Mental Health Day

So it's been 200 years since I've last posted (nothing like the use of a good hyperbole). I've been busy busy busy doing all sorts of things but mostly drowning in my school work. I'm afraid that I've lost any readers I previously had as a result of my lengthy break from posting, so I am making an attempt to come back.

I have a substitute today, so I am posting at home - midmorning on a weekday. A rarity. I hadn't missed a day all year, not really on purpose, it just happened. My intention was to grade all morning. (I'm behind as usual.) And then I wanted to do some Christmas shopping this afternoon. Last night, however, I arrived home at the lovely hour of 7 pm which is far too late when you get to work at 7:15 in the morning. I decided that I need the mental health time more than the grading time at the present moment, so here I am.

My new plan? Post on my blog, clean my kitchen, go to the gym, come home to shower, meet the husband for lunch, and go Christmas shopping. Notice anything about this list? Ummmm, it is normal stuff that normal people should not get excited about, but I am taking a day off to do these mundane things. I know I can't complain; I am the one who chose my profession, and I am generally satisfied, but seriously.......This is far too much information, but I've been wearing the same toenail polish since September if that gives you an idea of how much time I spend on myself in proportion to how much time I spend on my job. We won't even discuss shaving the legs.

That being said, there are many bloggers out there who are just as busy as I am, and they manage to post frequently. (Andi, Carrie, and the all-powerful Dooce just to name a few.) I like blogging, and I like your comments via the blog or in "real life" for those of you who know me, so I want to keep it up. Perhaps I should move it up on my list of priorities.

On another note (since this is a somewhat bookish blog after all), I would love your suggestions on books to add to my Christmas list. Books are always the longest category on my list every year. C'mon, even you lurkers out there who read and don't leave comments whould have something to say for this one. Give me one or two really good books you've read in the last year, and I'll add them to my list. One good thing about my profession? I am about to have two solid weeks of uninterrupted "me time" which means lots of me reading time!

So, fellow bookish folk, any suggestions?

Grandmothers

My sister and I hosted a birthday party for my grandmother this weekend. On Saturday night, my house was full of relatives celebrating the woman my grandmother is and the many things she has always given.


I think most of us take her presence for granted, so it's times like these that we really stop to think about what she's done. She is the traditional matriarch of the family, and no holiday or event would be the same without her presence. For most of us, the taste of her Thanksgiving dressing or her signature banana pudding is like slipping into an old cozy sweatshirt where you feel nothing but familiar comfort and sincere belonging.


My relationship with my grandmother is complex and deeply hinged on many things that are far too long and detailed for this blog, but in a nutshell, she's my person. You all know what I mean, everyone has a person - the person you call when you've had a really bad day, the person you feel compelled to brag to when you've done something worthy of your pride, maybe the person you called when September eleventh happened, the first number you dialed when you got engaged, all of these milestones or miniscule events that make up our everydays. For me, Grandmother is that person, and I'm always anxious to hear her voice on the other end.


The concept of growing up without grandparents is foreign to me. My family lived next door to them from the time I was about 7 years old until I left home. Ann Morse explains, "A child needs a grandparent, anybody's grandparent, to grow a little more securely into an unfamiliar world." And that's precisely what my grandparents have done for me. When my father died, my mother, my sister, and I moved in with my grandparents until Mom could get back on her feet again and we felt safe to move forward. I was young (only five), and though I do not remember more than brief fleeting moments of that year, I do think the experience left an indelible mark. At that moment, the world was as "unfamilar" as it ever would be and seemed very scary, but there is one person who helped me move more securely to become the person I am.


My grandmother is one of those women whom you want to pattern yourself after, but you realize that selfless grace and true kindness is not a learned trait but one with which you have to be gifted. I can only hope that age and experience will make my half of what she is.

Proof That $9 at Target Can Provide Endless Hours of Entertainment

Tucker the Superhero at your service. Doesn't he look heroic?

I have no excuse.

It's admittedly been a long time since I've last posted, and I have been busy, but who hasn't? This is always the time of the school year when I fall behind on doing the things I want to do because I become so overwhelmed with the daily grind. I'm giving myself a slap on the wrist for getting behind on my blog writing and my blog reading.

So what's new?

Well, I am teaching Macbeth to my British Lit students, and I had forgotten how much I like that play. It's so rare that you find a text in Brit Lit that actually has strong female characters, so I am enjoying these few days if for that reason alone. We just finished Book IX of Paradise Lost, and prior to that, only one kid knew what "patriarchal" meant, but now they all do. [Insert evil laugh here....] And yes, that will be on the unit test, boys and girls.

In other news, I have begun a great new book which I bought on a whim last weekend at a used bookstore, and I highly recommend it. There's so much to talk about, I wish I knew someone else who is reading / has read it. Anyone? I am thinking of this read next. Any reviews or advice on that one?

Being the adventurous pair that we are, Scott and I have opted for a Friday night in, so I'm off to open a bottle of wine now. We are saving money and resting up before our big concert tomorrow night. Hope all is well in the blogosphere, and I will be reading reading reading to catch up with bloggy friends.

Happy weekend.

Yet another reason Billy Collins is my favorite contemporary poet.

Anyone who knows me knows that I adore Billy Collins. I heard him live a few years ago, and I consider it one of the more influential literary experiences I've ever had- comparable only with my summer at Cambridge. He has a way of making you laugh as you read his poems, yet there's always that twist that is poignant as well. His poetry is so accessible that you really don't have to be a literary buff or a lover of words to "get it."

This artist has taken audio of Collins reading his own work and added animation. Simply beautiful. Watch it.... it's worth it. [For some reason, I can't get it to embed on my site. You'll have to click on the link below.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrEPJh14mcU