We have taken up residency in Stars Hollow. I leave my house expecting to walk across the town square, maybe take my coffee to sit in the gazebo. I will no doubt run into Kirk, who will have some harebrained new scheme and miss all my social cues. Luke’s Diner, Taylor’s Soda Shoppe, Mrs. Kim’s…

I do have time to write every day. I really do. I have time to write every day, and do my job and cook dinner and play with the cats and be a halfway decent wife and a very good mother. Formats and structures are far more inspiring to me than topics. I need 6-10…

He’s had something on his mind all week, but he hasn’t been ready to tell me. When I read the school announcements this morning, I figure it out. 8th Grade Reflections: Items needed by EACH student: One infant photo One toddler photo One current photo A favorite quote (school appropriate) Video describing your favorite 8th…

I’d been K’s teacher for two years, but I found him difficult to get to know. He was a good student but didn’t take risks in his writing and rarely shared anything personal. He related to the world through relentless sarcasm, which sometimes made me laugh and sometimes got on my nerves. I’d always been…

I’ve been wanting to try book spine poetry for some time, but I always feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of books on my shelves. How could I possibly sort through the thousands of titles in my house to construct poems? Then I discovered a workaround on Leigh Anne’s blog: limit the overwhelm by limiting…

It’s not so much a daily writing challenge as it’s a daily publishing challenge, and that’s very different. With daily writing, I play, I ponder. I spend more time staring out the window. I patiently follow a thread through several meandering pages, and I don’t mind if it’s a dead end. With daily publishing, there…

My son sits in his usual spot on the red sofa, but he’s directed me to the opposite corner. Usually he wants me close, but right now he’s drawing and he lives privacy. I can sit nearby with my notebook but “Don’t look!” A coloring book of magical beasts is spread across one knee and…

On Saturdays, I drop my husband and son off at the Y to shoot hoops. I know I will be free for at least an hour.  If there are pick-up games to join, it might be two or even three hours. On Saturdays, I go to my favorite coffee shop. Sometimes it’s packed and I…

I’m taking suggestions today. My idea: Write about cat nicknames. There is something about being in love with a pet that makes me make up extra names for them, as if one isn’t enough. I start with my favorite cat, Frances, and list all of her nicknames: Frances Bean, Bean, Beanificent, Bean of the World,…

This post was inspired by wahooliteracyteacher’s Ten Things Thursday. I only slept for four and a half hours last night (up late and early finishing a set of student papers), and I am feeling it. Those four shots of espresso and the extra-large iced tea aren’t doing much to counteract three nights in a row…