Being an introspective person, my mind and my heart are constantly going. Being a mom, so is my life. However, sometimes I just feel like I have nothing to write.

I’m on summer break right now, one of the perks of being a teacher. My summer days are usually spent working on home improvement or personal projects that I can’t usually get around to doing during the school year, taking my kids to educational places or fun play-dates, reading a book on the hammock under a tree in my backyard, and trying to see all of my friends whom I’ve neglected throughout the school year (I’m sorry, friends!).

It’s a blessing to have my children and my hobbies and my friends, etc., don’t get me wrong. But as I sit here at my computer, I am staring at the mostly blank screen before me. Nothing comes to mind worth writing. I’m looking around the room for inspiration, hoping that something will inspire me to write something brilliant and clever and funny. Nothin’.

To my right, there’s a stack of worksheets I printed off the internet for my daughter to practice throughout the summer. Things like writing letters and numbers, cutting with scissors, reading sight words, and simple math problems. She’ll be in Kindergarten soon. I cannot believe how quickly time has flown by since she was born! One minute, I’m looking down at her precious little newborn face, the next minute she’s off to another year of school.

Pinned to the cork board above my desk are some tickets to Magic Mountain. My husband and I will be going there in a couple of weeks, while our kiddos will stay home with my in-laws. I absolutely LOVE roller coasters! Since it’s summer, it’ll probably be packed and we might only get to go on a few rides due to the long lines. That’s life. One of the blessings of living here in California is the availability of so much different entertainment. So many different theme parks (at least 5 off the top of my head), a variety of professional sports teams, miles and miles of beautiful coastline, stunning mountains and valleys and deserts, and major centers of culture and commerce found in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I love living in California!

Hanging proudly off a corner of the overly crammed bookshelf beside my desk are all of the medals I’ve earned so far from various running events I’ve done. They’re reminding me that I will be running my first ever half marathon in about 100 days. Yikes! They’re also reminding me that at one time, I thought 2 miles, a 5K, 4 miles, and 8 miles were daunting, yet I’ve run each of those for various races, and have earned my finisher’s medals. Now my goal is 13.1 miles. As one of the tasks on my summer to-do list, I plan to organize all of my race bibs and medals, so I ordered a display holder thing off of Etsy. It should be coming in next week!

On the very top of the bookshelf is a little souvenir I got from when I studied abroad in Portugal back in 2004. It’s a small, wooden fishing boat painted red, green, and black. Inside, there are two small oars and a little fishing net. Studying abroad in Portugal was the experience of a lifetime! Being of Portuguese blood, I was thrilled to be walking among some ruins, eating the delicious cuisine, making new friends, seeing so many wonderful and beautiful sights, learning new words and traditions… On more than one occasion, I got tears in my eyes because it was all just so amazing to me. I must have taken around 2000 photos of all of the places I went and things I saw!

That year, Portugal was hosting the Euro Cup soccer tournament and the entire country was overflowing with national pride. Everywhere you looked, the Portuguese flag flew proudly, children were playing soccer in the streets, and excited voices carried out the doors of packed bars and restaurants. With each match, there was an influx of foreigners from the visiting teams. I well-remember riding the Metro one day, and with each stop more and more people wearing bright orange got on. They were singing songs at the top of their lungs and had such energy and enthusiasm! I didn’t recognize their flag, or their language, nor the significance of the bright orange, and so I asked around. Turns out that they were from Holland and their country’s team was playing in the tournament that day. Remembering this right now still makes me smile.

Apparently, I have plenty to write about, but I’m still keeping the title. Thanks for reading.