Every Other Day NaBloPoMo

I seem to have the every other day NaBloPoMo covered this year. For some reason or another I am not finding the time to post everyday, but every even day seems to get a post!

Today has been a day of reflection. We are gathered together as a family to celebrate a birthday. As we celebrate, I mourn our sister in law who passed away three months ago. As I sit in her house and write this post, I think about how much I miss her in my life. I know that we all grieve in our own way, but it is difficult to observe those who are ready to move on and those who are just as sad today as the day that she died. We all grieve in our own way and in our own time. I understand that it is a process for us all, and she will always live on in our hearts.

Will miss you always!

Do you consider yourself a "professional" blogger? Why or why not? What does that mean to you?

No, I definitely do not consider myself a professional blogger. I can't even keep up with NaBloPoMo this year. I already missed posting yesterday! Only five days in and it slipped my mind. Actually, I was doing other computer work and it made me sleepy so I just went to bed after I was done. Although I have missed blogging and writing just for the heck of it, the fact that I have not blogged since last November is a telling story about my life as a professional blogger. I would have lost all my followers and income from my blog by now if I were a profesional blogger. I write for the pleasure of writing. Mostly, I write to document my life, tell a story about what is happening or what is bothering me. One day, I may go back and read it and remember those stories and memories. It may be part of an autobiography I may write someday or just something to leave behind for future generations as my legacy to them.

I consider a professional blogger to be someone who is witty and has a lot to say. They have studied the nuances of blogging and know how best to keep their audiences entertained or informed. Some may make money off of their blogs, and whether that was their intent when they started, I do not know. I would have liked to think that my writing was inspired enough to keep others interested and informed, but I know that I lack the consistency to be a professional blogger. I would say that my blogging is a hobby that I dibble dabble in every once in a while, just like all of the other hobbies I have.

From November to November

As I logged on to write for NaBloPoMo on the first, I realized that I have not posted sice NaBloPoMo last year. In that time I have experimented with different apps, planners and journals. Some part of me wants to wants to leave more of myself than the typed word. I want my words to be memorialized in my own handwriting. Another part of me does not want to be reliant on technology when I am writing. Technology is fast and convenient, but sometimes lacks the personal touch. I know there are artsy apps, but you also have to be creative and have the time to explore and experiment.

Journals don't really work for me. Seeing all that blank space on a page is paralyzing. I do like journaling in my planner. I gave an 8 1/2 by 11 planner. It gives me enough space to write down my daily needs as well as short excerpts of our lives. I have found that my favorite planner is one where the days are vertical on the page. The only issues I have right now is finding space on my desk for my planner consistently as well as remembering to get out my planner at the end of the day to document that day's events.

So, as I return to my blog this month, I cannot promise that you will hear from me next month or even tomorrow, but I know that I enjoy documenting and writing about my life. December is challenging for me to continue blogging daily because of the busyness of the season. Hopefully, I will find the time next month as I do everyday every November!

November First

With the beginning of November upon us, I look back fondly on the happy times of Halloween and the enjoyment the children felt for the occasion. I also look back gratefully and think thankfully a quarter of Kindergarten testing is done! The stressfulness of the last month of testing makes me realize how inappropriate all this testing is as well as a waste of resources, time, and money that could be better spend educating rather than testing our children. In addition, the results of these tests will in no way change my teaching or in no way provide me with the information needed to appropriate lessons for all my students. One-fourth of the school year has been lost due to information that someone feels that they need to fill in some chart or to collect to prove or disprove their point. I would have rather spent that time training my student to work cooperatively and making sure classroom routines are in place so that I can teach to their individual needs. Instead, I had to teach them computer skills that they needed to take their tests and try to test students individually while 27 other students were demanding my attention.

I look forward to spending time with family and friends this month as well as starting the preparations for the Christmas season. Although there is a great deal to do for Christmas, I look forward to this busyness because it will bring people joy and happiness. Testing, especially of young children, just brings stress to all involved with no real purpose.

