Graduation Season – and other spaces.
For many (many!) years, Memorial Day weekend was super stressful for me. It was usually the final push before high school graduation. Graduation – at least back then – was always the first week in June. And my whole job was graduation – making sure every last kid who could walk, did. There were parents […]
The weird noise or the nail.
Photo by Bernd Dittrich It would usually start the same way. A student would raise their hand, look at me with frustrated eyes, and say those five words every math teacher dreads: “I just don’t get it.” It seriously happened almost daily – every summer, in every summer school math class I ever taught. And […]
Scouty Scout and 5 whole years.
My past has some pieces I’ve put away. I don’t have dark hair and bangs any more. I no longer sew clothes, work on math equations, go camping, or ride road bikes. I don’t still sell cupcakes, raft rivers, teach cookie camps, or run races. I’m not currently teaching school or living in New York […]
10 kinds of parked cars
This weekend I have been in the beautiful state of Montana, and, since it’s February, there is snow. And I mean SNOW. The world here is beautiful and snow covered and there are tall, tall piles of it on the side of the roads. All the roads. And so, snow plows are a necessary […]
It was always him – and kairos.
We often think that readiness is what we need to achieve before something good can happen. We try to “get ready” for school or a trip, a job or a move, love, success, healing, etc.. But readiness alone doesn’t always lead to fulfillment – because timing matters just as much. There’s a term in ancient […]
Name and Number – 2024 version.
According to the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, “For more than 15 years, Gabriel García Márquez worked on a story about the Buendía family and the town of Macondo. In the fall of 1965, with support from his family, friends, and members of the literary group La Mafia, […]
An old tradition and a good sport.
I didn’t grow up in a house with a ton of Christmas traditions – partly because when I was young we were travelling from Minnesota to California for Christmas. Those of you following this blog have read the post about my parents’ sweat and sacrifice for those trips! I imagine the Christmas traveling took all […]
Whispering makes it worse.
I woke up Monday with a scratchy throat. Not a great development for me on a coaching day, but I told myself “I feel fine. I FEEL FINE, dang it!”- like I usually do when I need to power through something. SO, I powered through my morning clients just fine. But by the afternoon, I […]
Colapinto and Re-entering the Race.
photo: RN 365 Franco Alejandro Colapinto is a 5’ 9” Argentinian. His mom is of Ukrainian descent and his dad is of Italian descent. He was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina and at the age of 13 he won his first Argentine Championship. Less than a year later he moved to Italy by […]
What the heck is Parkin Cake?
I am fully immersed in the latest season of The Great British Baking Show, like many of you! And maybe it’s due to my OCD tendencies, but the part I love best is the Technical Challenge. During the Technical Challenge, all the bakers are asked to bake the same surprise something (often several of […]
