Q: What have I done lately?

A: Not much.

I spent 4 weeks out of my summer participating in the Heart of Texas Writing Project summer institute, basically postponing my summer "vacation" we teachers are so lucky to get. I learned all sorts of techniques to create a life of writing for myself, with the idea of pasing that on to my students. And what have I written? Practically nothing.
Did I waste my time and the time of my fellow colleagues? Was it all for naught? What's my deal, yo?

sleep deprivation

can't sleep tonight/this morning for some reason....
my brain keeps going i guess...
some thoughts/lines in my mind for future pondering:

• every sunday i call you to talk. you always talk about your ailments. i am tired of hearing about them. but i love you. so i keep calling.
  (where this is going i know not--not even about me)
• writing into the darkness can be a scary thing..you find out things you never knew were issues for you--or ones you thought you had dealt with
• i miss your little eye kisses where your cold little nose would slowly, deliberately, softly tap around my eyes. and i miss your nudges. and your musky little smell.
  

damnit-i forgot the other one!

officially finished! well, at least for now...

i *think* i just finished my personal piece--one of the requirements for the HTWP institute i've been attending for the last 4 weeks. tomorrow is the last day, and i've got to read it aloud. i would post it here, but @ 4ish pages, it's a bit long...
so, instead, i'll try to share it with a link...
if you read it, like it, have advice, whatever, let me know....

Untitled

personal piece of the pie of writing....

my essay is currently ~4 pages. it's personal. honest. but valid...
i got some good feedback on it today. just need to tweak a few things here and there to make it more. more what? not sure, but i'll know it when i see it.
and then i find out i have to read it aloud next week. i think i'm gonna cry. not only is it pretty personal, i have pregnancy hormones wreaking havoc (LOVE that phrase!) on my emotional psyche right now.

and i'm off and... well, strolling, really

i've begun my personal piece. it took me quite a while just to get the 2 pages i have right now. i had to spend soooo much time writing to think inside my writer's notebook. it was kind of scary to think that i took pages upon pages, days upon days, and all i've got are two type-written, double-spaced pages to show for it.
i mean, i guess i have thoughts on paper that i could somehow at some point go back to. and it WAS really eye-opening as a writer. to think that i have to ask children to do this same thing...but yet, i don't have as much time--at least not in class--to give them.

decisions...

for my personal piece... i have to have a draft written by next tuesday. the biggest problem i was having was defining what i would write about. after something i witnessed @ the river this weekend that inspired a conversation with Josh and reminded me of some things from my past, together with my ideas about how my life will be changing to due Jaxon's impending future i think i have a base for my piece.

granted, i still have to get some exploratory writing done to really think it through--i don't know yet what it will be in its final embodiment, but i can see the common thread between the different pieces.

i will be writing about my thoughts, hopes, aspirations and fears on becoming a parent coupled with lessons i have learned from my father/stepfathers and through teaching. it should be an interesting piece.

i'll play with it and see what happens.

personal writing piece required for HoTWI

HoTWI (Heart of Texas Writing Institute)---it's a mouthfull, yes.


i'm trying to decide what i should write about for this personal piece... while at the same time trying to decide what to write about for my research piece as well. i've been listing ideas on my mind lately and trying to see what keeps coming up. what am i noticing?

at the top of my list are:

• the little baby growing inside of me

and

• who i am now versus who i will be when he is born

those are so personal--i guess hence the name. but in some ways, i'm not sure i would want everyone to read it... as will be the case when it is finished--i will be sharing it with my class. it just seems that these are topics that keep repeating in my mind, so these are things i, obviously, need to talk about.