The End of November's NaBloPoMo

I have made it to the last day and have managed to post everyday. I enjoyed doing my writing at the end of the day to a point that some days I think that I miss the midnight deadline. I started out doing both NaBloPoMo and posting a status everyday of things I am thankful for on Facebook. I kept up with NaBloPoMo, but gave up mid-November on the thankful statuses. I just didn't feel the passion anymore to continue to post things that seem to have become trivial to be thankful for. I did say that I would probably post on the blog my thankful status posts from Facebook on the last day so that is what I am going to do.

Day 1:  I am thankful I was able to spend time with my family this evening attending Church, dinner, and Riley's last Spooky Gym as an elementary student!

Day 2: I am thankful that my children got to meet their great grandmother while in Thailand last year.

Day 3: I am thankful today for my health and for the ability to lead an active life.

Day 4: I am thankful that we live in a city with an awesome library system!

Day 5: I am thankful for my parents who are always there for me and my family. I love you very much.

Day 6: Thankful that I knew Linda Umstattd! Wonderful person and friend. May she rest in peace.

Day 7: Today I am thankful for my friends, old and new, young and old, near and far. You all have influenced my life and made it richer! Thank you for letting me be a part of your lives.

Day 8: I am thankful that I am able to foster my children's interests, whatever they may be, from trucks and trains to Lego, Nerf guns, archery, and hunting. The future looks to hold more artistic interests, drawing, pottery, and cake decorating.

Day 9: To my gramdmother, Mon Chaisurat, thank you for leading us by your example. We will remember you always.

Day 10: Thankful today for a day of rest in order to be refreshed to face the challenges of a new work week.

Day 11: Thank you to all those who serve and protect our country.

Day 12: I am thankful today to know many parents who love and care for their children; parents who take the responsibility of raising a child seriously and believe in being a parent first and then their friend.

Day 13: Thankful for all the opportunities I have been given in life, personal and professional.

Day 14: I am thankful for my education and that I am able to use my education to influence the lives of others.

Day 15: Thankful for my parents today and everyday! They have always supported me in whatever I wanted to do!

Day 17: I am thankful for all children; they teach you with their innocence and truthfulness.

Day 20: Thankful that we are able to help where we can, both in our local community and overseas!

Day 30: Last, but not least, thankful for my husband and the life we have built together. May we continue on our adventures together for all the days of our lives. Love you very much.

Well, after going through my post, I had 18 days of thankfulness. I have much to be thankful for in my life and although I try to concentrate of the positives in life, sometimes the negatives do get me down, but not for long!

Tell us about the last thing a person or advertisement convinced you to buy.

I can't think of the last thing that a person or advertisement convinced me to buy, but this question makes me think of my daughter. She loves infomercials, and she wants whatever she sees in TV ads. So, in thinking about her, I guess the last thing that I was convinced to buy was her birthday present, "The Rainbow Loom". It was something that she saw on an as seen on TV ad. She loves to go to Walmart where she can find most of the things that she sees on TV. She usually tries to convince me to buy something for her. I usually tell her someday.

Busy Weekend

I was so busy yesterday that when I turned to look at the time, it was 11:58pm. I knew that I would not be able to get a post posted in two minutes, but wanted to keep with the spirit of NaBloPoMo and post twice today to make up for yesterday.

Yesterday, my duaghter received her First Reconciliation or First Penance sacrament. She was nervous and excited at the same time. We had s set back the night before in trying to get her to learn the Act of Contrition and whether or not she would be able to take it in with her or it had to be absolutely memorized. We found out during the prayer that it would be provided, but she wanted to take her own in with her and we let her. Problem solved.

In addition, I, somehow, gave our laptop a virus and had to take it in. Although I have the app for Blogger on my iPhone and iPad, I usually prefer to post from my laptop. WIth my laptop not readily available, in combination with the fact that I like to post after 10pm when my kids are in bed, and they did not go to bed last night, I forgot yesterday's post until it was too late. Today, I am posting with my iPad using the keyboard, which is a great substitute!

