A Start - An Unedited List of Things I Love

The Renaissance Faire

New/Used books

The Library

Muppets

Warm Bread

Italian Food

Secret Gardens

The Smell of Paper

Disney World

Pop Music

Sneakers

Chocolate

Morning at the Campsite

Finishing Homework Assignments

Payton’s laugh

Michael’s eyes

Soundtracks

Old, Victorian Houses

Maps

Swimming Pools

Oceans and Lakes

The Museum of Science and Industry

Babbity Rabbitty

Spaghetti Sauce

Teaching

J.K Rowling

Beach Towels

Characters with character

Crayons

Sword fighting

Theatre

Neil Gaiman

A New Haircut

Babies

Road Trips

Antique Furniture

Organization

Ice Cream

Fantasy Novels

A Clean House

The Comic Con

Gluten Free Baking

Fairies

Merlin

Sand

Basil

Parsley

Mister Rogers

Forests

Golf carts

Daisies

T-shirts

Christmastime

Chicago in the summer

Audiobooks

98.7 WFMT

The Travel Channel

BBC America

Chunky Sunglasses

Sunlight through big windows

Turrets

Fred and George Weasley

Jace Morgenstern

The Princess Bride

The Perfect Gift

The Electric Mayhem

Basin

Candles

Tea

Old Neighborhoods

St. Donatus

Campers

Halloween Decorations

Black-rimmed Glasses

Legos

Scrapbooks

Good book to movie adaptations

The Pigeon

Constellations

Dried Sweet Peppers

A New Notebook

Calendars

Indie Bookstores

Period Costumes

Hammocks

Top Gear

Shakespeare

The Curb Pizza

The View from the California Grill

Picture Books

Make No Little Plans Or Should I?

This is what has been missing in my life for the past few months.

I finished student teaching about a week and a half ago, and am only now coming back to life after a nasty post-semester illness. It's pretty typical, as I've always tended to get sick just after finishing a major undertaking. My body just says "Ok, I'm done!" for a few days, and then I'm left to get back on my feet.

Anyway, what matters is that I am here, and I intend to use this space for jump starting my writing. Here is my main problem with this. I have little to no discipline in this area. I want to write ALL the time, but often there are other things that take precedence over it. School, work, and all the other things that insist on my time. Some of these are good like spending time with the husband, family and friends. Others are ugly and adult-shaped.

And, I miss feeling that have something in my brain worth saying. I fill my mind with all of these fantastic ideas and literature daily, but I can't seem to come up with anything original myself. Maybe the problem is that I'm thinking too big, too broad. Maybe I should start small. One foot in front of the other, as they say.

I have to admit I'm a little ashamed of myself for letting writing go so far to the wayside during the pursuit of my teaching degree. Well, it is a lesson learned that I have to continue it no matter how busy life gets.

I have to be dedicated to this creative part of myself or I might lose it completely in the fray. This time, luckily, I've just misplaced it for a bit, and I think I have a pretty good chance of coming back to life. Not to mention, I look forward to bringing this part of myself into the classroom with me when I do have the opportunity to teach my own students.

I have to hold onto this part of myself, because no one is going to do it for me. I have to hold on to it, and make little plans for it, so I can learn who I am here too.