about what keeps us cemented. Find our cement shoes to combat burn out and gain resilience. If we can stay grounded in our cement shoes, we will maintain the "why" of teaching and keep our vitality and passion. What keeps me cemented? What keeps you cemented?

Will I ever love again? I didn't plot out a vision because I truly don't know what I want. I know that if I don't learn to love myself, really and truly in a forgiving and gentle way, I will never be that person that someone will want to spend their life with. I will also not have the ability to sift out good from evil and protect myself, making it more likely I'll choose that same guy I've already dated and married and dated and dated and dated.... And seriously I am pretty happy being self-centered and focusing on what I want and need and raising my children. So do I want to fall in love again? I don't really know. But I do know I want to heal my jaded and scarred heart and I want to be able to give love freely, even if I never find that romantic love again. 

That's most of it. I had a blast creating this. I hope to make time to love at it every morning and absorb it, believe it, meditate on it. Thanks for the great inspiration Michelle.

My Slice of Life Today

Today I am linking up with Michelle for BTL's blogging challenge. She is following the tradition of the Two Writing Teachers who are taking a writing break for July. Tuesday is SOL day (Slice of Life). A glimpse of my life, mundane, or not mundane, just a slice.

Yesterday was the day we talked about our "Shelfie List." Essentially our reading bucket list, which I already expounded on some on my Summer Bucket List post.

Yesterday was the day that we celebrate our freedoms in this still great country of ours with traditions that don't always make sense, but we (well, me) are compelled to follow them. I skip the part where I drink too much, since I have already drank my fair share and yours too at some earlier time in my life. Now I sip lemonade or Coca-cola (without any whiskey or rum in it). And we eat too much and laugh and blow things up. And wear patriotic clothes manufactured in another country, most often China,  and set off fireworks made in China. *sigh*

I've always been a little bit of a pyro, and a bit of a daredevil. Following in the old man's footsteps. The thrill of the chase. My dad, the daredevil. We still call him "Ricky Racecar Driver" because no one can keep up with him on the highway when we go on vacation. The demolition derby driver, chairman, organizer. The race car builder, pit crew, sometimes driver. The guy who hunts on motorcycle and 4 wheeler. That guy.

I was always a daredevil as a kid. And by kid I mean well into adulthood. Mostly because I didn't care if I lived or died. And I loved the adrenaline rush. I have always on some level been an addict. You know, what doesn't kill you...

Demolition derby cars, race cars, motorcycles, roller coasters.

But somewhere along the way anxiety, responsibility and fear started to creep in and steal the sweet release that comes from that adrenaline rush. The inner voices. Sometimes they whisper~ "You have a family now...." "You might get hurt, who will be the responsible one?" "THEY are watching, don't blow it now." Sometimes they scream, "You will get hurt!" "You are gonna die!" Or the biggie, "Your kids will get hurt!"

So... my dad, he's getting up there a little in years. Which means that the lighting of the canons has been passed on to me. And my heart was pounding and blood was rushing and I was feeling the fear. But I'm still a pyro and an adrenaline junkie. Could I say no? No, I was unable to. I just quashed that fear and ran like a dog back to my chair and watched those beautiful explosives over our heads. And listened to my cheering niece say to me, "That was a good one aunt Carrie! Just like a rainbow!"

BTL Blogging Challenge... day 4

I love blogging challenges! It is such a great way to commit to writing and to meet new blogger friends. I am involved in Michelle's July Blogging Challenge over at Big Time Literacy. Today the theme is: Summer Shelfie List. In other words.... what am I reading, what have I already completed reading, and what is still on the list.

Yesterday was our summer bucket list, and my bucket list mostly consisted of reading material. So what I am reading can be found here.

Just completed: Don't Blink by James Patterson and Howard Roughan. This was a fast read. I really enjoyed it.

Next up: Private: #1 Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. Maxine Paetro is who co-writes the murder club series with Patterson and those are some of my faves.

IF I finish the list, I have the book Daring Greatly by Brene Brown that I didn't finish last summer, but I would like to re-read and finish it. Yeah, it's a little on the deep side. I had to take it in chunks.

I will post some pictures later, but my tween kicked me out of the house to make me a birthday breakfast. I had to fill out a hospital style breakfast menu this morning and circle the choices I wanted.

Here is what I came home to, gluten-free blueberry muffins (because Punky is gf), oj on ice, lighting of the candles and singing Happy Birthday! 

