Today was Club Day in the middle school. Once a month, we have a special schedule where all six periods are shortened to allow for an extra period for clubs at the end of the day. Clubs include Scrabble, the 24 Four game, comedy writing, trivia, drama, and my club, creative writing.

We received the Club Day schedule back in January, and all of the dates are written on my calendar and highlighted by our principal on the weekly faculty information sheet as they come up. But neither of those things was enough to help me remember that today was the day!

This morning, a student in my homeroom asked me when the next club day was, and I confidently told him, “On the 18th.” It was then that it hit me – TODAY IS THE 18TH!

I couldn’t believe I had forgotten about club day, hadn’t looked at the folder, or considered what activities we were going to do. I felt better when I realized that two other teachers had also forgotten.

Luckily, I had two activities I had forgotten about (see the pattern?) ready to go. Thanks to my good friend Jolene, who gifted me Paint Chip Poetry and a bag of random words I had cut from magazines, I didn’t have to spend my entire lunch period crafting activities.

Music has always been essential to my life, from piano lessons in elementary school to playing upright bass in high school and then majoring in music education in college. Listening to and playing music is like breathing to me.

Today, I realized I am a creature of habit regarding my music-listening rituals. I listen to classical music on the way to school in the morning (if I am not listening to an audiobook) and usually NPR on the way home.

When writing or reading, I listen to instrumental music – usually acoustic in various genres, including jazz and coffee house guitar. I have a few favorites I own on CD but now play on Spotify, including New England Sunrise and Legends (which I am listening to as I write this). They bring me back to some wonderful times in my life.

Because my husband has Sirius, his car almost always has songs from the 1970s. Those songs take me right back to high school when we first met. I can nearly remember every word! Sixty years later, I may not be able to move as I did, but my insides feel the same as they did back then.

Music has the power to calm me, lift me, and inspire me. It sends a message to my heart and soul that there are beautiful and poetic things in this world, and I have to keep seeking them out.

Today, I had to search for something to write. As I paged through my notebook for inspiration, I found a prompt from my poetry writing group: When does someone become a friend? This is a draft of a poem I wrote.

Untitled Poem (Draft)

• You became my friend when you listened to me rand and didn’t run.
• When you told me I had spinach in my teeth after lunch
• When we laughed so hard, we almost convulsed and collapsed
• When we shared painful secrets, then rejoiced in how far we each had come
• When you sat next to me in silence because neither of us knew what to say
• When I learned I could be myself, and you would love me anyway

My lack of an idea led me back to something I had forgotten. I will work on revising this week.

If you read my post yesterday, you know I wasn’t feeling well and canceled my plans for the evening. After dinner (a delicious vegetable sandwich on a seeded Italian roll from our local pizzeria), I went upstairs to change into my pajamas and relax. I decided I would take a little “rest” before returning downstairs. It was 6:00.

I set my phone alarm for a two-hour “nap” and rested my head on the pillow. When the alarm sounded, I turned it off and went back to sleep. Around 9:30, I awoke, made a trip to the bathroom, and played five minutes of Duolingo not to break my 130-day streak. Then, I closed my eyes for the night. I woke up this morning at 9:00 a.m.

I felt tired all week, and I blamed the time change. Obviously, my body didn’t believe that excuse and decided I needed a day to rest. Not fighting the call to sleep was the best thing I did all week.

I am feeling better after easing into Saturday and enjoying a bowl of wonton soup and an egg roll for lunch. Here’s to hoping I am 100% by Monday morning.

Tonight was the night. I was to participate in my second poetry open mic night at the local library. There, I would read two poems I had written and listen to the fantastic poems of other poets. Unfortunately, my body has other plans.

My sinuses have been wonky all week, and I chalked it up to the daily temperature swings. This morning, however, I woke up with a scratchy throat and a slight headache. I popped two Sudafed, hoping to feel better quickly, but it’s been over two hours, and they are not doing the trick. Begrudgingly, I emailed the librarian facilitating the evening and bowed out of my performance slot.

