About me

I thought I would share a little bit about myself and why I am doing this challenge.

I am a high school English teacher of 14 years who has a good bit of the summer off.  I am married for almost 3 years and am a recent new mama to two very mischievous fur-babies, Porter and Shandy (yes, we like beer).  Some past and current creative endeavors include improv acting, crafting (particularly paper crafts like making cards and scrapbooking), karaoke, reading, writing (poetry, fiction, non-fiction), and baking.

Porter and Shandy actually sitting still for 5 seconds.

After spending the last three years completing my doctorate while teaching, and having a particularly difficult spring personally and emotionally, I realized that I haven't been treating myself well.  Long, long hours of reading and writing for my dissertation, paired with reading and grading essays, pouring over testing data, and writing lesson plans met I was spending hours and hours at a desk doing fairly mundane tasks.  Although my dissertation was somewhat creative, there wasn't much variety in it.  Plus, that's over now.

My first goal was to take care of my body.  That has involved yoga, walking, dancing, Curves, and a change in nutrition.

But I realized my mind needed care, as well.  I used to be an avid reader and writer, but the amount of reading and writing I have to do for work and for being a student killed the joy I found in those two tasks.  I have also found myself getting stagnant in teaching - reverting to the same activities over and over.  I feel like I can never think of anything new.  My fall-back when I need to create is to bake, but in the summer I don't have anyone to share those treats with and while I think there is some self-love in making yourself a cupcake now and then, I think it's best to add some variety in my creative activities.

I know my experience is a little different for many of you that may participate with me, especially in two big ways.  1.  I don't work in the summer.  For much of this challenge, I will not be on any kind of time schedule.  2.  I don't have non-fur kiddos.  However, I think many of these things you can do in 15 minutes, and a lot of them you can do with the kiddos.  (Bonus - 15 minutes less you have to entertain the kiddos in the summer!)  My goal is to stick with this routine into the school year, so I will try to make the activities do-able for a morning routine.

I would love to hear from you in the comments.  Who are you and why are you participating?