Permission to be Imperfect

I had a moment of stress this morning when thinking about blogging again today. What if I have nothing to say? What if I'm boring and you all tune me out? In this moment of panic, I almost decided not to blog. After all, it's not really summer yet. I don't have to blog. Right?

And then I thought of all those Writer's Notebook entries I made you all do. Week after week that I had you write, even when you felt you had nothing more to say. I thought of all the talks I gave you about how just writing will make you stronger; you don't have to be perfect, you just have to do something.

And so I decided to compose a perfectly imperfect post.

I have no real topic today, so I'll just describe something I love. Decorating magazines. I had a new one this morning (spring is my favorite because I love all the bright colors) that I picked up at the grocery store. I opened the cover and found so many cute ideas for my house. Moving does that to you, I guess. You want to make your space personal so it feels like home. Here are two things I'm going to try. First, I'm going to get (or find in my garage if I'm lucky) two bins for recycling. I'm going to make cute label tags with scrapbook paper for them. Second, I'm going to get either wall paper or contact paper for the back of my plain white bookcases (I have two big ones in mind). They could use a little pizazz.

There. I feel so much better. I think imperfection is a much better way to live!

Happy Monday!
(moment of sadness - no Poetry Monday)
Ms. Hagen

Long weekends feel like summer!

It's Memorial Day weekend, what to me feels like the beginning of summer. As a kid, we were always done with school by now, even though the weather was usually chilly.

Not so here! The weather is beautiful this weekend with sunshine galore, warm breezes and low humidity. I say bring on the summer! And, since it feels like summer, let's do a litting blogging!

I'm reading two books right now, and I like them both for different reasons. First, I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Steig Larson. I started it after some teacher friends HIGHLY recommended it, and after 30 pages was ready to abandon. Then I decided to be part of a teacher book group this summer. First book? Yep, The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo! Back to it. This time, I sat up at the kitchen counter, focused on the book instead of laying in bed, exhausted after finally getting moved into our new house. And, guess what? I like it! I'm just getting to the mystery, and I think it's just going to get better. Lessons learned: when you're really tired, even good books drag, and sometimes, you have to read bigger chunks to get into a story.

The second book I'm reading is Sidney Poitier's The Measure of a Man. It's his memoirs, and so far I'm still in his childhood on Cat Island. It's a great "lay-in-bed-and-let-the-words-wash-over-you" read. So far. Still early, so I'll keep you updated!

Writing? Nothing exciting yet. I do have my desk, computer and office kind of set up, so that will start soon!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
Ms. Hagen

Not Quite Summer, but...

I know that this is my Summer Writing Blog, but since I'm not at school today, I figured it was OK to post something. Today is Moving Day #1 for our family. I'm getting a little truck and loading up boxes before the real movers come tomorrow. The sun is shining brightly, and it's supposed to be perfect moving weather - low 70s.

We're very excited about this move - we're downsizing to a smaller house, part 2 of the simplifying our home plan. Part one was major decluttering the house. Now, we need less house and less yard to maintain. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

All right. It's 6:15am (you did know I'm a BIG morning person, right?), and it's time to get this day started. I hope you all have a fantastic day at school, reading and writing diligently. The stories are good; I promise.
Ms. Hagen