Looking Back

It's strange to think back to a year ago at this time. My world was turned upside down. My husband lived 1200+ miles away and I was struggling to stay afloat as a solo parent. I was ten or 11 weeks in at this point-unsure of how long we would be living apart this time. I never in my wildest dreams imagined it would be nearly ten months before we would live under one roof again. I'd been laid off from my teaching job at the end of May so my job was gone too. It was both a blessing and a curse. 

I consider October 2011 to be the official start of my blogging. I'd fired off a post here or there in the previous year but it was October that I started posting consistently. I had NO idea what I was doing. I just started pounding away at the keyboard--or perhaps pecking away in my case-and hit publish. I held my breathe and waited for readers to magically appear. When that didn't happen I rediscovered Twitter and a whole new world opened up. I was oblivious to the enormity of the blogosphere. I didn't have a clue what a link-up was or how they worked. Did you have to be invited? Did you have to apply? 

And with that the timer goes off.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post (in the sidebar). .
• Link up your post here.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Comfy Cozy

Hot pink slippers with zebra print inside

Chicken enchilada soup in the crockpot

Curling up in bed with a good book and a cold coke

Hugs from Big Yankee

Stinkbug climbing into my lap for some cuddles

Pink flannel pajama pants

Black fuzzy gloves on my ice cold fingers

Sharing bowls of buttered popcorn of family movie nights

Crawling under the layers of blankets with the windows open and a cold breeze blowing

Warm brownies and a glass of cold milk

Laughing so hard I cry when spending time with friends

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post (in the sidebar). .
• Link up your post here.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Anticipation

 

I've had mixed feelings about this week since the idea was presented to be a few months ago. My in-laws wanted the kids to spend a week with them in California. They've never spent that much time away from both of us and it's not like we can meet half-way and pick them up if they get homesick. Once they leave there's no going back. As the summer days have passed and the kids have yet to make friends in our new city I felt the walls closing in on me. We spend every minute together, or so it seems.  And that coupled with a year and a half of solo parenting has me clinging to my sanity.

For the last few weeks I've been anticipating my staycation. Honestly, I've spent the last year and a half fantasizing about all the things I would do if I had some time alone-if I had a break from responsibility. I was desperate to do what I wanted when I wanted. And now it's time.

his was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post (in the sidebar).
• Link up your post Jana's Thinking Place.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Scents of Summer

chlorine

garlic

onions

tomatoes

basil

thunderstorms

sweaty kids

gasoline

grilled veggies

lake water

sunscreen

roasted marshmallows

melting chocolate

dirt

road grit

grilled shrimp

fishing bait

playgrounds

guacamole

margaritas

sunshine

Jana asked us to write about what summer smells and/or tastes like.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post. (get it over in my sidebar)
• Link up your post below.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

SOC-Disconnected

Between technical difficulties and family invasion I have been unplugged for four days. It feels very strange..like a part of me is missing and yet it is also incredibly freeing. < Is that even a word?

On one hand, I feel completely disconnected from my blog, twitterverse and the people who live in my computer. It is amazingly daunting to be faced with a blank screen. I find myself overthinking before I type out even a partial sentence. I feel out of practice...as if I need to jump start my writing again. It's all I can do to dump my brain. While the weekend was exhilarating and exhausting I counted the seconds until the kids were in bed and I could grab some solitude. I am ready to get back in my routine. I find comfort in it today.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post below.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

SOC Random

As I sit here trying to do a 5 minute brain dump I don't even know where to begin. Thoughts are zooming through my head but I can't focus. It's a big jumbled mess in my brain right now. I'm thinking about what I need to do, what I want to do, what I don't like to do. I am bored, not because I have nothing to do but because of the monotony of what I have to do. And yet the effort required to do something new and different is just more than I can muster right now. Most days I count the minutes until bedtime. I crave time alone..the quiet. Only having to meet my own needs. It's what gets me through the drama of homework and bedtime. And when the time comes I do what I do EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. I turn on the tv, crank up the laptop and see what the rest of the world is doing. I want to do something different. I NEED to do something different. I just don't know where to start.

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post below.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.