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.

September 13, 2013
by BulgingButtons 19 Comments

And the Winner is…

Guess what folks. It’s Award Time! Ok, this is so exciting for me that it’s ridiculous, but I’m giddy with the news that Mama, from Reinvention of Mama, has nominated me for not one, but four blogging awards! Hooray! Of course there are others she nominated too, and some of them are some of my favorites as well. The awards are as follows:

1. WordPress Family Award

Rules: Display the award on your blog, link back to the person who nominated you, nominate 10 others you see as having an impact on your WordPress experience and family.

2. Semper Fidelis Award (for those who are ‘always faithful/always loyal)

3. Reader Appreciation Award for those who like and comment on a regular basis.

4. Liebster Award– for awesome blogs with smaller readerships

Rules: Display the award logo, thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to his or her blog. Answer the 11 questions that your nominator asks you, post 11 random facts about yourself, nominate 11 bloggers of your own, with under 200 followers, whom you think are as awesome as you, and create 11 questions for your nominees.

Disclaimer: I don’t always know how many people follow your blogs. I don’t always know who has visited mine. These are blogs that are meaningful to me for various reasons all covered in one way or another by the above awards, so let’s not get too hung up on the particulars, and have some fun checking out some great blogs and bloggers.

My nominees are:

The Goddess Weighs In

The Lovely Photog

Becoming the Best Me

Post Departum Depression

Far From Done

Gagas and Wayways

Fat Bottom Girl Said What

A Bahamian in Austria

Our Year in Huaran

Wombat Quilts

Girls vs Blog

11 questions from Mama:

At what age did you begin writing? I began at about age four, when I scrawled my name all over my territory with a Sharpie marker.
Did you write any really bad high school angsty poetry? Care to share? I really didn’t. I did more journaling at that time. I did submit a satire piece to the high school literary magazine that I rediscovered recently. It’s not funny enough to bother retyping, though.
What is your favorite novel to read? I really enjoy Young Adult novels. Catcher in the Rye might be my favorite, but I do love The Hunger Games series. The Time Traveler’s Wife stayed with me for a long time, too.
Are there any books you have read more than once? I’m a teacher, there are lots. I’ve also reread a few for pleasure too, but not many, there are so many I haven’t read yet that I want to read new ones.
If you’re writing a book, what genre? Oh, I write a little of this and a little of that. There’s a mystery thing started, and a memoir too.
What’s your guilty pleasure? Gator Boys. Love them.
If you could do anything, completely start over -what would it be? Maybe meet my fiancé sooner? I don’t think we were ready for each other though, so I think I’m fine with the timeline of my life as it has happened.
What’s the funniest thing you have done recently? Funny, ha ha, or funny weird? Can’t think of either so I suppose it doesn’t matter. Next!
Hoping that you have a good friend to call on when you need her/him, at what age did you meet them? I have several from different times in my life. I’m still friends with people from elementary school. Some of my best friends have been fixtures in my life since the following ages: 12, 17, 22, 35, 40, and 44. Aren’t I fortunate? I know I am.
What state would you live in if you could pick up and move, no holds barred? I did pick up and move, and I came here to Arizona. It’s home now.
Is city or country living for you? Neither. I’m a suburban girl, through and through. I did my city living in my twenties, but now it’s the ‘burbs for me.

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I dislike watermelon, peanut butter, and cucumbers.

2. I kill plants. Not on purpose. It just happens.

3. I have an irrational fear of giant cockroaches. I know everyone hates them, but seeing them causes a near panic state in me.

4. I was adopted at birth.

5. Underneath a sometimes bold exterior I’m fairly shy, at least at first.

6. I’m having a ball trying new things as I age, and caring less about what “the world” thinks of what I do or say.

7. Number six is partly a lie. I really do care what people think of the things I say, or at least about the things I write.

8. My favorite treadmill music is Cher belting out disco tunes at high volume.

9. In my dreams I can sing.

10. I love to see new places, even if some people think travel is a form of “fairy dust” that people sprinkle on themselves in order to seem more interesting.

11. I will ever believe in the power of flying pigs.

11 questions from Me:

Where were you born?
Of what are you proud?
Of what are you afraid?
Other than writing, what are your creative outlets?
How do you take care of yourself?
How do you know when you’re done writing a piece?
What stupid things have you done that you don’t regret?
If you had to move somewhere new, where would you go?
What is your favorite time of the day or night? Why?
What is something you miss from your childhood?
What was your favorite book in fourth grade?

I hope you have fun checking out some new blogs, and if you’re on the list above, thanks for inspiring me!

September 9, 2013
by BulgingButtons 5 Comments

Daily Passion Prompt 5: Wandering the Bookstore

TODAY’S QUESTION

What’s your favorite section in the bookstore?

Okay, this daily passion prompt shouldn’t be too difficult. I love the bookstore. I imagine most bloggers do, since we write. Writers read, don’t they? They ought to, anyway, and bookstores are repositories for words. Millions and millions of words. Oh, how I love them!

So on to the prompt. Easy, right? Um, wrong. I’m not sure I exactly have a favorite section. I’m more like a diner at a fabulous buffet. I like to sample of a little of this and a little of that. I don’t want to fill up at the salad bar so I have room for the pasta station, but I can’t have too much of that or I might miss the prime rib. Oh, and dessert, don’t forget about that.

So here’s a typical bookstore visit for me: start with the tables filled with new releases and buy two get one free deals. These are generally novels, and I usually am tempted by a couple of them, but I extricate myself from their pull and move on to the craft section. Here I’m drawn to quilt books, scrapbooking books, journaling books, and general interest books on living a more creative life. How many of these books can one own? I don’t know, but I have many.

From there I wander over to the education section. Am I feeling like an activist? Do I need some inspiration? How about some fresh approaches to old topics? This is the place to browse through my colleagues’ pearls of wisdom.

Feeling inspired or overwhelmed, depending on the mood and books I’ve viewed, I generally seek self-help. Maybe it’s a new approach to eating or fitness or some fabulous new exercise routine that involves lifting red velvet doughnuts to my lips (oh how I wish). I admire the people who pen these and not only get them published, but find an audience.

From here I may wander over to the children’s section. I may feel as though we need one more biography of Ben Franklin to really understand him, or one more poetry book for motivation, or one more biography of an inspiring woman to round out our curriculum. Usually I look at the price of these books and decide that I can find appropriate resources online.

Near the end of my visit (and stamina) I may cruise past the magazines. The latest quilt magazines are fair game. They usually offer as many exciting new designs as a book for a third of the cost.

Oftentimes I leave empty handed, but I always feel as though my soul has been refueled, thanks to the power of words.