So I'm sitting at the coffee shop typing my blog post. And I have a delightful coffee drink on the way. I'm enjoying the cooler weather as it is generally unbearably hot in Kansas by the 4th of July. We've had a strange and rainy summer so far. The park where the fireworks display usually is, is closed because of high water and the fact that the water is rushing too quickly to be safe. The event has been moved to a different location.

my view as I typed this blog post today

Today I don't have any deep prose about Independence Day or Life. I don't always appreciate the anniversary of my birth. But today I am not immersed in self-loathing or self-loving. It just is. And that is okay. Be safe my friends, enjoy the freedoms we have and the pleasure of friends and family.

Today is the day! We will wear our patriotic tie-dye when we get together with the fam.

Summer Bucket List....

Today is day three of the daily blogging challenge from Big Time Literacy (BTL). Today it's suggested that we write about our summer bucket list! Read everyone's list and join in if you want to!

Summer Bucket List 2016

1. Read!!!! Read for pleasure, read to become a better teacher, read to become a better person.....
Books I've completed thus far include:

• Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich. It's a Stephanie Plum novel and they are super easy/fast to read. 
• 14th Deadly Sin by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. My cousin got me started on this series when we were visiting him in 2009. I'm waiting anxiously for our library to get the newest book in! 

Those are the two I have completed. Now, I have a plethora of books I am currently reading! The books that actually have meat to them take longer to read and they are also overwhelming at times and I have to put them down and move to something else for awhile. I am currently reading the following:

• Guided Math: A Framework for Mathematics Instruction by Laney Sammons. I am in charge of a book study for this book this summer and I'm trying to stay faithful. But this is one of those old school books where the chapters are LONG and intense and I'm generally overwhelmed long before I complete the chapter. Plus, I'm trying to be studious and take notes. I bought this on my Kindle. The nice thing about doing this is that you have the book immediately. But downside, you have to write notes in a notebook, not the margins. 
• Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom by Kristin Souers with Pete Hall. I am taking a book study on this. I am one of three general education classroom teacher in the study, everyone else is SPED or counseling of some sort. This is an easy read. I can read it almost as quickly as a novel. But it has a lot of good stuff in it and I get overwhelmed. I teach in a high poverty district and there is so much more I want to say, but I won't say it here. I believe that kids and parents who've been affected significantly by trauma are everywhere, not just in high poverty areas. But I also believe that we have a very high percentage of these families. The focus is to help teachers become aware that trauma indeed affects the brain and the child's ability to learn and we have to address the behaviors exhibited first before we can address academics. Then it gives us strategies to avoid the behaviors and address the behaviors. 
• Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky Bailey. Somehow, somewhere, I got off track in my parenting. I was a very consistent parent at one time. And I have known for a great long time that it is important to be direct and not speak in metaphors or generalities. One of the hardest things for me growing up was when my Dad would say, "you know the difference between right and wrong and I expect you to do the right thing." This might be okay for a teen who had been taught what the household expectations were, but it was overwhelming and confusing for me as a child. So I KNOW this. Anyway.... this book complements the Fostering Resilient Learners book and talks about ways to stay in the thinking part of your brain and get out of the limbic part. I am only in chapter 3. And it has been a strange trip with the tween already. I am determined to get my life back, so I am determined to do something different in regards to parenting. Her therapist and I discussed how things will likely get worse before they get better. So true. So true.Yesterday I cleaned and rearranged my bedroom and made it into a place I will enjoy spending time. Today I am trading doorknobs so I have a place to take a time out and to help enforce the boundaries I am setting. The biggie is bedtime. I NEED some time to myself and bedtime rituals seem to stretch out later and later and later, some nights as late as 11:30. The boundary is that I'm willing to say goodnights and pray with her as late as 10 pm (in the summer) and she doesn't have to go to sleep at that time, but she has to stay in her room after that. Not being willing to do this will be a major challenge behavior for my child and I anticipate some meltdowns, crying and violence. So that's why I'm getting myself a lock. I KNOW how to shut her down and shut her up, but I don't choose to parent that way anymore. 

So reading a chunk at a time takes a great deal of time and energy this summer! My goal is finish all of these books and some more "just for fun and pleasure" books.

Self care is a biggie and really important as a teacher. So "little things" are high on the list. Gardening. I have not cleaned out my flower garden for two years. Depression just took over. Gardening is life giving to me. And last year my dad made me a really nice garden on the south side of my porch and I just gave up on it halfway through the summer. Anywho.... my summer bucket list self-care includes yardwork, gardening and making the outside of my house look like a home again and not like an abandoned shack. My Dad and I have discussed making a patio on the North side of my house and it has been a goal for a couple years already.