How much of the day are you plugged in? Do you consciously set aside offline time, or does it happen whenever it happens?

I am plugged in most of the time that I am not at work. When I am at work, I only check texts if I get them and answer an occasional phone call. Once I leave work, I tend to plug in to find out what is going on in the world. Because I am not plugged in at work, I found out about both Sandy Hook and the Boston Marathon via social media after work.

I don't consciously set aside offline time. Starting this week, my husband has stated no electronics until we get some housework done, dishes, laundry, dinner started, homework, etc. It has proven to be a good strategy because once he plugs in, I don't see any reason to do work because he is not helping out. It is really annoying at restaurants when I am trying to get myself and the kids not to use electronics and he pulls out his phone to check scores/play games. I finally got to the point of if you can't beat them, join them. Kids and I still limit ourselves during the meal itself though.

I find that if I am into a really good book, I will be offline more. I have seen it with my kids also. Tonight, my daughter read for 90 minutes because we went to the library and she found a new series of books that she really likes.

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place.

There was a time in my life that I always felt out of place. Being Asian and living in the Midwest, it is easy to be the only Asian in the room most places you go. As an adult it is something that I always notice, and it is hard not to in a profession of predominantly white females. When I was in my graduate school program, how to get more people of color into the profession was a topic of conversation and still to this day, there are not many more than there were before.

I remember when I lived in California, I had an Asian friend who had lived in the LA area since she came to the United States. Her boyfriend was also Asian. One day, she was telling me a story about her weekend. She said that she was with her boyfriend and they went into a restaurant and had to leave because they were the only Asians in the whole restaurant. I told her that it is that way in most places outside of LA. I don't think that she really believed me, but, in my experience, it is true.

Nowadays, I can feel out of place even among people who look like me. Just looking like someone does not provide a sense of belonging with those people. I have found my own way and my own sense of who I am outside of what I look like. Those that are my real friends and family can see beyond the color of my skin. 

Name five things inside your refrigerator right now and how you feel about them.

1. Milk: gotta have it, both white and chocolate is preferred, but white can be used to make chocolate in a pinch!

2. Sriracha Hot Sauce: seems to be the latest fad in cooking. Has always been a part of my life! Love it on fried rice or in pho (noodle soup).

3. Creme Brulee Coffee Creamer: like the fact that I can add it to my coffee and not have to add sugar to my coffee in the morning. Don't like that many times the main ingredient is high fructose corn syrup.

4. Apples: love the Granny Smith especially with caramel.

5. Ketchup: I don't really eat it, but life is hard without it always on hand in the refrigerator.

If you had to be trapped inside a movie for 5 days, which movie would you pick?

I would love to be trapped in The Sound of Music. It is one of my all-time favorite movies. I would love to travel to Austria and be one of the VonTrapp children. I would not mind the routines, singing, or field trips. It seemed like lots of fun to hang out with Maria even though we know that Hollywood takes lots of liberties in portraying real life.

What I Have Learned So Far About Daily Blogging.

Although I have done NaBloPoMo before, I have found that this time it seems to be more difficult for me to post until late at night. I am consistently looking at the clock at around 11pm and realizing that I have not posted yet for today. I do find that I have things to post about or have found the prompts from NaBloPoMo or The Daily Post to be sufficient. I have found before though that if I cannot find inspiration from the prompts, I have tended to give up on that month.

In addition, I started using Momento, an app for the iPhone, to journal about my family for when I have the time to write about it in a scrapbook, then I will have something to refer to. If I would just keep up with my blogging, I would not have the issue of having to journal.

Daily blogging is rewarding. For me it has gotten me away from reading about others and gotten me to concentrate on myself.

Cheering Section

Do you have a mentor? Tell us about him or her. Are you a mentor to someone else? Tell us what that relationship has added to your life.

As a teacher I believe that your fellow teachers serve as your mentors and your support system as we navigate the changes in the education system and the problems that our students bring to school with them. At this point I do not count one person as my mentor, but many people depending on what my needs are at a given time.

