Monday, March 21, 2011

SOLSC Day 21: 14 pages later...

I am in the throes of finishing the yearbook. Out of the 168 pages in the book, I have completed 154. That leaves 14 pages to finish by Monday, March 28. In all honesty, I don't know what I will do after I finish the yearbook. There will be this void, a piece of my life will be (temporarily) missing for a number of weeks. So, here's 14 things I will do once my 14 pages are done:

1. Be a better teacher. It's tough for me to admit, but right now I'm so focused on making this last deadline that I know I'm not doing everything I can do to make my English courses interesting and fulfilling. One thing's for sure: the times, they are a'changin'

2. Spend more time with my husband. In the grand scheme of things he doesn't suffer much at the hands of the yearbook, but there are nights when I come home and still have to stare at my computer for another few hours to get the book looking the way I want. Lucky for him that will be over soon.

3. Read more books! I have this box of books that's overflowing because I keep buying them but not reading them fast enough. Hopefully being sans-yearbook will give me a chance to catch up quickly.

4. Get back into my own photography. I'm an amateur at best, but I miss taking photos, editing, and framing or scrapbooking them. I feel like I have more experience now that I've used the Nikon D50 regularly, but there's still a lot I want to learn about editing so that next year's book (and my own personal hobby) can benefit.

5. Write, write, write. This Slice of Life Story Challenge has really pushed me to explore my own composition style and be more deliberate with the writing I do, even the things I write in my own journal. I want to continue to write daily if possible. I mean hey, if I can do it while all these other things swirl around me, why not when those things stop?

6. Finish my internship. Like the yearbook, there's another deadline I have to meet. I have to complete my internship for my license in school administration which requires 600 hours of documented administrative experience. I'm up to 200 or so now, which isn't too bad considering all the other things I have going on, which leads me to:

7. SLOW DOWN. I'm someone who likes to go go go! Being busy makes me feel like what I'm doing matters and that I am (somewhat) important to the success of whatever I'm doing. I need to learn to slow down. I need to learn to say no.

8. Relax. Try not to judge me, but I would like to spend my evenings in a bathtub with a glass of red wine and a good book. I find myself constantly searching for the little things that will bring me satisfaction through relaxation.

9. Commence Spring Cleaning. Right now my house is a disaster area, and usually this is a panic attack inducing occurrence. That's right, if my house gets too cluttered I will completely freak out. Having that said, my house is cluttered enough right now that I should have a panic induced freak out every second that I'm here. Alas, with the yearbook taking over my life I'm just stepping over the laundry...don't mind me ;)

10. Get back to my diet and exercise. I don't think I'm a stress eater, but I'm definitely slacking off when it comes to watching what I eat and working out. I'm not making my body a top priority right now and that has to change so I can feel good everyday and make each day count.

11. Work on my 101 in 1001. There are so many things still to do! I really want to see that challenge through, just like this Slice of Life Challenge!

12. Take a much-needed vacation. I am beyond excited about chaperoning the History Club's trip to New York City over our Spring Break. Am I going to be exhausted? Absolutely. Will it be worth it? No doubt.

13. Cook, bake, eat, repeat. No, it doesn't completely contradict my diet and exercise plan. But, there's something to be said for cooking well and eating well. I really enjoy cooking, especially for the purpose of hosting dinner in my home. I'm always on the lookout for delicious new recipes to try for my loved ones.

14. Become a better connected blogger. One of the things I love about blogging is reading the blogs of people I know and don't know. I want to build my own sense of community in blogging, and that could take the form of becoming more active in 20sb, or somewhere else. Either way, I want to connect with other people like me (and not like me!) for the sake of conversation. We all crave connection as humans; who says it has to be face to face to have value?

Did I miss anything? What would you suggest I do once my pages are done?

2 comments:

Linda B said...

Wow! Are you sure you do want 'relax' on your list? What a lot of wonderful goals, though it is a lot! I think having goals is good, and you clearly have such wonderful energy & motivation. I guess one thing I might suggest is to worry less about what's next, & enjoy the present moment. I often want to check off the things in my list (finish, finish), instead of being there loving the activity.

Stephanie McCabe said...

Ditto on the "enjoy the moment" from teacherdance....

I love your list, though. I think you covered everything you want to do after the end of March.

However, I suppose it's a bad time to tell you that I'm pretty sure I forgot one picture for the NaNoWriMo folks, huh??? Don't kill me, but I'm pretty sure I'm missing a pic. Can you fix it?? (haha..notice I said "you"!)??