I love Write Night!

I've been playing on Facebook now for at least thirty minutes, scratching my virtual puppy, answering messages sent two weeks ago, and in general enjoying myself. I love Write Night!

Now that I've had a personal celebration. Here's the upcoming. Anna's first birthday is next month, and we're working on the whole party thing. Here's what has been decided-the theme is rubber ducks. Yep, that's all I know. Our house is too small for her party, actually our driveway is too small for parking, and our HOA won't allow cars to park on the street. So, where do you have a birthday party for a one year old. Our parents' houses won't work because of divorce, distance, size, whatever. And I'm not subjecting everyone to Fox's Pizza or the bowling alley for a party Anna isn't going to remember. Yes, our family is that large. No, we cannot just cut the guest list. And then there's the whole, who do you have to invite? Obviously family, but how extended? If someone invited you to their child's birthday, are you obligated to invite them to your child's? If you invite a couple that you are friends with, must you invite all couples with small children that you are friends with? If a tree falls, wait, sorry, wrong topic.

Before I had Anna, I was an advocate of inviting who you wanted and heck with the rest of' 'em. I'm realizing that it's not that easy. All of these people are important part of my daughter's life in some way. So how do you decide who gets to share in a special day and who is left out?

You invite them all.

Manic Mondays

What else can I jam into this manic Monday? I crawled out of bed around 5:30ish, poured some coffee and read a few verses while saying a frantic prayer. My cat, Gus, screamed at me to come in after his night of prowling around the front porch. Bless him! He has no claws, but he demands to leave the house every evening around 10:00 to watch the cars go by. His Monday wasn't frantic I'm sure. He doesn't have a five page rough draft on school dress code due Thursday or a presentation to make in front of ESOL teaching candidates. Instead of calling a parent about their child being rude to the substitute on Friday during planning , Gus is changing positions from his stomach to his back. However, Gus didn't hear any funny stories about what one male student dared to say to another student about which I'm afraid to reveal on the blog. Needless to say, it was one of the many mindless, cocky things a young man in heat would say to an unsuspecting girl. As I enter grades in a rushed manner during every class after discussing their journal topics, Gus is moseying to his food bowl. My lunch is rushed, but the 7th grade administrator called for silent lunch so it was peaceful for a change. The last two periods were uneventful, and the day would have ended nicely if I didn't have to attend a meeting. My principal promised it would be a short meeting, but it ended up lasting about an hour. An hour in which even more responsibilities were added to my plate. I am NOT a scrapbooker. Now I'm responsible for the 7th grade scrapebook to be shownto the Lighthouse Schools to Watch folks visiting in November. Finally I get a chance to work on my classwork for VSU, but a colleague walks in for a chat. Oh well, it'll get done somehow. So what could I add to this manic Monday. Facebook!! Yes, Rebecca has us all registered on the world's largest network something. Next she'll have a new electronic pet for us to google over. There are a few more hours in the day...what's next? Glasses of wine I hope!

Facebook

Hot diggity dog! We finally got Renee on Facebook. First it was Matt. All during the Summer Insitute, Shane, Tammy, and I would talk about the wonders of Facebook. Matt said that he did not want to get on Facebook, fearing that it would suck him in.

Eventually the temptation became too great, and our little Matty finally succumbed. From what I hear, he has become quite entralled with Facebook.

Tonight's Write Night became a Facebook recruiting effort. Narci, Diana, and Renee are not converts. Oh what lies ahead for you all. Facebook is a beautiful thing my friends. Diana has already stated that she does not want my Pokey, but she does not know what she is missing. Lindsi has already adopted her puppy "Snickers" to my "Finn." Hopefully she will not forget to feed him like I did. I vow not to go 46 hours again, my friend.

Flair- how awesome is it to get a snazzy button like the ones that they used to wear at one of the chain restaurants? It reminds me of Office Space. My goal is to get so much Flair that I have one for every day of the month. Lindsi sent me one that says, "I can tell your purse is fake." Appropriate indeed!

Then there are the status updates. I personally like to see who has the most clever one each day. So and so is doing laundry . . . so and so is pissed . . . so and so $@## off. Got to love that.

I also have a Myspace, but I only have 11 friends. My students, when asked to compare and contrast Facebook to Myspace (I was trying to help them to come up with topics for an expository essay) say , with a sneer, that the difference between Myspace and Facebook is that Facebook is for "college students."

Personally, I think that Facebook is a lot easier to use than Myspace and makes it easier for you to keep up with people you actually know. I guess if you really don't know people, Myspace is the way to go. That's probably why I like Facebook; I can control the privacy so that only my friends can see my information. I don't have the need for everyone to know everything about me.

But I do like seeing what my old cheerleaders from Coffee High School are doing, as well as some of my former students from CHS. Some of them are married, some of them are getting married . . . some of them are in Chicago, some are at UGA. Facebook helps us to stay in touch.

The same is true with BWP. We get so busy with our day to day lives, but with Facebook we are able to stay in touch. And relationships are what matter in this life.

Facebook Frenzy

Okay, it's hard to write tonight. We've been playing on Facebook since we got here. I think most people are still playing on Facebook. Lindsi got a virtual puppy named Snickers, and it keeps barking in Hildegard's. Bad puppy. Rebecca's black lab, which she hadn't fed in a while, was barking earlier. People are staring at us. I can't imagine why.

I find myself unwilling to write, which is very rare for me. I would much rather be watching people figure out Facebook. We have new people on Facebook and in our BWP group on Facebook. Yay! The word is spreading.

