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Friday, May 6, 2011

Ooooof!

57º ~ bright sun, the slightest of breezes, one more very pleasant day

Dear Readers, I come to you today completely exhausted mentally and physically.  The mental exhaustion may be obvious to those of you who know I've been grading and grading and grading lately.  Oh Happy Day, all of my grades are turned in and official!  Woo Hoo!

The physical exhaustion is a result of my first major foray into attempting some yard work on my own.  Over the course of three days and used as physical breaks from the grading grind, I raked out our large front bed and pulled weed after weed after weed.  Then, I laid down a ton of new mulch and planted five new plants.  They are hard to see in the picture as they are small yet, but they should fill out the front middle section. 


Both getting my grades turned in and getting this area of the yard in shape come with a great sense of accomplishment, along with some scrapes and bruises and sore muscles.  So, I am content.

I did come to the desk this morning hoping I'd be able to draft something new, and I did get nearly a full page of lines, but I felt like I was pulling every word out of the hard, hard ground, and I'm not happy enough with the result to call it a draft.  After wrestling with it for a half hour or so, I realized that I'm just worn out and need to acknowledge and respect that. 

I'm going to go wild and take today off.  I may sit on the couch and eat bon-bons all day.  I may imitate the cats and take a good, long nap.  Tomorrow, I will read and read and read the mound of poetry waiting for me.  And in this way, I think I'll be recharged and ready to hit the blank page again.

I definitely need to read through the old manuscript again and see what needs tweaking.  It's been a finalist and a semi-finalist this year, but so far no joy. 

Oh, and one last major thanks to the poetry universe.  Last year during the Big Poetry Giveaway in April, I was lucky enough to win one or two books.  This year, I hit the MEGA JACKPOT!  I've lost track, but I think I won five of the drawings.  Thank you, UNIVERSE!  And thank you to the poets who played along, making my luck possible! 

8 comments:

Nancy Devine said...

yes, sandy, relax. enjoy some down time.

Sandy Longhorn said...

Thanks, Nancy!

Anonymous said...

Bonanza! That is mighty good luck you got there -- I hope it carries into the rest of your life as well.

Happy Weekend!

Sandy Longhorn said...

Thanks, Marie. Hope you are well.

Tawnysha Greene said...

Congrats on getting so much done! That's fantastic!

Sandy Longhorn said...

Tawnysha, thanks and glad you stopped by!

Kathleen said...

Happy downtime, and I connect with the yard work exhaustion!

Sandy Longhorn said...

Hi, Kathleen, thanks for stopping by and for the comradarie.