Writing Again & other Summer Goals

 I so enjoyed the March SOL challenge, but since then, my writing has suffered. I have done a slightly better job of keeping up with my teaching blog, but my personal blog has fallen by the wayside.  Thankfully it’s summertime, and it’s a chance to work on my goals.

But I have a lot of goals this summer; so many, in fact, that I’ve had to pare it down to just five things for fear of not accomplishing any of them.

Here they are:

1. Fitness:
   • Headstand and Crow Pose: I’ve been doing Yoga with Adriene on and off for the last year and a half (she is amazing–definitely check her out!) and I’m trying to work daily on her foundations videos for both of these poses.  They are toughies that require some serious upper body strength–I hope I can do these properly by the end of summer!
   • At kickboxing a few weeks ago our coach, Jon, threw the giant rope over a really high pull-up bar.  He then told us to grab the two sides of the rope with both hands and pull our feet up over the bar.  Ummm…yeah.  That was HARD.  On the first day, my toes didn’t even touch the bar.  So that was it, a challenge. I accept! Now every time I go to class I have him put the rope up for me to practice.  Again, a lot of upper body strength–and core strength–needed for this.
2. Reading: READ ALL THE BOOKS!  Okay, that is a bit overly ambitious, but I do want to read as many books as possible.  First I need to figure out what I want to read.  I like browsing suggestions at Modern Mrs. Darcy— She has some great ideas, but I’m also too cheap to spend much money on a bunch of books.  Luckily, she has a daily email with good books less than $3! 🙂
3. Writing: I want to keep up with both of my blogs, but I also want to just write.  I bought a cute little notebook (above) at Target, and I am trying to write it in every day.  I’m just writing anything.  A thought, a short story (like, a page), ideas for future stories, and in the back I started a list of words I like and want to use.  To help with this goal, I bought two books about writing: On Writing by Stephen King and The Art of X-Ray Reading: How the Secrets of 25 Great Works of Literature Will Improve Your Writing by Roy Peter Clark. When (if…?) I finish these, I’ll post a review and my observations of both.
4. School: I signed up for two online courses offered by our school for summer PD: Teaching Vocabulary Effectively and Growing Leaders.  I’m enjoying them both, but I’m also doing an online course about using Articles of the Week with Dave Stuart Jr.  All of these are interesting, but I can’t seem to use my time in such a way to accomplish things in an organized fashion.  And it’s frustrating me.  On top of these classes, I’m also constantly researching (not on purpose, just as part of my daily reading and browsing) about changing my classroom space, and thus collecting tables, chairs, cushions, etc.
5. House: I have so many projects I want to accomplish around the house.  Unfortunately they cost money and I don’t like spending money, so that means I probably won’t get much done.  On the list: redo the laundry room with cabinets and new shelves, edge the front garden, put in a garden in the corner of the backyard…but all I see is $$$$$$$.
6. Bonus: Find a puppy!  We’re still struggling to find a puppy to rescue that isn’t a going to grow to giant proportions. (I really want this one!!!)

So, obviously my list is a bit longer than five things.  But what am I doing most of the time?  Riding my horse, kickboxing, mindlessly watching television, and eating. A lot.

I guess I need to get focused!

Happy summer everyone! 🙂