The Spring Break Curse

I am already a little behind on my A to Z Challenge posts. Such is the curse of being a full-time teacher who went nuts and entered 8 blogs without scheduling posts in advance! Lol. I also had a friend come into town, whom I haven't seen in 16 years. And I'm just tired. It happens. But I just needed to get this out of my system, so here is an interruption.

Today is my first full day of Spring Break. Once upon a time this meant a week of fun and relaxation. This year, I am having a bit of a hard time on this first morning. While the dates are not exact, the timing is still a big anniversary. See, the Thursday before Spring Break last year was when my father was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Friday was the last time I spoke to him on the phone. And Saturday was when he went unconscious. The actual dates are still a week off, but knowing that my Spring Break is here again just makes me sad and it hurts. I should be going home. I should be preparing to spend time with family and friends "back West." But it isn't in the cards this year. And this begins the final two months that complete my first year without my father. It isn't going to be easy, but I know I can do it.

My boss jokingly banned me from going home for Spring Break a few years ago. I went home on a similar kind of break layout. We were off on Good Friday, through the week following Easter. Only that year, the Monday after Easter, my great uncle was moved to Hospice. I was the one who had to tell my grandmother that her little brother was dying. I spent that entire Spring Break visiting Hospice, bringing food and support to Uncle Carl's family. I got to know relatives I had never met before. I was grateful to finally spend some time with my great uncle, whom I never got to know well, due to circumstances out of my control. And my very being was forever changed. He died in the wee hours of the following Sunday morning. I had to take that Monday off so that I could drive back to New York. I was too upset to do so on Sunday. That day was hell in my classroom, because my assistant had already taken that day off as a travel day from her vacation.

Twice when I had preplanned trips home in the month of September, I had loved ones die. The one year, it was my mentor, Sister Anthonita Porta, who was the Montessori Guru of our time. She was like Maria Montessori reincarnate and had taught me so much in our years of interaction. The other time it was my grandmother. She died the morning that I was planning on going home, anyway, to go to the Michigan-Bowling Green game. So now, there is a bad running joke that I don't dare go home for breaks, because you never know who is going to die. At the same time, I say at least people are courteous enough to do it while I am already there, so I don't have to make a special trip?

(Remember, I must treat sad situations with an element of humor, even though it can seem distasteful at times. Otherwise, I would never make it through life!)

All of this sadness aside, I do plan to have some fun over break. The weather is chilly, yet nice outside. The sun is shining. I can finally work on cleaning out my yard. I want to start taking longer walks, as my leg continues to heal. I need to be back into full-blown hiking shape by the time summer hits! And because The Man and I are both broke as a joke, we are going to find some more free things to do in this city and nearby areas. It is always a good thing to do. And then I can write about some of them. I plan on lots of reading and writing, too, over this break.

A is for.....

Well, I'm already behind on the A to Z challenge, as today is April 2nd (B Day) and I still haven't done A. I had a long week, and got three blog posts up on other sites, so :-P

Hey, that brings me to my first random word....attitude. Yes, I have an attitude. I have known this since I was little. But I try to use my attitude for good. I get annoyed with people who act dumb or unreasonably, and then that attitude can rear its ugly head.

A is for...anger and acceptance and Alzheimers This was the topic of my first blog post for the new blog at How to Laugh at Alzheimer's. I also go through waves of anger and acceptance in other avenues, but this one seems to be the strongest right now.

A is for...apples. I love apples. I also equate apples with being a teacher. I forget how that whole idea of "an apple for the teacher" came to be. Wasn't it something like students showed appreciation for their teachers by giving them an apple, because fruits were like a specialty? Anyway, somehow, I have come to resent the teaching symbol, because I am not a fan of traditional teaching. I still remember when I was 19 and had an art project due for my final. It was an expose of myself, made up of numerous little pictures that represented who I was. One of the pictures was a pencil stabbing an apple. Public education and I do not get along. I am a full-blown Montessorian at heart. I also resented all of the coursework I had to take, just to become a teacher. Some of it came in very handy, and some of it was completely useless.

A is for...autism. Speaking of my educational background, I wish we would have done more with autism. Then again, sixteen years ago, we didn't talk about it as much. It was always just a blurb in the textbooks, even in my special ed classes. Of course, back then, I never dreamed that I would be encountering autism and Asperger's on such a regular basis. Alas, it has become a passion of sorts of mine. I am completely fascinated by the world and strive to understand it. It was the topic of my Montessori Writer blog post yesterday.

A is for...Andrea. That is me. There are so many aspects of my personality and nature. Some of that is going to come out in this challenge. Some of those facets may seem contradictory in nature. Oh well.

I think this is going to be fun. I have word lists constantly moving through my head. I feel like I am in my classroom, going over the "sound of the week" with my older kids. I read them a book that focuses on a sound. Then, I have them brainstorm words that begin with that letter. I love them, because even at the ages of four and five, they have figured out how to find the letter in a picture dictionary, and use that for brainstorming. Call me awed and impressed.