PORTLAND!!! I have never been to the west coast or a west coast state at all! But July 18 and 19 I will be in Portland, Oregon with our new school counselor (and principal) for Safe and Civil Schools training with Dr. Randy Sprick. My principal approached me about going to this and it seemed like a fantastic opportunity! I can't wait!

Teacher Tribe! My teaching tribe is on my bucket list. We went to the teacher store in Wichita at the end of May and it was so much fun! We are planning a trip to Lindsborg (little Sweden) next week. This is a town just a few miles from me (about 15 minutes) and it's quaint and super fun. There's a fun mexican restaurant there and unique shopping opportunities. But connecting with other teachers and sharing life, talking about teaching ambitions and classroom do's and don't's.... priceless.

Along the lines of self care I really want to start getting healthier. I have been more active this summer than I have been the last few years. But I have not gotten into a healthy routine of foods that are good for me and exercise of any kind. I would like to establish an exercise routine of some kind before school starts in August. So I better get busy.

My bucket list for beyond this summer includes a meet up with Michelle. But I don't think it is in my financial realm this year. But I would LOVE to meet face-to-face. My life is richer because of my blogging friends!

My Writing Story....

Today is day two of Michelle's Big Time Literacy blogging challenge! Today we are challenged to write our writing story. And my thoughts are cluttered. But I'll try to gather them and write a readable blog post! Join us at BTL for her challenge! You can join in and write, or just hop over and read.

My writing life.
Writing is a gift, a necessity, a cool drink of water. And it has been this way for a long, long time. When I was a freshman in high school, a tumultuous time in my life to say the least, I had this teacher that believed in me. She didn't JUST see an at-risk kid whose family life was falling apart during that period in life when kids are hormonally imbalanced at all times of the day and night. She saw ME. And for that, I am forever grateful. Mrs. Penner was my English teacher, and she introduced me to the world of poetry. I will be forever grateful for this as well. I started purging my soul through poems. I wrote about the dark place that I lived and some of my writing, well, it was bad. But as I went back to her to have her read my writing time after time after time, long after my class with her had ended, she continued to say.... KEEP WRITING!

Writing is cathartic. It purges the soul. Writing is powerful.

For many, many years I could only write when things were black and bleak. I have been training myself though to focus on the good, on gratitude, and what is right both in the world and myself. And it is getting easier to write about how good life is today.

Before blogging I would pour my heart out in fb notes and on myspace (anyone remember that place?!). I was (am) an over-sharer. Once I start sharing, then you're privy to all the sinister and not-so-socially-appropriate topics and details that are my life. So... as my journey into real adulthood progressed, I realized I could not continue to over-bless people with my opinions. Because, you know what they say about opinions. And I had discovered another passion.... teaching. I wanted to be a teacher more than anything in the world! And I wanted to be employable. Which meant the over-sharing had to come to a halt. And it was/is difficult for me. I have another blog, in another name, that I can use to write and over-share when I need to. Or when my professional life would not tolerate what I have to write about.

Once upon a time ago, I had a daycare (20 years ago this coming fall, I know this because my Redhead is turning 20 next week), and many of the parents in my daycare were teachers. A lady named Alyce brought her precious son Sam to me when he was still learning to crawl. She interviewed me like she was National Security! I was sweating it! But she chose to bring her most precious piece of herself to my daycare and trusted me with his well-being. And we became fast friends. And when she moved away and had another child, she chose to start her own daycare. And when I had a child 8 years after my Redhead, she came to the hospital and taught me about being a competent mother and breast feeding. But at some point, we lost touch. Then my friend, who had been in Special Education when her son came to my house, got a job teaching regular education (oh that sounds so wrong, but whatever, teaching in a self-contained classroom). And I graduated from FHSU with my teaching degree and we re-connected. And her advice to me was to find some blogs to read, and read them and see how other teachers run their classrooms. My dear friend Alyce had this blog: Mrs. Bartel's School Family. So I found it and followed it. I had to join blogger to do that. Hmmmm.... how hard would it be to create my own blog? Which is what I did, from the OK panhandle, teaching in a diverse community, in my very first Kindergarten class. Here is my very first blog post ever.