I am a mentor to someone else this semester. She is a college student that is getting her first experiences in the classroom. I believe that it has added to my life an appreciation of where I have been and where I am now. Because of time constraints, I do not feel that I have been the best mentor this semester, but I have tried to impart as much knowledge as I possibly can.

Tell us about your writing space. Where do you write your blog posts?

I can write my blog posts on my iPhone, my iPad, or on my laptop. I have written posts on my iPad with a keyboard, but I still prefer writing on my laptop. I like the full size keyboard. I usually write at my counter table in my family room sitting on a stool. I like to be in the hubbub of activity going on in the house.

NaBloPoMo and Giving Thanks on Facebook

NaNoWriMo started sending me e-mails in mid-October about National Novel Writing Month. I have never participated in NaNoWriMo, but it did lead me to NaBloPoMo two years ago. I didn't participate in either last year and decided to try NaBloPoMo again this year. After I posted my first blog post in a long time, I got on my Facebook page and saw friends posting things that they are thankful for, and it reminded me that it was November, the season of Thanksgiving also. As the first day of the month was coming to an end, I decided to post my thankful things on Facebook as well as participate in NaBloPoMo.

So far, so good. I believe that I have posted on both for the first four days of the month. But, each day, I have forgotten about one or the other until the very last minute. I am hoping as the month goes on, I will start to post one right after the other or that the posts will start to crossover.

At the end of the month, I think that I will do my last blog post on the things that I was thankful for in November! We'll see if I remember...

NaBloPoMo Day 1

I am trying it once again! Last year I gave up NaBloPoMo last year for NoBo, training for a 5K. This year, it just seems like a good time to get started writing again.

If you found one million dollars in the morning and had to spend it by nightfall, what would you do with the money?

I would pay off all of my family's debts and then pay for dream vacations as well as invest the money for college educations for my children.

2013

Wow! I can't believe that it has been almost a year since my last post! We have done so many things and even though I have thought about my blog often, I have not really given up time browsing on the web to write. Well, that is going to change this year!

In the last year I went from completing NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) to completing NoBo (No Boundaries) and running in my first 5K races last spring. Yes, I said running, which I never thought that I would do or enjoy doing. I got a bike for my last birthday to help with cross training and am hoping to teach my youngest to ride a two-wheeler this year so that we can go on family bike rides.

I gave up running for this summer because we went on a family trip to Thailand, and I found that I don't really like to run in the heat. I was going to plug on and just join MIT (Marathoners in Training) this winter and do my first half marathon this spring, but my best friend convinced me to do NoBo again this fall. Doing NoBo again this fall was definitely easier than the first time around, but it also convinced me that I am not ready to do a half marathon. So, the goal right now is to complete the quarter marathon in May training with NoBo and do a half marathon before I turn 41. We found that training takes a great deal of time, and it is time that we do not have to devote to running especially in the winter time when daylight hours are minimal.

I have started using a sewing machine and hope to complete more projects using it. I have also just started making no sew fleece blankets. I know that I am behind the times, but once I made some for my kids; they were so soft and warm, I kept stealing theirs and had to make one for myself. Of course, I made mine big enough to share! Once I am done with the no sew blankets, I hope to get to the fringe fleece scarf that I originally wanted to make with the sewing machine. Before we left for Florida after Christmas, I made the kids seatbelt pillows. They didn't really care for them, but I thought they were quite comfy.

I have also started Project Life this year along with Collect. These are both projects that are based on 365 Project which is taking a picture a day for a year. I have been doing pretty well so far, but we are only nine days into the year. I am using Project Life to document our family life and events and Collect just for fun. I bought the Project Life Album and Kit from Amazon and really hope that it turns out nice.

As you can see, my new year is off and running. Hope that the blog post are off to a great start also!