And I will end with acceptance. This blog challenge is bringing me new readers, and I have already been embraced in a couple of the blogs, in a way I had never expected. I feel tremendous responsibility, and I thank you.

Until later today, when random thoughts of "B" flow from my head.....

All About Me from A-Z

There is a new blogging challenge for the month of April, and I am considering attempting it on here. It is Tossing It Out: A-Z Blogging Challenge. Basically, you assign one letter to each day of the week, except for Sundays, and write on a topic that begins with that letter.

I am definitely going to be attempting it from my Montessori Writer blog. Thinking of Montessori topics for every letter of the alphabet should be easy. But, I would also like to do random thoughts over here. I plan on keeping this as a back-up, anyway.

I am also contemplating doing this on Andi's Gardening Experiments. There are two other blogs I have attempted, Andi's Kids Books and Andi's Book Reviews

, but I don't think I can pull those off this year.

Would you like to join me? It's easy to sign up!

So, how am I doing on all those goals?

In my last post, I commented on how I was trying to double my efforts over at Yahoo Contributor Network (formerly Associated Content). How is that working for me at the end of the first month of 2011?

Well, I haven't submitted nearly as many articles as I had planned. Instead, I found that I have been nearly doubling my efforts elsewhere. It is the story of my life: I can always find plenty of energy and ideas for anything that I don't have to get done, and slack off on those things that require more effort. I spent the first half of the month writing a bunch of articles for Bright Hub, instead. I usually only get about 2-5 articles posted per month over there. In January, I will have 9 articles published there. I should have had 11, but got too busy. I am also not counting the Managed Guides that I do.

As for YCN, I have 9 new articles that have published as of today, and three more submitted. I have 8 more FC pieces to try to write before Tuesday at midnight. I also published 7 slideshows. That encompasses 16 of the 400 that I want to put up. My page views continue to average between 450-650 a day. As of this morning, I am at just over 432,000 page views, not counting Yahoo!, which leaves me 368,000 more to gain in the next 11 months. As of this morning, only about 15,000 of those past 400,000 are actually from 2011. It is a relatively slow, yet average month for me.

So, how am I going to boost things? I don't want to write a bunch of fluff and crap, because that isn't going to help me out at all. One of my ideas is coming up with as many lesson plans and activities as I can, to use throughout the year. I have already missed January, and am running out of time to get much for February. I need to just buckle down and do them all.

My common complaint is that if it weren't for my full-time job as a teacher, I would have time to write all of these ideas. But, if I didn't have the full-time job, I couldn't easily get the photographs, nor some of my inspiration. I also need that crazy little thing called health insurance.

Another issue I have had this month is random social life overload. I tend to enjoy being a hermit in the winter months. It's too damn cold to go out, and I get tired of driving in snow. But so many fabulous activities have kept popping up, and new people are around with whom I can hang out, so things have changed. The problem then becomes I am too tired. I also enter into a new conundrum of needing the spending money for outings, and not having the time to earn said spending money.

Ah well. It will all come together in time, I think.

Stay tuned for some random thoughts as well as monthly updates on my goals.

New Year's Resolutions......again

Wow....it has been almost 6 months since I last posted. So much for that writing a blog post once a day thing, eh? So, I'm revisiting the post where I originally laid out my resolutions for 2010, and reflecting on them here.

Building the book reviewing sites.....well, it has been almost a year since I did that, so I guess I didn't quite hit that goal. I was receiving a lot of books, but then found I didn't have a lot of extra time to read. I honestly work on writing for pay, because I need the supplemental income. I also developed a medical condition in February last year that left me somewhat exhausted, and I haven't read as much. I feel bad, because I feel like I let some people down. But I do hope to get back to reviewing and doing interviews. I love to read, and perhaps this would force me to do more of it.

As for Examiner, they changed things up so much there, that I can't tell which end is up. I have been contemplating going back there, though, to still get a simple income for easy writing. We shall see what time allows.

Querying children's books.....I just didn't do it. I have a million book ideas, and even started outlining some, but haven't yet developed enough where I can query. My brain is on constant rotation of ideas, but that makes it hard to follow through on all of them at times. Perhaps this will be the year?

Focus on Montessori....This is the one resolution that I truly carried out. Thanks to some online friends, I was inspired to start a Montessori Facebook fan page. On it, I post my own personal articles, as well as fun finds around the Internet, and Maria Montessori quotes. By doing that, I actually read The Montessori Method in its entirety for the first time in my life. Usually, I just pick out parts here and there, based on the subject matter. It has helped me to ground myself in the philosophy and reminded me why I do what I want to do. I also finally developed my own personal website, Montessori Writer. It has a lot of work to do, but it is still enjoyable. Conveniently, the same weekend that I was seriously contemplating biting the bullet and purchasing my own domain, my original Montessori blog platform was discontinued. Luckily, they sent everything to me, so I still have my posts. But now they are my own again, and I can do what I want.