I love writing about life. I LOVE, love, love TwoWritingTeachers march blogging challenge, and Slice of Life! And teaching is life. And it is all intertwined in some way. If I am writing about my spiritual life, it relates to teaching. If I am purging my soul, it will likely in some way relate to teaching. If I write about gratitude and this amazing journey called life, it will most definitely be woven with anecdotes about teaching.

When I moved back to Kansas from the OK panhandle, I felt lost again. Once again, no administrators jumped up to take a chance on the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Once again, I was jobless with many, many bills for pay. And I discovered Big Time Literacy. I think Alyce discovered it first and that I found it through her blog. Michelle, did you do a challenge or some sort of link-up that first summer? My memory says yes you did, but I am not certain. (This brain does not retain!)

Since I am compelled to share and share and share about my life, I love linky parties and any opportunity to tell the world about what I'm doing and where my life is going. So I join them. all. of. them. Okay, I am getting better. But certainly as a new blogger, I joined any and every link-up I could find! Somehow I became connected with Michelle. We only know each other through blogging, and yet.... I count her in my dearest friends. The friends I overshare with (and some uncomfortable pauses). Seriously, we are talking about a meet up. What could be more thrilling?

Writing. I would love to write a book of short stories, anecdotes, thoughts and/or meditations. That is my hope. My "someday..."

For now, I blog.

BTL Blogging Challenge! Yay!

Currently. Today we are challenged to use Farley's format of Currently, a linky party she hosted on the first of the month that tells what we are Listening to, Loving, Thinking, Wanting, Needing. Farley always changed up the last one, Michelle's last category this month is to share what we Hope to get out of this blogging challenge. Head to Big Time Literacy to read everyone's Currently!

I made a grid-thingy for my Currently. It is not fancy because I am not actually tech-savvy (please don't tell anyone), even though I graduated from a technologically forward thinking college.  But if you are like me and you like the format that we used for Farley's Currently, then you can use this one. Paste it into power point, fill out the chart, save as a jpeg file and you are set and ready!

 Here is my Currently in a nice little grid and I'll expound on each one briefly below. 

Listening.... since it rained I was able to open the windows again this morning. It's a little humid, but worth it to get that fresh air smell and to win the love and affection of my cat who prowls around daily demanding that I open the window for him. This was my morning "sound of silence" which has since been replaced with the sound of Netflix in the background.

Loving.... it's been a little bit of a busy summer. But I love the luxury of sleeping in and planning my days around reading, meetings, professional development, appointments, etc. I have rejuvenated my spirit by getting together with my teaching tribe, being active in a group called Circles, making new friends, and professional development opportunities!

Tie-dying is cathartic for me. I spent an entire day making shirts and socks.

This is me, reading, while my daughter and her friend swim in our friend's pool.

We got snocones and consumed them in the park.

Most of my teaching tribe on an adventure to the teacher store and lunch!

Thinking.... I've been pushing against my past and my childhood for all my life. And it doesn't bring real change. Real change takes willingness. But it only takes a small dose of willingness and a lot of persistence. Real change also takes a team of cheerleaders. I know that my students need 3 positives to 1 negative (and some kids need to more positives than that to balance out the negatives). When the people around me tell me that they believe in me, notice when I do things right and I feel cared about and competent, that is when real change occurs for me. I am not really different than my students. But finally, finally, finally, the miracle is starting to happen for me. Never give up on the miracle. It usually happens when I'm about to give up.

My friend Brenda from Circles. These people do not give up on me. And the miracle is happening.

Wanting.... an easy button for parenting. Last summer I ordered the book Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky Bailey. I didn't crack the cover last summer. But this year I am persevering. So right now I am in chapter 3 and reading about the Seven Discipline Skills. I am learning a lot and trying to focus on the positive. One of the big things she stresses at the beginning of the book is that whatever we focus on, increases. This is not new news to me. But I am really focusing on this as an attitude and lifestyle, not just parenting.

Needing.... to do those things I said I would do this summer. Numero uno on the list was the Punky's dresser and she still does not have it. I also vowed to get some painting done in my home and insulation installed in the basement. These projects will give me a sense of accomplishment as well as improving our quality of life.

This is the "before" picture. Time to transform this....

Hoping.... to get my writing mojo back. I seem to have lost interest in my blog. And writing is cathartic for me. I love to write, professionally and personally. So I am hoping to get back to it! I have been a faithful challenger since Michelle started this and I love it. I'm hoping to be faithful and blog daily (or nearly daily) and reignite my passion for blogging.