Dang it...

I was on a roll. I was doing SO well, blogging every single day for the last month and a half. Since July 27, I have not missed a single day. Since July 3, I have only missed three days, counting yesterday.

I feel bad that I didn't meet my goal of blogging every single day.

If I do more than one in a day, does that count?? It doesn't. Well, in my mind it doesn't, though it does make me feel a little bit better.

It's still the beginning of the school year, but man, it's crazy. I don't have enough time to do the things I have to do for my job, and still do the things I want to do for me. Yesterday I neglected my blog because I am trying to finish a rag quilt I started way back in July. I bought enough fabric for four blankets. Two of them are completely finished. One of them is nearly done, but the strips all need to be sewn together still. It's a slow process for me because I am still a novice when it comes to sewing... The fourth blanket has not even been cut yet.

That's actually why I'm trying to get the one blanket finished. On Saturday I am going to my friend's house for a "cutting" party. We are going to cut the ragging on our quilts, and two of us have material we want to cut for new blankets. It will be a lot of cutting, but it will feel good to get stuff done. It's always more fun to craft with friends!

That's the other problem I have...I have this weird obsessive compulsive deal about school work and fun stuff...I don't do the fun stuff until I'm all caught up with the school stuff. For the most part I am caught up with school stuff right now. This is actually amazing to me. My kids this year are pretty poor writers as a group, and I've been assigning all sorts of essays. My seniors have done one already, and I'm assigning another tomorrow. In the interim, I've had them writing at least one mini-essay a day for the last week. My freshmen are nearing completion of their first essay, too. But, as far as grading goes right now, I just have a stack of 56 essays to read. I need to get it done before Friday because that's when mid-quarter progress reports go out. I want these senior essays to be on their grades because parents see poor grades and help me nag their kids.

I also will be collecting essays from my freshmen on Friday or Monday. Then I'll have 90 essays to read. It's a never ending cycle.

J tells me that the solution is simple: quit assigning so much work. I wish I could figure out a way to teach without assigning work and then grading it. It just doesn't seem possible. Not if I want them to be successful anyway.

Well, I think this needs to be the end of this post. It is lame-o and I know it. Sorry. It's terrible writing, too. I'm complaining here about the quality of writing my kids turn in, and then I crank this out. It's shameful.

I promise more and better soon.