The Writing Itch

I've got the itch to blog again. It's been hitting me hard over the last few weeks. Maybe this marks my return to my dusty blog!

I think this itch is coming from the place that made me redo my whole office last year-- I'm not a teacher anymore, but this time of the year makes me want to start fresh, just like I did whenever I redid my whole syllabus and classroom over the month of August. By the way, I've kept up the cleanliness of my office, although a few piles are carefully placed around the room. However, it is exponentially better in this room this year versus the last seven years.

I've got a few new projects I'm going to tackle over the next few months. I need new blog-writing fodder. If my life improves because of these projects, I won't complain.

1. I'm tackling the Whole 30 Program starting the day after Labor Day (in between business trips). I travel quite a bit for work now and I work odd hours-- my eating patterns have turned to complete poo. Like I feel like poo because of my poopy eating patterns. I want to see if I can do this program for 30 days. Plus, I think I have a serious issue with sugar and maybe this will break me of it. It doesn't seem that difficult. I kid, I kid, it seems impossible. I mostly want to learn some stuff about my body. How does it operate when it's being treated like an award winning race horse as opposed to the penny horse at Meijer?

This doesn't look fun, but I feel like a challenge!

2. I'm forcing myself to learn how to balance my crazy busy schedule with self-care. How will I attempt this? I don't know. I'm getting a new planner that might help me... it's not just a planner-- it's an ACTION planner. This means that I will learn to utilize every minute of my work day, right?  I just have to write in it. I'm down to try! I don't want to establish the same unhealthy workaholic habits in my new career as I did when I was a teacher.

[source]

3. Speaking of self-care, I'm going to continue doing yoga with my role model, Adriene Mishler. Despite the crazy changes in my life since January, doing yoga with my girl Adriene has remained a constant in my life-- almost every day since January started. Actually practicing yoga daily has made me more aware and appreciative of my body, has built my back into a stronger and more flexible one, and has calmed my anxiety. I lurve it.

My virtual BFF. I see her every morning. 

4. I've got to figure out how to clean my house in bits in pieces instead of spending my whole freakin' Saturday or Sunday cleaning. I'm going to try one of these home cleaning schedules that fancy women who probably have sparkling clean homes that smell like lemongrass (and sparkling white teeth that they've whitened on their own with their own homemade whitener) post on their blogs. Specifically this one:

Lemongrass-smellin' house here I come!

I suppose you could say that this year's not-going-back-to-school redo project is focusing on upping my quality of life.

We'll see how it goes...

I'm Going to Write a Book...

...says every English teacher/former English teacher I've ever known, including me.

But really, I've been sitting on this book for more than ten years now. I've started it in my mind while walking the dogs countless times, but unfortunately, that doesn't count.

One of my 30b430 goals was to write at least one chapter of said book, which I did during National Novel Writing Month in 2012. However, I absolutely hated what I came up with. I can't even post it here. I can't even look at it right now.

Two years later, I have some inspiration. I think it's because I'm out of the classroom and done with my Master's and I need a new project. I was mostly inspired by NPR-- of course.

I wrote a micro story. From there, I've been organizing documents, doing research, and talking, talking, talking about it with friends and family (my apologies for not being able to talk about anything else). I've realized a few things from all of this pre-pre-writing:
1) I write better in vignettes and I need to stick with that.
2) I'm pretty good at research and I need to do something with that.
3) It's okay that it took this long to really start.
4) This is going to be hard.

I realize that it is irritating that I'm not saying what this book is about, but I'm not ready yet. In the next few months I'm hoping to...
1) Meet with an archivist who will help me figure out who to best transcribe documents, file, and organize them.
2) Transcribe documents, file, and organize them.
3) Write the prologue and first few chapters.
4) Complete a few interviews.

We'll see where this goes.

30b430 Update and Revisions!

I haven't revised The List since May. I think it's time for some updates. 

Goals I've Completed!

10 out of 30 complete and as I've said before, the goals I've completed got me out of the biggest life funk I've ever been in. If I stopped working on the list now I'd be satisfied. :)

1. Complete an indoor triathlon. 2/12/12

2. Complete an outdoor triathlon. 6/2/12

3. Swim across West Twin Lake and Rose Lake (or Pine Lake). 7/14/12 and 6/26/12 

4. Bike the Kal-Haven Trail.7/30/12

17. Pick berries and bake something with them. 8/24/12 

18. Write at least one chapter of the novel that I write in my mind while I'm walking the dogs. 11/2012

I completed this goal, but I didn't write about it because I wasn't happy with the product. Writing a chapter is harder than I thought! It's done though and safely stored in my Dropbox, thanks to inspiration from Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month).

