WHAT'S UP WEDNESDAY
I'm catching the What's Up Wednesday hot air balloon from the blogs of Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk. Go to Jaime's blog to add your link and make the rounds to get to know other bloggers!
I’ve got just a few minutes to scribble down a post while I
eat my lunch. So without further ado:
WHAT I’M READING
I finally got around to reading SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD by
Lindsey Leavitt. I loved GOING VINTAGE and SGH didn’t disappoint – a very sweet
story, perfect for any age YA reader. I also read DARE YOU TO by Katie McGarry
and re-read THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS by Ann Brashares, which is
one of the selections for this month’s Reading Mutiny at YA Buccaneers. It’s a
favorite and still made me cry. Guess I’ll have to re-read the others in the
series, too. I have SISTERHOOD EVERLASTING but haven’t read it yet.
Up next: THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS by E. Lockhart.
WHAT I’M WRITING
Not gonna lie, since emerging from the Cave, there hasn’t
been quite as much writing activity in my world. I accomplished my goal for
Ready. Set. Write! of completing revisions on WAITING FOR THE SUN… and tonight,
I go back into the Cave. It’s been good to take a break – even a short one – and I’m ready to get back to it.
I did put in about 1500 words on my new WIP as well, mostly
thanks to the Word Sprints hosted by the YA Buccaneers. There’s another one
tonight at 7:30 pm CDT. Join in! Super fun times.
WHAT ELSE I’VE BEEN UP TO
School preparation. I’m exhausted. I neglected a lot of life
maintenance stuff during my time in the Writing Cave, and last weekend I
tackled some of it. Mainly school supply/clothes/shoes shopping. Last year I
took the kids separately but this year I forgot how much easier that was.
Toad starts Middle School next week, so he had Orientation
at a couple of different times last Wednesday plus an Open House last night.
Birdy’s in a new school, too, as she starts 1st grade, so we had her
Open House Monday night. Cub Scouts started up for me again, too. This year I’m
the Recruitment/Membership Chair. It’s our last year – next year Toad will
graduate to Boy Scouts.
Hammer Guy has been out of town for work a lot these last
couple of weeks but comes home late tonight and has no trips planned in the
near future. Hurray!
WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW
This is going to sound crazy. It’s so hard for me to grasp
that I have a child who is old enough for Middle School (which starts early in
our district - 5th grade), but I’m really inspired by how hard the
school has worked to make this an easier transition for the kids.
I’m inspired by Toad’s teachers – his math teacher has
almost as many books in his classroom as his language arts teacher. His science
teacher will help with organization and the logistics of moving from classroom
to classroom. His art teacher combines the creativity of the subject matter
with a high expectation of structure and routine. His music teacher is a huge
Beatles fan, the walls of his room covered in Beatles posters.
I sort of want to go to 5th grade.
There’s some other stuff going on, too, and I will probably
write about it at a later date, but I will say this: I’m inspired by people who
see and value the Big Picture. Who understand that compassion is as important as
the drive to succeed. Who realize that we all need a little room to grow.
How about you? What are you up to?