Numbers are Everywhere

As a writer I tend to focus on words.  How they sound, what they mean and the beauty of a well crafted sentence, especially if it has the graceful flow of alliteration in it.  I love words.  I always have.  Just ask my mother.  She once said that she couldn't wait for me to talk but then she wished I would be quiet.  She was not the last person to think that about me!

So imagine my surprise to realize that my life right now is being driven by numbers.  I have two days until Spring Break then I have six days until my students begin taking standardized tests.  I need them to ALL score 80 % or higher.  Then we have four weeks until summer vacation. 

Pantster and I are working hard to get a revised book completed. It is 348 pages long.  So I ask myself how many pages can I read by Monday when she and I work together.  We are probably going to work on breaking it into three parts so I think about how many pages will end up in each section. I also need to do some research related to completing the work so I wonder when I will get to that and how many hours it will take? I am really excited about getting to both of these so there is yet another reason to be counting down the hours until Spring Break. 

It is like my head is just a jumble of numbers.  It seems that the numbers won't fall into line as easily as the words usually do for me.  Maybe if I had one of Kathy's Sleep Number beds it would go better for me.

I know we usually are talking about words, but what kinds of numbers do you have running around in your head today?

Spring is Springing

  This time of year the weather in the South is unpredictable. Yesterday at church I saw a girl in a pretty summer dress that was all covered up with a polar fleece jacket. This ensemble sums up the clothing situation in Spring in the South. Every night finds me in the closet looking at my clothes trying to decide what the weather will be like the next day. I know that some of you in other parts of the country are thinking, "Why doesn't she just watch the local weather to see what the temperature will be?" Well, let me tell you that system doesn't work here in Alabama. The meteorologists can predict, they can guess, they hope to be accurate but they will never actually be right on 3 out of 4 days.

Weather in Alabama is notoriously unpredictable. In fact, a common saying is that if you don't like the weather here just stick around about 10 minutes because it is about to change! I often start off wearing a cardigan, wool socks and athletic shoes and end the day wearing capris and flip flops.  I am very excited about our day or so of Spring and the advent of Summer.  I love flip flops and pedicured toes.  I love riding with the windows down and feeling my wind blowing through my hair.  I know this surprises many of you who know my dislike of outside air but there is just something about the first warm air of Spring that excites me with the possibilities of summer.

I am going to in just a couple of weeks my school will have Spring Break.  I am going to get a pedicure and have my hair done some summer like color.  This is how I celebrate that summer is once again on the way.

What rituals do you have to celebrate the start of spring and the hope that summer is once again finally on the way?