Autumn

With being overwhelmed, tired, having too much to do and not enough time, I sat on the floor and played with my 16-month-old son today. Consumed with trying to advance my career and stressing out about handling the promotion and blah blah blahs for my book release, I played with the back of Xander's hair and noticed the way the blonde tufts curled up and around my fingers. Soft and silky and shiny. Mommy & Xander played outside and noticed the reds, yellows, and oranges of leaves beginning to change on the trees. The ducks quacked at us as we ran underneath the rays of rare Michigan autumn sun. "It's not getting what you want...it's wanting what you got." Thanks Sheryl Crowe for the reminder.http://myspace.com/readmichellekane

Suspicious in suburbia

So, our yellow lab, Dakota starts barking and going nuts about 4 a.m today. My husband looks out the window and sees our neighbor's car in his driveway. We all fall back asleep. This morning we awaken to a fresh lawn job and run down bushes in our front yard. Neighbor across the street has tire tracks buried in his lawn as well. Next door neighbor's car is smashed in by front passenger side door and grass is stuck in it. hmmmm??? Husband asks NDN how he's feeling and he says he has a hangover...doesn't know anything about tire tracks in lawn, although there's clearly tracks running from his driveway, into his grass, then into ours. Wonder if incident has anything to do with wife & kids in Korea for two months.

Energy Zap

Cups of caffeine: 5
Emergency Chocolates: 3
Energy: 0
Promptness: On time, with 2 minutes to spare before the 1st bell
The students just sucked the life and energy right out of me today, as I almost fell asleep on the way home. One teen boy, (why is it always the boys?) stunk so bad, my stomach started to spin and I had to take three steps back away from him which wasn't enough because I could still smell his B.O.
What non-teachers don't understand is that lecturing & explaining can drain any ounce of energy you have left for all the other million little things you have to accomplish outside of school. Is it Friday yet?

Production

CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL--the novel is finally in production! yay! Now the hard part has begun; designing my webpage, writing the press release, promotion, promotion, promotion! So, sorry about the boring blogs lately...I promise the book edition will be more entertaining! ...and if it's not--you can always try to sell it at a used bookstore. lol Please go buy it when it comes out. Help an underpaid, overworked teacher retire early! Namaste.

Choices

With the students first day back at school, and some of them stinking some kind of funk...(bad hygiene or gym class?), I analyzed the choices I had made about the work/mommy situation. Buy a tiny, old 1200 square foot bungalow in a mediocre Detroit 'burb and stay home with Xander, thus resign from job, or buy brand new 2700 square foot house in plush Detroit' burb and keep job as high school teacher? Hmmm...you know what I did as I have been lecturing all day to smelly teens who wished they were still on summer vacation. And who doesn't wish that? Three co-workers/new-moms have decided not to return to school this year! But it's all good as the plaque on my wall reads, "Teachers: preserve the past, reveal the present, create the future." While napping with Xander today, one ear heard Oprah say, "it's never to late to live your dreams." ...which is exactly what I am trying to do.

It's Over

Summer is now officially over for me because I go back to work tomorrow. No more staying up late drinking wine and watching NGC shows about bin Laden's life story, (which is what I did last night). Watched some of the Emmy's and was glad to see The Office win for best comedy. Love that show! Too tired to write. Need more caffeine.

Time after Time

I've noticed that time flies when you are off for the entire summer and time drags when you are working a 7:30-2:30 shift. Thinking about trying not to think about returning to work next week. Remember when you were a kid, with no responsibilities and you were bored with all the extra time you had on your hands? Now that I'm old there is never enough time to do everything I want to do. Feel like my time is running out. In fact, is blogging a waste of time? I will think about that while Xander and I are out shopping for my new fall "Mrs. Smith" wardrobe.

Close Encounters of the Turd Kind

So, after a night of my husband feeding our 15-month-old tortilla chips & guacamole, I wake up to find him covered from head to toe in his own poop. There were turds stuck in his hair, under his fingernails, in front of the crib, behind the crib, smeared all over crib and sheets. My initial reaction was to scream, which in turn, caused Xander to cry. I pulled him out and threw him right in the bathtub. I'm afraid of what could happen if he ate his own poop. If any other new moms are reading this, please learn a lesson from me and incoporate Mexican food into your child's diet when he is no longer a toddler.

