Friday, August 28, 2015

By the Numbers

What are some of the numbers that are significant to your story? Thanks to Steph and Nicole for the fun post idea. Here are some of mine. 



531 - My age in months. 

5 - The time I usually wake up, on my own...no alarm needed. 

7.5 - Hours of sleep that works best for me. 

19 - The day our anniversary. 

409 - Published posts here at A Lovely Life, Indeed. 

11 - Posts in draft form. 

1,820 - Number of Instagram photos in my gallery. 

2 - Number of times per week I meet with my trainer for strength training. 

17 - Years of teaching under my belt; starting #18 on Monday. 

108,768 - Miles on my car. 

7 - The day of my birthday month. 

10 - The age difference, in years, between my husband and me. 

3,112 miles to our home in Spain. 

5 - Most miles I ever ran in a road race. 

13.1-- Miles I hope to run in a road race one day. 

8 - The number of books I read while on vacation this summer in Spain. 

3 - Fun food-related classes I'm taking this fall...A Passion for Pumpkins, Thanksgiving... Everything but the Turkey, and Gifts from the Kitchen. 

43 - Storms of the 2004-2005 Hurricane Season in Florida. 

9 - Hurricanes that disrupted my school years with Hurricane Days out of school during that time period. After Wilma, I moved back up North and met my husband...a happy ending, indeed. 
Those are a few of my numbers. What are some the numbers that are significant to your story? 






Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Coffee Catch Up

Ideas swirl around my head like cartoon canaries after a good bump on the head, and at times, having too many options can be just as paralyzing as when there are too few. 

So, like ripping off a bandaid, I am here to catch up over my morning coffee, just as if you were sitting across the table with yours...not with well thought out words and pictures, but merely with conversation. 

Welcome. 

What a summer it has been! 



We did a lot of this. 

And this. 


And this. 



And now we're home. 

We took the weekend to sleep off residual jet lag and prep for the week ahead. 

And here we are. 

Let's start with yesterday. I am back at my home school. 

It was a whiplash kind of day. Upon arriving at our opening day general session yesterday, I was greeted and then saddened to hear from friends that my position, which at the end of the last school year had been eliminated due to budget cuts, had been re-funded, BUT that I couldn't go back, because I had transferred to another in-district building earlier in the summer. 

Wait...What??? Imagine my confusion. 

And then, in the eleventh hour, so to speak, as my former colleagues and I trudged into the auditorium for the general session, I was pulled aside by my former principal, assistant principal, and program director who then told me I was "going home." 

I am so incredibly grateful to be back in my building. While the other school is wonderful, it just wasn't home. And the welcome I received when I returned that afternoon with my things was overwhelming...so much love and support. I can't wait to see my kiddos! I'm in a Pre-K-4 building...you can imagine the level of cuteness. 

And so I'm back. And so very happy. My heart is full. 

Vacation was wonderful. In addition to exploring more of Galicia, we visited Toledo, Ă€vila, Salamanca, and Dublin, Ireland on our way back to Boston. I ended up posting a lot of pictures on Instagram, but I did not bring my laptop with me. And so, I didn't do much any writing. 

BUT, I did do a lot of reading. I finally read Gone Girl, and Mindy Kaling's memoir, Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me, and the first of the Late Bloomer Series by Betsy Talbott, Wild Rose. I'm reading the second in the series now, English IvyI also read Paris in Love, finished Julia Child's My Life in France, Love with a Chance of Drowning, and The Lost Girls

Now, I'm prepping for school's start next week. I'm trying to get back into my routines and I am looking forward to cooler weather and all things fall. 

And my Dad turns 71 on Friday!

I'm hoping to start back in on a regular writing practice again, and start digging through pictures, but for now, this is where I am. 

Now, please tell me. How was your summer? What was your best moment? What are you looking forward to this fall?