On Bringing 2015 to a Close.

I fail so miserably as a blogger.

Well, maybe that's not true. I had such great intentions about blogging all month, reading a ton of books, and enjoying a lot of comfort reads. That didn't happen.

It started when I got really sick right before Thanksgiving. Instead of spending that weekend catching up grading essays and planning, I spent it in bed and lounging around watching TV. Not very productive. I went back to school with 3 weeks left, and 5 sets of essays to grade, plus smaller assignments, etc. My grading piles were insane, on top of prepping for classes, debate, the Toys for Tots Drive I run with my NHS students, taking on a Homebound student, and so many other commitments. There were days where I got 3-4 hours of sleep. So...reading and blogging took a backseat. However, I worked really hard and brought nothing home with me over break so I could truly enjoy it. Which I have. I've read a little, slept a lot, and spent a lot of time with family. In all, it's been relaxing.

But I'm getting that itch to dive back in, and now that our semester is coming to a close and large grading assignments are behind me, for the most part, I really need to get my personal life back on track. I truthfully haven't had time to myself since before my grandmother passed away. Being out for a week put me SO FAR behind that I think I JUST caught up. I need to get my life back together.

In good news, I got my results for the first portion of the National Board Certification I'm going for. I passed, and with a pretty decent score (not in the highest range, which I'm not surprised about). I actually thought I bombed the portfolio, but now I feel a big surge of confidence...and I'm going to take on two parts this spring-the content test and the video portfolio. Now that I know what I need to do, I feel a lot better about this process.

I also want to set aside more time to read. I think I am a much better person when I set aside time for myself to do the things I want to do. And reading is that. I also want to be more mindful of what I'm reading. I'm going to be participating in a few challenges (posts will be going up through the next week or so), but I mainly want to read from my shelves. I've reached the point where I have so many unread books sitting here that I need to give them some attention (literally...hundreds of books). I placed a last order for the remaining Penguin Clothbounds I need for my collection and 2 newer releases earlier today, and I think I'm done collecting books for the year (with the exception of the bookswaps I participate in). I just need to focus on what I have, because these shelves are starting to feel overwhelming and unfamiliar (in that I've read less than there are unread, if that makes sense).

In any case, I'm glad 2015 is coming to a close. In many ways, it was a super challenging year for me on many fronts. I'm hoping 2016 has better things in store.