Shipshewana

Hello blog. Back from Michigan's west coast. Make a little side trip to Amish country in Shipshewana, Indiana. Thought I could get some real homemade Amish stuff. All the gift shops there sold trinkets & such made in China. The "homemade" ice cream was really good though and could have sworn the beef jerky was mooing at me when I bit into it. Very fresh stuff. Time to get to work for ClubMom.

Wanderlust

In exactly 2 weeks, I will be back to work! Argghhh. So much to do before I go back. Sunning on Lake Michigan, playing with Xander, designing my book cover. Not to mention back-to-school shopping. Teachers need to do that too, ya know? Wanderlust has kicked in, gotta get out of town. Leaving tomorrow for a few days. Vacation from the every day life, bye Xander, bye house, bye laundry and chores, bye blog.

Candy Band

Confessions of a Catholic Schoolgirl


Xander, Daddy, and I went to see the Candy Band this weekend. If you have kids, take them to see this band! They're 4 stay-at-home moms from Royal Oak, Michigan who play punked out versions of nursery rhymes & kids' songs. They really rock! Xander was digging it big time.

Surprise! No porn pics!

Okay, so obviously I titled this so all the pervs out there searching for pictures of underage chicks in skimpy schoolgirl uniforms...know that they will not find that here. I googled the title of this so-called blog & also title of my forthcoming novel, to see what was up. I found a teenager in the Phillipines with the same blog title as me--but her entries are about her hellish life at a Catholic school. The other sites are, of course, PORN!!! No surprise there--all the sick twisted minds are looking for something else to occupy their fingers on the web. Well, sorry to disappoint you pervs, but this is not what you need. Buy my book anyways. I'll let you know as soon as it COMES OUT. Your ex-schoolgirl signing off, NAMASTE.

Work

Confessions of a Catholic Schoolgirl


In exactly three weeks, I will be returning to work. Where did the summer go...and how much more fun can I cram in before it's over? Oh wohisme...thinking about my hot, un-AC classroom...hanging up my diversity posters & making copies of my syllabus, going to faculty meetings, and planning lessons. uggggghhh. It so pisses me off that teachers are way underpaid. We shape kids for the future. Surely, that should equal a doctor's or lawyer's salary. Right? Right.

The Doors

Need a lil' break from researching parenting questions for my ClubMom.com writing gig to vent the frustrations of trying, and I do mean TRYING to work at home with a 14-month-old just learning to walk. First, Xander tries to turn off the computer. "No, Xander, that's not a toy. Mommy's working." Then, with his cute little "drunken sailor" walk he penguins over to the guest bedroom door and opens it...locking himself inside. Stop writing. Mommy to the rescue!
"Xander, why are you crying? And how come you can open the door from the outside, but not from the inside yet?" Maybe when he starts to say more than, "duck," "dog," or "mama," he can explain that one to me.





Confessions of a Catholic Schoolgirl

ClubMom

I just finished some writing for ClubMom.com. I'm trying to work ahead of my deadline, since I know I will be soooo busy once my book goes to print. Check out what I've written. Go to clubmom.com and click on go-to moms, then click on diet/fitness & scroll down & you will see my name and pic with all the titles of articles I've written so far. Dieting moms should get a good read, if you're not even a mom...maybe not. But if you are watching your weight, my tips & recipes are still helpful! I think you might have to log in for a free membership to get on the site.

Summer

Summer is really speeding by...like the rest of my life. I have to cram in more fun, more stuff, more shopping, more playing, more sun, etc. etc. etc. Before I know it, I will be back on the 2nd floor in my stuffy, overheated classroom trying to teach kids how to write who don't care about writing.

Finally!!

Done, done, done...I am finally done editing my book, CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL. Thank God. I mean, I'm sure I could add & delete to death, but I did the best I could. I hope people buy it & read it and love it! Or at least are entertained by it, maybe laugh a little out loud at certain parts. From an old classic rock band, I'm thinkin' these lyrics,"Gotta keep on chasin' that dream...though I may never find it, I'm always just behind it."

Whatever

I saw a t-shirt this weekend that said, "NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR BLOG." haha...thought that was pretty funny. Who cares if no one cares? I do this for myself. A form of "public" journaling that no one reads is all the more private. It's still good to get it down and all my paper journals are filled anyway. This is an easy way to journal while you're checking your email. I have to start editing CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHHOLGIRL...my soon to be released book, the "fictional" edition, not this non-fiction edition. See ya.

