Assignment 1

~ Write a page about you. Introduce yourself. Prompt: If you were a character in your own book, what would your name be? Describe your inner self and your outer self. Prompt: "He saw her sneak into the classroom. She was ____, but he could tell she was____. . ."

So this is the selection I chose. I thought about getting off easy and writing a blog post about why I have a blog...but I already did that last week when I said I was going to commit to doing this. There came a moment this morning where I decided I couldn't;t do it. It was too constraining and I couldn't commit. I am committing to doing at least 2 assignments a week which would constitute an A in my book, but probably only a C in Oma's. But hey, it's better than nothing, right?

OK - about me....

"He saw her sneak into the classroom. She was trying to get in and to her seat without anyone noticing, but her outward energy and huge smile on her face made it too difficult for her not to be noticed. Even though she made it quietly (somewhat, quietly) to her desk, he could tell she was going to be the kind of person who is considered a "people person" lighting up the room with her smile and love of life. What he didn't know, or couldn't know, was that her outside appearance was a cover up to her insecurities of needing to fit in and make everyone happy and proud. She lived the life that she thought everyone else wanted her to live. She did the things that she was supposed to do and if she disappointed someone, she took it to heart. She did it for long that when the time came for her to stop doing what everyone else wanted her to do, and to live her life as she wanted, it proved to be too difficult at times. "

Just a blurb, but hopefully it portrays me as who I am inside. I do love life and try to do what I want to do and not think about how others will view me or my decisions. But it's hard - really hard.

Other useless facts about me: love ice cream, cross stitching, scrapbooking, photography, books, books and more books, shopping, pocketbooks, black shoes, reality TV of any kind, Jason Varitek, and watching my boys play baseball - all year long.

Anything else? Just ask. Hopefully someone will read this blog...

MM

Back to School - for the boys and for me!

I have always loved words. I work in the world of art - all kinds of art - African, Modern & Contemporary, Asian, etc. - but art doesn't excite me. Words do. Quotes, books, poems, lyrics, you name it, I enjoy it.

I also enjoy blogs (because it is all about words!) and I follow a whole bunch of them - yes, I am a blog-stalker (LOL). But seriously, as I am reading my daily updates of the blogs I follow, I read this:

"my favorite teacher of all, my own mother, is offering a free online course for the next 12 weeks! she will be discussing all sorts of great topics such as creative writing, travel tips, family life, and more. and like every good teacher, she's even giving out prizes. visit her site for more details and a class schedule."

I click over and check out the class and I'm immediately intrigued. I'm going to do it. But doing it means sticking to something, following through, and getting motivated. Ugh. I don't do well sticking to something, following through on it and actually being motivated to do it. It's not that I don't want to do things, because I do. It's that I get so caught up in my life, that I can't stick to something. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed with the thought that I HAVE to do something.

The perfect explanation of me is this - I love to read. I can read a book in a day if I want to. But, I don't do book clubs. Why? Because when I think about having to read something in a set time period, I can't do it. I freak out and I resist and I fail. I don't know if this goes back to my years in college where we were required to read a certain amount in a very short period of time (I was and English major). Weird, huh? I also think a lot about writing in a journal or scribbling down things I hear or quotes I read and keeping them in a cute little notebook. I THINK about it, but I don't do it. I buy the cute little notebooks with the best intentions. But they end up collecting dust on my kitchen table.

Well, this is something I am going to do. I am not going to get overwhelmed, I am not going to just think about it, I'm not going to fail, I'm going to do it and I am going to succeed.

Hmpf. There you go. Challenge on.

MM