A Pact (With You & Myself): Once a Week Postings. A Little Bit of Everything (Personal, Professional, Mommy)

It's been a while. In the five months since my last post (!), I've been busy living life, as we all sometimes do. Somehow, although I've maintained an online presence on some social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, thanks for taking up all of my time!), I've neglected the blog entirely.

Books have been read, a baby has been fed/changed/bathed/snuggled, work has been accomplished (and lots of it). We even managed a couple of short trips (at 10 months old, Ava HATES her car seat, so there is an emphasis on short).

And did I mention work? I applied for an additional position (yes, on top of my child's first year of life and a full-time job teaching middle school, I thought I needed MORE work) with the Tennessee State Department of Education, and was hired. Last spring and this summer, I worked my tail off alongside some outstanding teachers from across the state to learn more about the Common Core State Standards so that I could become a Core Coach. Then, in July, I shared my new-found knowledge with other 6-8 ELA teachers in multiple 3-day trainings. Then school started the first week of August with professional development, etc. So, yeah, it's been busy. Like most of your lives have been, too.

I've made a pact with myself, though. At least once a week, a post on the blog. For one thing, I have not kept up with my own personal reading during the last year. I have no idea how many books I've read or exactly what I've read. Not on Goodreads, not on my book list on the blog... Not even on a reading goals sheet like I have my students keep up with and fill out. I'm determined to do better in the next year, though. I really like looking back at what I thought about what I've read. I like lists. I like talking books and reading about books and being part of a larger book-loving community.

I have stayed on as a part of the SheReads book bloggers community, although I'm probably barely hanging on by a thread. (Seriously, I'm not sure why I wasn't deleted after not posting in several months. But THANK YOU for keeping me!) I really, really love what they do and being a part of something so awesome. So, in part, that has spurred me on. I want to be a part of that kind of female, book-loving group. Therefore, my pact to post at least once a week is a promise I'm making to myself. I'm sure I've lost old readers (that darn Google Reader fiasco probably hurt, for one thing), but hopefully new book lovers will find me.

I'm excited about sharing some of my personal reading life, some of my professional and classroom reading life as an educator, and some of my parental reading life, sharing a love of books with my daughter. As you can see in the photo at the top of this post, she's just as into books as I am.