A Million Little Pieces of BS

Confessions of a Catholic Schoolgirl

Cups of coffee: 1
Cups of Stash Orange Starfish Herbal Tea: 2
Tabs of Sudafed: 1
Antibiotic: 1
Tabs of Tylenol: 2
Haberno Doritoes: About 7

Ok, so yes this is the healthy concoction I ingested today. Don't worry, chicken noodle is on its way. I have been trying to read A MILLION LITTLE PIECES only because of all the hype. Why am I reading it after the scandal, you ask? Only because of the scandal--that's why I read it! I read it because it pisses me off that someone who lies in his "memoir" was on my beloved Oprah & made scads of money & sold millions of books! While the rest of us unpublished (soon to be self-published) shlubs will actually write what I call--or maybe Sylvia Plath called "autobiographical fiction." My forthcoming book, CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL is "loosely" based on my life, with some made up shit & name changes thrown in. I could have called this book a "memoir" like Frey did but that would be a lie. He (or his publisher)purposely capitalized on the "hotness" of memoirs right now to sell novels! Novels!
Speaking of hotness, I know this topic is no longer hot, but while the scandal broke I was teaching high school students & taking care of an infant & not blogging so....speaking of hot topic now--I am still slightly hot & feverish. Maybe a mixed blessing this week that I am sick & was able to begin all the pre-production bs for my book, practice walking with my son, and catch up with old friends. Hurray for me! Even with a 100 degree temp, I still manage to not be able to rest, relax, or sit still because I am driven by the insane desire to always "accomplish" something. OCDers have to check things off their lists, you know. Not just once, but twice, then three times, then once again, and again till you can barely see anything written on paper, then again until the paper rips, then again...

Fever

Antibiotics: 1
Cups of Coffee: 2
Cups of chicken broth: 3

So this is what I consumed today. Spent last night sprawled on couch watching ROCKSTAR: Supernova. That one chick, I forgot her name...with the different colored streaks in her hair & all the piercings really rocks. I so hope she wins. I loved last year's ROCKSTAR: INXS. Jordan Unga. I remember her name. Love her voice. I am burning up with the fever, so that's all for now.

Ringing Ears

After noticing some white spots on my left tonsil and feeling pretty shitty, I went to the doctor today. The ringing in my ears is so loud it's drowning out the sound of my own thoughts. Waiting for the antibiotics to kick in so I can concentrate on something besides trying to sleep. My son, Xander took his first few clumsy steps right into Mommy's arms today. That was the best thing that could have happened today to make me feel better.

Monday Morning

Cups of caffeine: 3

Responsibilities and chores often get in the way & suck up time that could be spent writing. Maybe if I work out now I will have more energy to get some work done. After this 3rd cup of coffee, I will hit the treadmill. Hello Matt--I know you are reading this. You probably are the only person who is!

Confessions of a Catholic Schoolgirl

Blurry Eyed

Today my eyes feel glazed & blurry. Was on the PC too long yesterday. I wrote another page or so of KIDS OF 8 MILE HIGH & worked on editing. 2nd cup of coffee is not waking me up. Am going to run on treadmill now before son wakes up. Feel groogy---should not have had that last beer last night! Husband wanted to go watch Detroit Tigers game---drink specials--you know how it is.

Confessions of a Catholic Schoolgirl

Confessions of a Catholic Schoolgirl

Okay, so I changed the name of my blog for the third time. This blog title is the title to the name of my book I finished writing almost 3 years ago. I am waiting for 2 more responses (rejections?) from agents & a response to a the requested 1st 3 chapters to see if I am offered literary representation. I gave myself a June 24 deadline that if I don't hear any positive news that it's a sign I must plunge into self-publishing.
I woke to the sounds of Mexican music blaring from the house next door. The bricklayers are there working in our new suburban Detroit subdivision. My son, Xander...angel that he is--is still sleeping so here I am blogging instead of editing CONFESSIONS. Guess I better get to work on it before he gets up--& before I go back to work in the fall at my "those that can do...those that can't teach" job. What a bunch of bs--always hated that saying. I am here to prove it wrong! I Can DO & I can teach! I can do it all before I die. Ever feel like life is on warp speed after you hit 30?

I feel like something was accomplished today! I have written 3 pages of my YA novel & edited up to p.106 of my book. I played with my son, as he is sleeping on my lap as I write. Now my reward is a lil' Oprah!

Self-publishing

After 3 years of collecting rejection slips from editors and agents, I THINK I have finally decided to self-publish my own book. Has anyone else done this? Feedback?