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3 C’s – It’s Friday!

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Cares:
Started writing my rough draft this week and I’m off to a good start. I’m hoping I can keep up the pace throughout the summer. Who knows? Maybe I’ll have finished my 5th rough draft before going back to school in August.

I don’t have a title for my current WIP and I hate not having a title. I know titles change. But still, there’s something so uncreative about calling it Novel #5. How do you think of titles?

Concerns:
I get the bad Mommy award. Brogan plumetted down the stairs on his toy four-wheeler. I am so thankful the only thing that needed fixing were his glasses. Yeesh! What was going through his brain when he scooted the 4-wheeler to the edge of the stairs and looked down? “This might be fun.” Seriously? The boy has no fear. Zero. Zilch. This is most definitely a concern.

Brogan’s turned into a biter. He bites when he’s excited, which is approximately once every five minutes. Any suggestions?

Celebrations:
Summer rocks! It’s one big rolled up ball of rejuvination, relaxation, and satisfaction. Imagine a two-month long weekend. Yep, this is summer.

I really like my hero and heroine of my current book. I’m having a fun time getting to know them better as their story unfurls.

Tomorrow, hubby and I will celebrate our six-year wedding anniversary. Man, I love him.

Question to Ponder: What are your cares, concerns, and celebrations today?removetweetmeme

3 C’s – It’s Friday

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Cares:
Still waiting! God is teaching me so much patience.

You know those growing periods in life? Those tangible moments you can look back upon and confidently say, “Yep, God was really growing me there.” That’s what these past few weeks have been like. It’s like God is reaching down into the deepest parts of my soul and showing me things that aren’t flattering. Like pride. And idolatry. It’s very humbling. And sort of painful. But in a good way.

I’m obsessed with the song Hurricane by Jimmy Needham right now. In the song, there’s a line that goes, “I am yours and you are mine. You know far better than I. And if destruction’s what I need. I’ll receive it, Lord from Thee.” There’s amazing power in that line. It brings me to my knees. All too often I paint God’s grace the color nice. All blessings and favor. But sometimes, His grace is destruction. Sometimes it’s pain. Sometimes it’s tearing everything down so He can rebuild. He’s in the business of bringing beauty from pain.

Concerns:
I broke my Kindle yesterday. It fell (thanks to my beloved dog) and cracked on the ground. I was beyond bummed out about it.

Celebrations:
I talked to the nicest customer representative from Amazon and he is replacing my broken Kindle for free!

It’s the last day of school! Which means after four o’clock today, I have ten weeks of summer vacation. Ten weeks of cuddles with my son (yea right…the boy doesn’t slow down long enough to cuddle). Ten weeks of writing while he naps in the afternoon. Ten weeks of doing all those things I can’t do during the school year because I’m too busy – like cook dinners for my family, keep the house clean, go jogging. I’m ridiculously excited about it.

The outline for my WIP is shaping up. Hubby is taking little man up to Wisconsin to visit Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow, which means I have the whole day to work on it. I would LOVE to be able to start writing the rough draft sometime next week.

Question to Ponder: It’s been a long time! Update me on your lives. What are your cares, concerns, and celebrations?

removetweetmeme

3 C’s – It’s Friday

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Cares:
May is here and May is busy. Especially for teachers, who are in a mad-dash to squeeze in two months worth of teaching into twenty days, finish report cards (wait…did I say finish? I haven’t even started yet), get end-of-the-year projects wrapped up, and clean, organize, and pack up the classroom so we can be home free on the last day (all while managing a class full of hyperactive, spring-fevered children). I’m not one of those teachers who likes coming to school to tinker around in the summer. Summer is summer, which means NO school. With that said, I’m busy. Very, very busy. Especially since Brogan’s been sick, which means calling in a sub, which means even more work to make up. The logical thing to do is take a blogging break. I’m not always logical, but this time I’m going to be. No blogging for me until Friday, May 28th, during which I will hoot and holler because summer break will be here!

If anything awesome happens with my writing career between then and now, I will, of course, come back early to really hoot and holler, but let’s not hold our breath for that. I’m still waiting, and May 28th is only 3 weeks away, which is chump change in the publishing world. Hopefully no bad news comes between then and now, and if it does, I shall sulk in privacy and update you all accordingly on the 28th.

Concerns:
Busy. Very, very busy.

Celebrations:
I’m pumped to start plotting my new story. The characters are solid. Research is packed away in my brain. GMC charts filled out. Now it’s time to throw the story together. Plotting is always an exhilarating, magical, stomach-tingly time for me. I’m hoping to finish plotting and start the rough draft by June 1st. It’s an ambitious goal.

My students took MAP tests this week (Measures of Academic Progress). These are high-stakes tests taken on the computer. They take the test in the fall, and then again in the spring. See, I’m sort of anti-test. I hate standardized testing. I think they deflate children, but we’re forced to give them anyway. However, I love the MAP tests. They’re the coolest thing. They’re the opposite of standardized. They’re completely individualized. As you get problems right or wrong, the questions get easier or harder, until the test narrows down exactly where each student is as a reader and a math student. No two tests are the same. Then, when they take the tests again in the spring, it shows their growth from the beginning of the year until now. So instead of competing against their peers, they are competing against themselves. I had several of my struggling readers just BLOW this test out of the water. I mean, they did phenomenal. Just completely crushed their fall scores. The proud smiles on their faces were priceless. It’s like something clicked in their head and they finally believed what I’ve been telling them all year, “You are smart! You can do this!” Those smiles reminded me of why I teach.

Question to Ponder: What are your cares, concerns, and celebrations today?

See you on the 28th!removetweetmeme