24. Revised 5/1/12 Make some decisions about my career and/or PhD prospects. Apply for PhD programs.

26. Learn how to flip turn when I'm swimming laps. 4/19/12
27. Take a real personal day. 6/8/12

29. Go horseback riding.8/8/12

I never posted about this goal! This experience went from being terrifying to really cool. I got to spend time with a few amazing ladies, brush a horse, feed some goats, and ride a John Deere around in a field. Haha! I never pictured myself doing any of those things. Here are a few pictures:

Pam, the woman who gave me a riding lesson let Deann and I hang out with the animals before I rode. She said that grooming a horse lets you build a bond with it. 

You can see the fear on my face. This horse was as old as me so I felt like we were meant to meet. I feared she would be as stubborn as me, but we got along just fine. 

In the end, I did it and it wasn't so bad. I could tell that Pam really loves her horses and that appealed to my love of animals and made me more comfortable. 

Goals with a Plan:

I know I'm getting these done sometime in the next five months! 

5. Play the piano in front of people.

7. Have a conversation with a dear Senegalese friend in French or Wolof (preferably Wolof).

9. Pop a champagne cork with no fear.

10. Make leche flan (it's Filipino, it's amazing, and I'm makin' it).

11. Jar or can veggies, pickles, sauce... something.

12. Revised 5/1/12 because I remembered that I'm supposed to graduate in December and my Master's degree is really important to me!!! Get my Master's degree and submit some of my academic writing and then, maybe, you know... get it published.

14. Pay off at least 50% of my remaining undergraduate credit card debt.

15. Sing karaoke by myself in Kalamazoo in front of all of friends.

16. Eat clean for one month.

21. Get chosen Submit applications for one more summer fellowship in another country where I am able to work with youth.

22. Go on a police ride along.

23. Get to 200 blog posts.

25. Attend roller derby training so I can learn the moves.

28. Learn how to drive a stick.

29. Poach an egg perfectly.

Goals that Might Have to Wait Until I'm IN my 30's Due to Finances :(

It's disappointing, but the travel goals are probably going to have to wait a few years. Believe me when I say that they WILL get done. C'est la vie!

6. Visit my family in the Philippines (or at least have tickets booked by my 30th birthday).

8. Visit my grandparents in California.

13. Travel out of the country with Nate.

19. Thank my mom for everything she's done for me. (I wanted to do this by buying her a ticket to California or the Philippines. Until then, I will keep giving her love and props for helping me become who I am today!)

20. Go further into the UP than the Mystery Spot tourist trap and jump into Lake Superior.

Five months until my 30th!

Earworm Wednesday: Summer Skin

This song is a sad, yet happy lament that I am back in a new school year in a new job. I think my blog might be a bit neglected for the next few months-- I'm negotiating the new politics of teaching in a private school, getting used to this new routine, and taking my last grad class before I write my capstone. I will be back when I can fit in the time to blog because, well, I love keeping a record of my life even if it's just for me.

The biggest goal I have for this fall is to figure out how to stay active. Exercise has become a huge part of my life and I don't want it to fall by the wayside. Working out is my beer at the end of the day, my therapy, my anti-depressant, my mood regulator... I need it!

I am still attacking my goals with rigor and I will post about riding a horse for the first time (eek!) soon. I also need to revise my list. Some of the things that were important to me a few months ago are no longer at the top of my list.

Fall is in the air and I love it.

Happy Spring!

Today was 65 degrees and beautiful enough for a run outside. Global warming is really horrible, but geez, I love this weather.

It's exam week and I'm getting ready for the last trimester of the school year. I am excited for one last fresh start. There is something about new classes that always fills me with hope and dread. Hope because I get excited that the class will mesh and have  great chemistry together (and with me). Dread because I get anxious that the class will be full of haters who feed off of each other's negativity and make things so hard!

Speaking of the end of the school year, I submitted a last application for a summer fellowship last week. I got denied for India (I'm brushing myself off), but I'm not that upset. I've got a whole slew of things I'd like to do this summer, including:
-Working on The List
-Painting the outside of the house and maybe putting in a garden
-Doing outdoor triathlons (if I can make it through my first one)
-Playing outside
-Completing the Teacher as Writer Third Coast writing workshop at WMU
-Starting and finishing my capstone so I can get that master's degree
-Taking some road trips
-Camping, kayaking, and lake swimming
-Hanging with family (perhaps even going to San Francisco to see my family)

This weather gets me so pumped for summer. In anticipation of that, I've been listening to my favorite summer song, Lake Swimming by Laura Veirs:

I should probably do my grad school homework.