It’s lunchtime now at school, and honestly, I could put my head down and sleep, but I am afraid I would snore. So, this tired teacher is going directly home after school, putting on my pajamas, and wrapping myself in a cuddly blanket with a hot cup of tea. It looks like a late afternoon nap is in store.

I am disappointed because I was looking forward to the evening but trying not to be too upset. Obviously, I can’t control this cold, allergies, or whatever is putting me under the weather. As the above quote says – there’s no point. (Shrug)

What are your favorite things to do on a lazy day? This question was the writing prompt for my 7th-graders today. As I was writing along with them, a lightbulb went off – why wasn’t I using my in-class writing as my slice? So here it is – my favorite things to do on a lazy day.

• Sleep in until I awake on my own. I enjoy not setting an alarm.

• Linger over a cup of tea and the NYT puzzles while listening to coffee house jazz or Baroque strings.

• Binge-watch something on Netflix while snuggled in a comfy blanket. I am too tired most days to watch TV after dinner.

• Eat a leisurely lunch with my husband. Lunch at school is usually at my desk while multitasking.

• Read for pleasure – our latest book club pick or one of the books in my ever-growing TBR stack.

• Take a nap or not. Having the option is a treat.

• Light a scented candle (no flower scents) and write in my notebook in longhand, accompanied by a chai latte.

• Order take-out for dinner. Since my husband cooks every night, I would give him the night off. 😉

• Go to bed feeling calm and peaceful.

This makes me want to schedule a lazy day soon. What are your favorite things to do on a lazy day?

This slice grew from “Write With Us Wednesday” with Linda Rief and Penny Kittle. https://book-love-community.mn.co/spaces/9300719/feed

When I was in school, I was never popular or athletic. I was just the nerdy girl who worried about her grades. I wasn’t enough. High school was similar – I didn’t get into NJH in the first round.
BUT
In my senior year, I was named first chair of the string bass section and was a member of the Philadelphia All-City Orchestra.

Even in All-City, I faced imposter syndrome, which followed me into college. I never measured up to everyone else. I commuted instead of living on campus.
BUT
I used a distorted measuring instrument – my view of myself from within.

I didn’t think I was doing enough because I wasn’t doing what other music teachers were doing in their classrooms.
BUT
So many students have fond memories of our shows at SCS.

Growing older has liberated me (mostly) from not feeling “enough.” Being satisfied with doing the best I can do is “good enough” for me.

This winter has felt long, and the state of the world has made it feel even longer, but today, I feel lighter. The trees are budding, the temperature reached 65, and I didn’t need to turn on my lights until 7:00. While I still feel the effects of losing an hour over the weekend, the extra daylight at the end of the day is a welcome sight.

Spring may still be 10 days away, but I finally feel it is coming. Living in Pennsylvania, we experience “false spring” quite often. The daily fluctuation in temperature causes my sinuses to become an indicator of the changes in barometric pressure. Today, I feel it’s time to prepare for the next phase—allergy season! I’m not complaining, though. I’ll take allergy season over “can’t decide what season it is” season.

Here’s to the hope of spring – just what my soul needs.

This afternoon, I enjoyed reading and grading odes. Grading writing is my least favorite part of my job as an ELA teacher. Sometimes, it becomes tedious, and I can’t wait to get to the last paper, but today was sheer pleasure.

After reading “Dear Basketball” by Kobe Bryant and learning about the qualities of an ode, my students took on the challenge of writing an ode to an everyday thing. They are always a little hesitant to write poetry, but they outdid themselves this time.

Their subjects ranged from the expected—summer, the beach, soccer, and such—to chicken sandwiches, Chipotle, donuts, tacos, and the American Flag. Their use of figurative language and concrete images was noteworthy. I could feel the love jumping off the page. These odes are some of the best writing they have done to date. I am so proud of them and can’t wait to tell them tomorrow.