You can learn a lot from pancakes.
Last week one of my former students asked on Facebook, “What is your signature dish?” I was tempted to write Take Out. It would be funny if it weren’t true. […]
The Truth – In Comparison
We got a puppy a couple of weeks ago. The stars aligned, and we welcomed Delta, a brindle boxer, into our home. We had been planning it for some time. Buttercup missed […]
What every kid needs to learn before you give them tuition or luggage.
My daughter went back to college a couple weeks ago after being home for the winter break. I thought that she would be about 24 years old before I would […]
The pointless pain of wanting it to be different.
Suffering usually comes from wanting things to be different than the way they are. – Pema Chödrön I have always been a driven person. I don’t spend a lot of time […]
A Lesson in Leadership
Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. -John Maxwell Leadership is a burden. That is the truth. It is far […]
Living in the Moment
I was awakened at 2:51 AM yesterday morning by the unmistakable rumble of an earthquake. It was a relatively small one, 4.7, but it shook me awake. My daughter shouted […]
Battles of Courage and Love: Cindy’s Journey
She skated into town in 10th grade. I always worried about the new kids. I had a lot of experience being the new kid. I knew that it was infinitely harder […]
Obstacles and Opportunities
My career got off to a rocky start. The ink was still drying on my degree and teaching certificate, as I set out to find my first teaching job. With the optimism of […]
Seeing Through the Memories of Your Heart
Our book club recently read the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Less by Andrew Sean Greer. It was a strange and beautiful story. Toward the end, the main character is reflecting on giving up […]
Kindergarten- Where we all belong.
I started my day in kindergarten yesterday. Every day that I get to be in a kindergarten is a great day. First of all, they are adorable. Right there, you […]
The downfalls of multi-tasking – or, as my Daddy would say, “Half-assing”
This morning I PR’ed (Personal Record) on the Erg, or as I like to call it the “Magical Sliding Instrument of Pain”. I rowed 5881 meters in 30 minutes and […]
Father (-in-Law) Christmas
I get a little nostalgic at Christmastime. I suppose I am not alone in that. Christmas is such a magical season. It brings back bright and twinkling memories of people […]
The House That Built Me
I was staring out the dusty screen door of our canary-yellow, cookie-cutter rambler when I first realized he had superpowers. My bangs glanced off the cheap metal door as I followed his […]
I’ll see it when I believe it.
Beliefs are an amazing thing. Though intangible, they have a weight and power all their own. They can propel us to great heights or they can keep us chained to […]
Growing Pains (There’s a reason why they’re not called Growing Joys.)
I was listening to a series of lectures by Pema Chödrön the other day. She is a Buddhist nun and teacher who I find very insightful and inspirational. In her […]
Empathy Gap – Don’t Fall In
As soon as I shut the door, I knew. I heard the click of the lock and my stomach sank to my feet. I collapsed forward. My forehead hit the […]
Heading for the Door
She was three and a half when I spied her heading for the front door out of the corner of my eye. She shuffled down the hall in a pair […]
Of Grapes and Friendship
Last weekend, my best friend and I recruited a few enthusiastic volunteers (our husbands and one of our dear friends) and we pressed 400 pounds of grape must. I have […]
Adventure Days!
For the last couple of weekends, I have been shooting my daughter’s senior portraits. It was so special to me that I was able to do this for her- that […]
A Girl’s Best Friend
I remember when we picked him up. After months of looking, we found him at a breeder in Omak. My husband has a knack for tracking down the best pups. […]
Making Memories Under the Big Sky
The summer before 5th grade, my father took me on a week-long backpacking trip in Glacier National Park. We planned the trip over the spring on our every-other-weekend visits. My […]
Have You Thanked a Teacher Lately?
I have a confession to make. I have a box in my garage that I take out every time I am wondering about whether I am making a difference in […]
Elusive Zen of Gardening
I’ve had so many friends over the years who describe gardening as a zen-like experience. I, myself, have had zen-like experiences but never while gardening. I don’t doubt my plant-loving […]
Two Sides of the Same Girl
When I was a little kid, I felt strangely like two different people. In retrospect, I imagine that other children of divorce felt the same way. But it was the […]
Stronger Than I Thought
It was a spring, Saturday morning in Georgia. My father must have been away on business because, had he been home, I would never have realized my own true power. […]
Finding the Purpose of (My) Life
I’m starting with the really big questions this week, which always seems to coincide with the end of a vacation in which I get a little breathing room to think […]
Wedded Bliss (and the not so blissful parts that make it truly a blessing….)