I found that writing for Examiner on local Montessori was difficult, as we need to protect the privacy of our families. I kept hoping I could figure out a way to comment on philosophy and add a local twist. Again, we shall see if I return to that.

Finding a writing rhythm......I have found that my life, as uncomplicated as it supposedly is, is not conducive to a writing rhythm. Again, those health issues I was experiencing made me tired when I wanted to write. School takes up a lot more time, though I did quit the tutoring for the school year. I am tired when I get home in the evenings, and it can be difficult to actually write anything. And I have found that on a day off, or during vacation time, I am so happy to not have to work, that I can't write, despite my best intentions.

One blog post and one article a day, average.....Yeah, like I said, that didn't happen. I don't know what I was thinking there. But, I do have loftier goals, in a sense. I write regularly for several websites, and have personal goals that are either financial or otherwise goal-based. My biggest goal is to double my efforts on Associated Content, now the Yahoo! Contributor Network. At the end of 2010, I had just about 400 published pieces (articles & slideshows) on AC and a couple of partner sites. I also had over 400,000 page views. My goal for the end of 2011 is to have at least 800 published pieces (articles, slideshows, and possibly videos taken with my new Droid X?) and at least 800,000 page views (read 1 million). Many of my fellow writers have their own big goals. Check out what other YCN writers hope to accomplish this year.

Still other people claim that they do not set resolutions. I am also a fan of calling things "goals." I am always seeking to be the best person that I can be. I'm okay with not hitting those resolutions from last year, because I have new goals for this year......let's see what I have to say a year from now about all of that......lol

On Daphne DuMaurier

@BNBookClubs on Twitter had this interesting tweet this afternoon:

Daphne Du Maurier said, “Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard.” Do you agree? http://bit.ly/5LpXrD

Without even reading the link, I stopped to ponder for a moment. I think that times are a-changing, and that could have been true once upon a time. But there were also fewer writers being published, and they were revered more than now. These days, especially with all of the smaller independent publishers, and self-publishing, the list of books available to read is endless. Authors who wish to make some money doing what they love must get their name out there. So, without promotion, they could very well only sell a book to their closest friends and family.


Blogs and articles are ablaze with tips on how to get yourself noticed. A common way to do so is through venues like Twitter and Facebook (where I will shamelessly plug this blog post when I have completed it). They also recommend book blog tours. A good publicist can get you onto local talk shows, and the really good ones get you on national TV, if you have a buzz about your work. As for my own writing, I am getting more readers, slowly but surely, as I send out my links and network. So, I think it does help.


But perhaps what DuMaurier meant was to not blatantly throw yourself into the public eye. Today, it would be along the lines of staying off of the reality TV shows, and don't do something stupid like Tiger Woods and get caught. Keep some element of mystery about yourself, and don't share too much about why you chose to write about anything. Sometimes that mystique adds to the appeal of your written word. Reveal yourself through your stories.


DuMaurier was a fantastic storyteller. I have read Rebecca numerous times, as well as some of her smaller, lesser known works. And one of my favorite facts is that she was the true brainchild of the story that Hitchcock made famous in The Birds. But she wasn't outspoken about everything, so perhaps you didn't know that? Perhaps all writers should reflect on that thought before they send out their next tweet or Facebook link.....

Fulfilling my Duty

So, there have been a lot of developments in the writing world since my birthday. I'm honestly too tired right now to get into all of them. But I will mention one.

I joined a writing site called Women Who Write Online. I'll have to look up the address later. It was started by one of my writing friends, and is a great networking idea.

For the month of August, we have a challenge. We must write one article and/or blog post per day. So, here I am sitting down at 11:50 p.m. to churn out a blog post before midnight arrives. I wasn't going to, because I am still coming down off a migraine, but I would feel guilty. And the fact that I still managed to put up an article yesterday with the migraine full-blown kind of negates my laziness today.

Is this cheating? Perhaps. But that's okay.

Alright, one of my fun things since my birthday is I have joined up with a website called Bookpleasures. I know, it sounds dirty, but it is a legitimate book reviewing website. I want to say I have received at least a dozen books so far from them? And Norm works with a lot of the big publishers. I've been reading a variety of books, and I'm enjoying trying to maximize any exposure and money involved. No, I do not get paid to review these books. But the free books are nice! And just the experience of writing reviews.......anyway, you can read the reviews on Bookpleasures, or on my blogs at http://andisbookreviews.blogspot.com and http://andiskidsbooks.blogspot.com. Then some of them get reviewed on my other websites. If I remember, I will try to go back and link all of my reviews from my blogs.

AND I will always provide links through which you can purchase the said books directly from Amazon. Good times.

Ok, the Tylenol PM to knock out the last remnants of this migraine hangover is really kicking in. I'm going to pass out to Beverly Hills Chihuahua now. (GREAT cheesy movie!!)