No problem. I could write 50 different blog posts on several topics. Of course that would mean several different blogs if I wanted to be coherent, but since I don’t, and I’m not, I would lump them all together in once place. You know, like I do here.

If I had to stick to one topic I certainly could, but I haven’t given myself any such constraints. For the sake of argument though, here are my topics of choice in semi-random order:

1. getting healthier and fitter and leaner and meaner, minus the meaner

2. teaching

3. parenting

4. quilting

5. the life and times of me!

The really great thing is that I get to use this blog as a platform for all of these topics, and any others that happen to cross my mind. I love having options and not having to choose!

September 15, 2013
by BulgingButtons 2 Comments

Daily Passion Prompt 11: Losing Sleep

TODAY’S QUESTION

When was the last time you lost sleep over an exciting idea?

My brain was buzzing, my muscles tense. I had a million thoughts swirling through my mind, and couldn’t seem to put them on hold. I knew I should hang it up and go to sleep, but I just couldn’t seem to settle down. Was I about to embark on an epic journey? Participate in an athletic competition? Face a major surgery? Nope. I was about to begin a brand new school year at a brand new (to me) school. My adrenaline was pumping.

Every year it’s the same. There’s a period of time over the summer for recovery from the previous school year, then excitement begins to build. New kids’ names are memorized as they’re entered into spreadsheets and studied from a data point of view. Sheets from former teachers are also examined, and information gathered. Preliminary groupings are created, beginning of the year seating charts are developed, and room arrangements are finalized (only to change again during the first few days). Lesson plans are developed, charts and posters are created and hung, and supplies are gathered and distributed.

My head knows I’m ready, but my heart is beating out of my chest. This is the moment when fantasy hits reality. Until the students actually show up, the entire year is an unknown. It may be the best year yet, or it may be the worst. I may hit my professional pinnacle with this group, and help them learn and grow in an unprecedented way, or I may bomb. In my head I know I won’t bomb, but there’s still that tiny voice of doubt. The real excitement, though, is in the idea of the perfect year. The night before school starts is the most exciting night of the year. It is full of promise and potential, but I can’t wait for it to end so the real work can begin.

September 15, 2013
by BulgingButtons 5 Comments

Daily Passion Prompt 10: World’s Best

TODAY’S QUESTION

What do you think you could be amongst the BEST in the world at doing?

This is a horribly difficult question. I keep thinking of things that I think I’m good at, but then I start to extend that thinking into the realm of best, and I shut down. I mean come on, I make great brownies, but amongst the best in the world? That’s a stretch.

I’m a good mother, and probably the perfect mother for my own particular kid, but am I amongst the world’s best? Only on a Hallmark card, I’m afraid. There are times that I allow him to do things that maybe I shouldn’t. There are times when I should be giving him more guidance than I do. There are times when I lose my cool with him. But really, he’s fifteen. Nobody’s perfect, right? Even the world’s best mothers lose it sometimes.

In terms of my other close relationships, I doubt that I rank amongst the world’s best at any of them. As a daughter, fiancée, sister, and friend, I’m sure I have plenty to be desired. I’m the one that forgets to send the birthday card. I’m the one who didn’t remember that you were having that procedure done today. I’m the one who should have called you yesterday. It’s not that I don’t care. I do. It’s just that I haven’t quite mastered putting reminders into my phone.

How about teaching? Could I be amongst the world’s best at that? Not according to the current standards of evaluation that are in place, at least in most American public schools. Within the constricts that teachers have, and with the amount of national testing that is done, I don’t believe that the way I teach my students will ever rank at the top of the ladder, not even in my own state, let alone the entire world. Honestly, I’m okay with that. I believe in what I do with my students, but I always see areas for improvement too. I’m not in it for awards or recognition, I’m in it to educate.

Well then, how about my hobbies? Quilting and scrapbooking are both creative outlets that I enjoy, but amongst the best? Not my quilting, that’s for sure. My seams don’t always meet quite the way they’re supposed to and my attempts at machine quilting, while they are improving, have a long way to go. My scrapbooking, while it has a crisp clean style that I like, has been on the back burner for so long that I hardly consider myself a scrapbooker any more.

So that leaves the written word. Could I hone my craft to the point where I’m a serious writer? Could I practice and improve to the point where my material is not only high enough quality for publication, but of enough interest to actually make it into the hands of readers? There is a part of me that thinks I can. Again, that “world’s best” is causing me some problems, but if I tone that down a bit, I see some potential. I read. I have read many books that have left me cold and thought to myself that I could do better. The difference, however, between those authors and me is that they finished their books and got them not only published, but sold. If they could do it, certainly I can too.