Next week, my husband and I will be celebrating 29 years of marriage. As our anniversary rolls around, I find myself thinking back to the year of our wedding. He […]
Everybody Needs A Walk -up Song
One of the great things about having a teenager is that I feel like I am cool-adjacent which is almost as good as being cool at my age. (I’m suspicious […]
The Gamble
I am not a gambler. In fact, the betting window would be closed and the race long over before I even identified all of the variables or made my first […]
A Warm Welcome and A Wiggling Butt
If you visit our house, you will get a warm welcome from the four-legged creatures and, of course, the two-legged ones. Buttercup, our two-year-old Boxer (or The Toddler as we […]
Don’t Mistake a Flower for a Weed
On a hot day in July in 1984 in Fairbanks, Alaska, I met the man, for the second time, who would become my husband. I had been baling hay on […]
Just Beneath the Surface
I have been reminiscing a lot lately. I am not sure if it is the passing of my father, my daughter’s impending senior year or just the end of the […]
Change is hard but not changing is harder…
Sometimes things just happen, good and bad, that you just can’t predict. Despite my propensity for planning and my natural tendency toward being a hunter, I have learned that sometimes […]
If you believe you are a Labrador Retriever….
I was having coffee with some friends recently when, inevitably, the subject of our dogs came up. Three of us have medium to large dogs and one has a smaller, […]
The Truth About Lying
My dad had a second story apartment in the Casa Del Rey overlooking Broadway. I would visit him on the weekends and we would walk up the street to the […]
Evidence of a Well Spent Youth
This morning I awoke before my alarm. I rolled onto my right shoulder and felt that familiar ache from the base of my clavicle to my shoulder joint. I knew […]
You Can Lead a Horse to Water
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to hear Manny Scott, one of the original Freedom Writers, speak. If you ever have the chance, don’t miss it. He is an […]
You’re Never Too Old for a Little Joy
I found myself sifting through old Easter pictures this week. It’s not surprising really. I often find myself looking back when holidays roll around. This is one of my favorite […]
Grandpa’s House
When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things was spending the night at my grandparents’ house. They lived in a small house on Queen Anne Hill. Though […]
My Heart
My daughter is a junior this year. She is our only child. The good Lord blessed us with only one child but, in so doing, He blessed us every single […]
Rub Some Dirt On It
Let me just say at the outset, I know that this story is going to reveal with lights and sirens the unhealthy relationship I have (or had) with my Jeep, […]
The Truth Will Set You Free
I was two months into my first year in a new school when I found myself hunched over a lunch table in the staff room praying for an earthquake. Not […]
Making Things Right
When I was a new teacher, I applied for a job in a small town in northwest Washington. I remember driving into town wearing my most professional skirt suit, firmly […]
It’s the Little Things
I think at the end of a life, it is the little things you remember most. The seemingly inconsequential moments become indelibly written on our minds and hearts. Oh sure, […]
Seeing the River for the Rocks
I think people fall into one of two categories naturally. Oh sure, people can change. People can even change back and forth. But we all have a fall back type […]
Growing A Family
Last night I went to my favorite Christmas party. I have been attending this party for 26 years, though it has been going on for much longer than that. In […]
Redefining the Win
I am a very competitive person. Now, I know what you are thinking. You’ve heard that before usually from someone who is really nice and says it with a slightly […]
Standing in the Middle of a Bridge
Last weekend, I found myself once again standing in the middle of a bridge at dawn. My youngest sister was in town for the Thanksgiving holiday and I took her […]
Live Your Passion
I think in just about every situation we can learn something. It has been my experience that it’s usually something we need to learn right when it is time to […]
Lighten Up!
I’ve always wished that I could be one of those women who goes through life with nothing more than their cell phone in their back pocket ensconced in one of […]