Looking Forward to the Gift of a New Year

The NaBloPoMo theme for January is Beginnings.  As this year ends, I am looking forward to the beginning of another year.  The year ends with a celebration of life for a relative of one of my close friends, the celebration of two more birthdays, a family lunch on New Year's Eve, and some one-on-one time with my husband to ring in the new year.

As I look back upon the year and look at the goals I set for 2011, I realize that my goals changed as the year passed.

1.  Participate in three 5Ks and run at least one. (I did not achieve this goal.  One of the 5K we normally do was on a weekend that we were out of town.  Instead of walking another one, I volunteered with the kids' activities.)

2.  Help Riley organize LEGOs and finish LEGO table. (This is a half-done project.  The LEGOs are sorted and binned by color, but the table is not complete.  This project also became organization of the whole house rather than just LEGOs.  I spent the summer reading organization books/websites and trying to apply some of the tips to my life.  My goal became to declutter and use what we have and get rid of what we did not need.)

3.  Finish garage so that cars will fit.  (Another almost complete project; we decided that rather than store some of the items, we would sell them.  Need to get them posted to sell; then cars will fit.)

4.  Clean out crawl space. (This is one that did not get accomplished.  The main floor and the garage are mostly clean/organized, but the crawl space still needs work.)

5.  Keep up with laundry.  (Not particularly successful at this one.  I find that I can gather it up, take it to the washer, wash and dry it, and carry it back upstairs, but lack motivation to fold it and put it away.)

For 2012 most of my goals are the same with some tweaks.

1.  Participate in three 5Ks.  I would still like to do this one, but I have no desire to run in one anymore.  When the weather gets warm and the days get longer, I will start to walk the neighborhood again or hopefully, invest in a bike so that I can ride with the kids.

2.  Organize the house.  I will continue to use what I have learned and read to keep my house in better shape.  I will work on the daily chores of laundry and dishes as well as continue to declutter and get rid of what we do not need.  I will teach my children how to play and put away their LEGOs and toys properly.

3.  Eat better.  For many years I have been able to eat what I want, but I have found that I need to eat healthier so that I feel better.  Plus, I could lose about 15-20 pounds and watching what I eat would help me to do it.

The Gift of Words

As I continue to embark on my second month of NaBloPoMo, I started to think about my great aunt.  For all the year that I knew her, she would write daily in a hardcover daily planner provided by some bank in Thailand.  She would write happenings of the day, who borrowed money and how much, and sometimes poems or short stories.  In her car she kept a separate notebook to log her gas usage: the kilometers on the odometer at fill up, how many liters were bought and at how much?  The one thing I remember most is that she had the best handwriting I have ever seen both in Thai and in English.  She liked specific pens, no ballpoint!  In English, she wrote in cursive, and it was so neat and perfect.  I remember watching her one day practice her signature so that it would look the same all the time and people would not be able to forge it!  She was an accounting educator for vocational schools as well as for junior college students.

Which brings me to this thought... do the words lose their personalization by not being handwritten?  When my great aunt died, she left 60+ years of diaries in her own handwriting as tangible proof that she was here.  When I leave this Earth, I will leave my words/stories, but in typewritten form on a blog.  They will not be written for someone to hold unless they want to print them out.  But, I know, from past experience, that if I were to handwrite my memories and stories, they would not get written down.  I am better at typing my words and love the blog format. So, I have to rely on the words that I have written expressing the feeling and personalization for me.  As in, you can hear me talk as you read my words.  It is as if I am talking to you.

I Made It!

What did you learn from doing NaBloPoMo?

I have learned that I can blog everyday.  I have something to say everyday, some days are more profound than others.  Some days are worth more in the memory bank than others, but all are worthy of being written about.  I am glad that I was able to stick it out.  I did not do what some thought was the best course of action, get up early to make sure a post got in everyday, but I still managed to sit down every evening and write something.

Blogging everyday also encouraged me to download my pictures to my computer more quickly so that I could use them in my posts.  My camera's memory stick is grateful!

I am going to go for it again next month.  I like the topic of gifts, but we'll see if I stick with the prompt or strike out on my own!