Write Night is fun. I miss these people. I have been laughing hysterically. Oh my gosh, too much fun. Oops, at first I typed "tun" instead of "fun." I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it probably involves more laughter. This group thrives on laughter.

The music seems very thirties; I should be swing dancing with a partner, except of course that I don't know how to swing dance. Um, that could be a problem. My legs keep dancing a bit, which makes the computer tremble. At least my words are dancing if my body isn't. Speaking of computers, I have a new laptop. Yay, Donna's laptop. I feel all connected and up to date.

Okay, here's a quote for the night: "the evil that men do." Yep, I refuse to provide context for that quotation, but I had to record it so that I wouldn't forget it. I have to find some way to use that in a piece of writing.

Clearly, it's random night. That's okay. I like randomness, jumping sporadically from one thought to another.

Wes showed up for a few minutes to take pictures. I'll use them for the Write Night announcements on Facebook, and perhaps we'll write an article about Write Night for the next newsletter, complete with pictures. It can help explain Write Night for people who don't really know what it's about. I wonder where Vicki is. She almost never misses Write Night. In fact, she showed up two weeks ago for Write Night by herself. I'll have to check with her tomorrow.

The newsletter is going great, thanks to Diana and all the people who write for it. Okay, Shane is going to write an article about Rebecca, part of our continuing trend to feature leaders in the newsletter. Amy is writing a piece about the death throes of handwritten letters, I think. I'm not sure what else will be in there, except for another book review, courtesy of one of the 2008 Fellows. We'll have a piece about recruiting since we'll be hitting that heavy soon.

Hmm, what now. I just cannot get serious about writing tonight, so I guess I'll call it quits, check the blog for other posts, and check in on Facebook.

Mondays and celebrations

Well it was the fifth Monday of the year. I still do not know what to make of the year to date. There is a very demoralized atmosphere, due to the new rincipal and her sidekick. She wants tings her way and it is not what we know works for our group of kids. Inclusive, no small groups, how am I supposed to teach effectively the student who is already on a 7th grade reading level, along with the group that are still below third grade level? I suppose when the year is over, it will be easy to see where things worked, but in the meantime, we are struggling to get in everything that is scheduled and still having time for me. On top of all that, I am preparing to go ahead and go back to school. I AM INSANE! Like all of you did not already know that.

I just learned my son, because of marital issues and hurricanes, which is worst?, is having his orders cancelled and will not be going to Afghanistan for a while. That is a celebration in the making. Who knows where he will go now.

My hubby is still working away, so no celebration there, and although it was his birthday, I am crap at getting cards and another day went by with no card. Oh well, he knows me and knew that would not happen. His mother, however, who lives next door, mails the cards. We get birthday cards, anniversary, easter, halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas cards all mailed from the house next door. Her door is closer than the mailbox LOL

I have a great class this year, I do celebrate them. They are ready to learn, and think I am a nut. I am surprised that no parents have come in to see what is happening. I can do without that. We now get observed by 2 or more people at a time, but last week I got watched twice in one day. I did ok, no major issues, and they were impressed with a few things. I just wish they did not have an agenda that was at odds witht he rest of the district. We'll have to put up defenses and group together to oust the unwanted. Its that or begin an uprising.

I am definitely rambling, but there is nothing I want to do except gripe. That is not like me at all.

So what other celebrations are looking on the horizon? Well I know I will not be taking a maternal sabbatical like some. I am not going to have virtual pet to fawn over me, 2 cats and a dog who has developed incontinence is enough of that. I will be seeing Sean off to somewhere next year, can't say yet since I have not been informe. When he knows, we all will. Robert needs to get his license soon, dependent on me to provide lessons, or he will back on the bus next year. That would go over like a ton of bricks falling from the hod. Who knows, just maybe my hubby will find a job closer to home and not have to live somewhere else during the week. Have to admit, we don't fight since he is not here :-)

I am now thinking of all the work yet to do at home. Since it was I who decided to revamp the ELA map to match the GA DOE site I have to redo grammar also, I do not want to use the basal and it no longer matches what I have planned. My agenda tonight is to eat a salad and drink a glass (2 or 3) of wine while deciding on entries for unit 2 grammar. Only 5 more to go. That will be a celratory event. Now watch, we'll get a new series next year and my plan will need to be remade to match what the powers that be decide. More on that as it develops.

New Topic: Facebook

Here's a new topic because of how tonight went: Facebook.

Write Night

Okay, it's the first Write Night of the academic year. I've been missing you folks. Being my usual schizophrenic self, I'm struggling to decide upon a topic, so I'm putting two out here. Choose whichever you want and write, or reject both of these and choose your own. Whatever. We're easy.

Topics:
Manic Monday (can't you just hear The Bangles playing in the background?)
Celebrations

I didn't know if people would be stressed with another week back at school or just another week starting, whatever you do with your weeks. Thus, if you're feeling stressed, overworked, frazzled, write about your Monday. If you want to escape Monday, explore celebrations, perhaps celebrations from your past, upcoming celebrations, or things that should be celebrated but aren't or aren't celebrated nearly enough (yourself perhaps?).

Whatever you write, the goal is to write. And keep writing. And eating. And sharing. And laughing or crying or whatever emotion you want to indulge, perhaps cool detachment or cynicism or anger. Whatever. Just write.

We hope to see you in person at Hildegard's or on the blog.

BWP on Facebook

Hey folks,

BWP is on Facebook now. If you're on Facebook, make sure you join us. Just let Lindsi, Rebecca, or me know that you're on Facebook and we'll send you an invitation to the group. It's another way to remind people of meetings and events and good stuff.