Today was...well...not very inspiring. Or so I thought. I spent the day in nurse-mode, caring for my first-grader, Adin, and in teacher-mode, as I chased around Marah to be sure she was using her newfound skills. During that time, I managed to sneak in some computer time, cleaning the floor time, grading some papers time, picking some roses time, making beds time, contemplating dinner time, serving lunch time (three different meals for three different interests), calling the insurance time, calling the doctor time, looking up digital cameras for my sister time, all in time to pick up Jared from school in time. During that...time...I thought about taking a picture of the day. I took a few. When the kids got to sleep. When my husband dropped off to sleep. I played around with Photoshop on one of them.

As I looked at my rather dull pictures, I thought a bit frustratedly about all my seemingly lost inspiration with regard to creativity. Where are the cute little doorways I can photograph? The orchids raised in perfect humidity in massive greenhouses? Where are the inspirational cathedrals and city monuments I can visit? Where are the stunning mountain ranges with snow and birds and rabbits and deer and eagles I can shoot? Where are the people in crowds, the college folks laughing, the people-in-love in cafes who stare dreamily at one another that I just happen to capture in the most stunning of blacks and whites? Where are the architectural masterpieces on which I can put a fresh spin in the most poignent and minimalistic of color? Where...where...where....

"Mommy, I peed."

"Mommy, he called me stupid."

"I want a coke and I want it now. Here in bed."

"Honey, I'm not going to be home until about ten, you don't mind, do you?"

"Dear Part-Time Professor Bekhor, I have come down with a horrible disease. Several of them, actually. The dog ate every single one of my homework assignments. Can you e-mail all ten of our assignments, the outlines of the lectures, and the study guide for next week's exam? BTW, I won't be able to take the exam at class-time so can I take it at the student center? E-mail me at the following e-mail address: mommyjones@exhausted.net. Thanks!"

Recently, I read a post on a photography website by a single, early-twenty-something American college graduate who complained that he was "uninspired" on the American continent. The same twenty-something indicated that some of my pictures in my galleries were a bit mundane. That, really, I could have done a wee bit better than a few shots of my backyard.

Really.

I gazed from the sink full of dishes back to the computer and hissed...or was it a growl...during my personal I-gotta-be-me time?