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Only the beginning

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This is my last post of this wonderful challenge. I have deeply enjoyed writing everyday, and reading the writing of others. This experience has taught me the value of everyday practice, and of small but positive feedback - two great strategies I can bring with new authenticity into my teaching.   My first post was about my new pottery class - my empty-nester hobby that I used as a metaphor for this writing process.  The parallels work well: both take practice, practice, practice;both take patience; both reveal an art form that seems to have its own voice, independent of the artist - the clay and the word have their own power; both can bring beauty; both can bring disaster; and both painfully reveal the shortcomings of the artist.  My vain assumption was that by the end of the month my writing would have become markedly better and my pottery would have as well. On this last day however, I find that I have grown, but not as much as I had hoped.  I'm still ...
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Pink lanterns

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Wow!  So sorry.  so late. So much going on.  So busy. No different from all the rest of you. I am determined to keep this up, but so hard.  Today was full.  Family, friends, canvassing, eating, community, breaking bread with those I love. Love the pink lanterns and jowls.  We are old and hold each other's jowls up:) And how beautiful they are. Love my sister.  Soul sister. So fun, to spend time and know only the things she knows. she made me coffee, I made her a cup. Purdue may beat VA - Wow! OMG  OT!  All even Hello sis
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Using voice to text as I speak

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Voice to text is a wonderful thing.  It allows you to speak freely and it records all of your thoughts, and then you can go back and edit later.  Maybe:) I am dictating this as I’m sitting waiting for my son at Union Station.  Next, we are off to National Airport to pick up my sister. She’s coming in from Atlanta to help campaign for my daughter this weekend. It has been a long full day, and a long full week.  And, this weekend will be no reprieve.    I started thinking about this because my daughter used voice-to-text to compose a speech she gave last night.  She was able to write a concise and persuasive speech in under 20 minutes. I'm going to show it to my students. I often try to have them voice-to-text, but they feel self-conscious.  I need to keep trying.  When I asked her when she started doing this to write, she laughed.  "I got this from you, mom." "Really?" "Yeah, you know the super long text messages you send me?...
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Orchid

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So on day seven I wrote about my delight in an orchid I had successfully coaxed into reblooming.  It has continued to delight throughout the month, and is now full of blooms.  On this long slog we have until Spring Break - we don't get off for ANOTHER two weeks, I am fueling myself with nature - and she has been kind.  The daffodils peak up, forsythia sends out spiky yellow stems amidst barren shrubs, tulip trees offer up pink cups to the rain, and the cherry blossoms are bursting with snow. This afternoon I was able to squeeze in some weeding and amending of my vegetable patch.  Care and tending, hoping to reap what I sow. 
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Change

Classes cancelled today and forever. No notice. Closed. Out of money. Very sorry. I am crushed. My favorite exercise studio (sorry, do I sound like a cliche?) has just emailed announcing they are closing. Effectively immediately.  I am bereft. Truly. This place was a lifeline for me.  A great community, with great teachers. It had a profound impact on my life. A million questions go through my mind, like what will I do now? Stop it, you're being selfish -  What will happen to all these great teachers?  Have they charged me for April yet? Stop it you're being selfish.  Wait, no not really. You earn a teacher's salary, this matters. Now I will have to search for a new community, establish a new routine.  I have to find where these teachers are going. This must really suck for them, way more than for me.  Speaking of teachers having to make new plans, our school is not closing, but downsizing. It has been overcrowded, and now with a new middle scho...
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A time to...

The end of third quarter is around the corner, and already I see the end of the year hurrying near.  Wait a minute please and hear my plea: I need more time... Time to write for myself, my students and to my friends. Time to read for myself for pleasure and for work and for my students. Time to go to the movies, and take in a museum. Time to talk to my husband, my family and friends. Time to take leisurely walks with the dog. Time to cook and to clean. Time to campaign for my daughter and give her advice (though she is probably grateful I don't have time to do that:) Time to talk to people, ask them how they are doing, show an interest, kindle a friendship. Time to travel and time travel. Time to think and to ponder - to stretch and to wander I push and I stretch my time, trying to convince myself this finite day is infinite.  I shift and steal time, create more in the folds and the creases. I need more time to make time. 
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Visits from old students

It's late and I'm wrapping up my day and in he slides through my classroom door like Kramer. "Hey there! Just wanted to come check out the 'ol stomping grounds." He looks almost the same as a year ago, only five inches taller.  "I was just thinking about you!" I cry.  "I was going through old oratorical speeches and videos and pulled yours out!" "Oh, no!  You didn't show it did you?!" "I was thinking about it..." just to tease him.  He wore a fedora for his speech performance, made full use of the stage with theatrics, and truly ad libbed his way through most of it. It was awesome. The whole class was in stitches. Despite, or more likely because of his unconventionality, I put him through to the final round. Not surprisingly he was deemed a little too "out there" for the county judges.  It didn't matter - he had a blast and we all made a lasting memory - and now he's back and he remembers it vividl...
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